FORK Summer ‘09 Canoe Safari Report
The Canoe Safari held on 11th August by Wild by Nature for FORK members was a great success. (You can see the original announcement of the event here). Stephen Bostock’s report of the day is below. Keep a lookout for the next Canoe Safari around the same time next year.
Click Here to see photos of the day!
Canoeing at Loch Lomond
Tuesday 11th August found eight intrepid but mainly inexperienced FORKs meeting up at HBH house or later at the Colquhoun Arms in Luss for an introduction to canoeing, courtesy of Wild by Nature. Our instructors, Cliff Giddings and Alan Shreenan, started us off gently, with coffee in the hotel, but soon had us hard at work (well, not that hard!) unloading the canoes and carrying them plus equipment down to the shore at Luss.
Cliff and Alan were in fact very good at explaining everything, and Cliff especially, our senior instructor, at giving us lots of fascinating background on canoe history and canoe terms into the bargain. We were soon on the water, in five canoes, and finding our feet, or should I say paddles. And what a great feeling this is, just gliding forward in the canoe. But if you’ve never done it before, you do need some guidance. We’d been told how to sit or kneel, and the importance of keeping our centre of gravity low. I actually found this rather difficult in my bow position because I couldn’t get my 
knees low enough, but it didn’t matter too much until a later stage when the water was quite choppy. Then I had to swap places with my canoe partner Derek, who had to hand over the delicate art of steering to me, and I wasn’t too hot at it – however we remained friends (having only met that morning!).
But I’m anticipating. At the start, we paddled fairly close to the shore, every now and then gathering together for fresh instruction from Cliff. We learnt about sweep strokes, draw-strokes, how to paddle forwards, how to turn the boat, and what to do if we fell in. Well, we’d actually been told about that and other essentials before we even got on the water. Nobody did overturn (even me with my too high knees!), and of course we wore lifejackets, but clearly we were in very safe hands if any problems did arise.
Soon we were having our first brief stop, and a snack if we wanted it, and hearing something about the diverse history of canoeing, from hollowed out tree trunks in Africa to Glaswegian employees of the Hudson Bay Company in Canada with their canoes ‘loaded to the gunwales’. Gunwales are the tops of the two sides of the canoe. We got a bit of social history, too, with information on some of the uses the local inhabitants (well, those in charge) found in the old days for the smallish island across the water from us, Fraoch Eilean. Apparently heavy drinkers got temporarily imprisoned there until they had sobered up enough to swim back to the shore. (Not sure if I’ve got that right – the island didn’t look all that near to me!)
And then we were off into the open ocean. Well not quite, but Loch Lomond is an enormous stretch of water. We skirted Fraoch Eilean, and then had a longer crossing over to Inchconnachan, where we had lunch. Very comfortable, with camp chairs to sit on. So that’s what there was in the big box in our canoe. Derek and I thought we were having to work rather hard!
It was raining on and off, but this really didn’t matter at all, and the water was looking absolutely beautiful. And there were fresh delights in store on Inchconnachan. After a lesson on how to turn the canoes over (on the shore), and a short session identifying some of the different kinds of stones on the shore (great to have someone who can hand you something like a stone and tell you what kind it is!), we were off in two small groups for another lesson – in stalking! There were four of us with Cliff, and we got clear instructions. Single file, and NO TALKING. Cliff outlined several useful gestures – pointing of course; hands up, fingers extended (‘there’s a wallaby over there’); wave towards the sky 
(‘sparrowhawk’) and so on. And then we were walking over the most luscious sphagnum moss, which seemed to be everywhere, and every now and then squelching down into the dampness. One thing you can’t do when canoeing is keep your feet dry – because you have to step into the water when leaving and arriving at the shore – so it didn’t matter by now what we plunged into because our feet couldn’t get any wetter. I did wonder though why the generally excellent pre-expedition instructions had told us to wear old trainers and woollen socks, when Cliff himself just wore old sandals, which he now discarded so as to be able to walk over the moss in bare feet. Perhaps this additional way of communing with nature wasn’t to be recommended for us novices! Anyway, we were shown how we could squeeze out sphagnum for a drink (and about its disinfectant properties), and eat sorrel, and cranberries. The only suggested new experience I didn’t feel like participating in was eating a live ant (a wood ant, from a small nest we were looking at). I wasn’t the only one, and I hope Cliff wasn’t too disappointed, but naturally it sparked an interesting discussion on animal rights and consciousness. We saw a wallaby (we’d never have done so without Cliff’s stalking instructions), and most of us saw a sparrow-hawkhttp://www.fork.org.ukhttp://www.fork.org.uk Actually for me this silent walk through the primeval forest (that’s how it looked anyway) was a special high spot of the whole day. Just magical.
We met up with Alan’s group on the shore and were soon off across the water towards Inchlonaig. This island was noted, Cliff told us, for having been Robert the Bruce’s armoury, with huge numbers of yew trees planted to keep his bowmen equipped. After landing and looking round Inchlonaig, Cliff offered us a choice of what to do next. He was very good throughout the day in explaining to us different options. On this occasion, however, when we got back to our canoes, the water had turned distinctly choppy, and Cliff ruled out the preferred option, which would have taken too long in those conditions. This was when I had to switch with Derek, which I was actually quite glad to do, because I could then stretch out my legs further. And as Derek remarked, it meant that we both got experience of both positions in the canoe, the rear canoeist also having the role of steersman.
So we headed back towards Luss, and all went well, even if one canoe did veer about a little bit more than it had in the morning, because its steersman had to practise his new job. Derek was very patient about it. There was still one new experience ahead for us, and this was the pleasure of canoeing some way up the beautiful, peaceful and in some places very shallow Luss Water. I realised another marvellous thing about a canoe – that it can go almost anywhere, and you don’t need to worry about going aground. You could always get out and push, though we didn’t have to. We landed once more, and climbed up the path to find ourselves in the lovely old churchyard of Luss Church.
Soon we were off again, hopefully by now a little more experienced at the delicate art of getting the canoe on to the water and then getting in without capsizing it. Then it was a short way back along the coast, and we were landing back at base. Not that we were quite finished. We had to get the canoes back on to their trailer, and make sure they were absolutely secure – this was all part of our practical instruction in the art of canoeing – and then back to the Colquhoun Arms for a drink and dinner. Well, before that, there was the great pleasure of changing into dry things. I was very glad we’d been told to bring a complete change of clothing and a towel. No-one had fallen in, but even if you’re just a bit damp from the rain, there’s nothing like being fully dry again.
All this, by the way, was free. We only had to pay for our food and drink. As far as I was concerned, and I think the others pretty well felt the same, we’d had a terrific day, though as I heard some-one say, we were likely to sleep well that night, for it had been quite hard work. Well it was for me anyway, but I wouldn’t have missed it, and apart from the pleasure of canoeing, it’s also brought home to me what an incredible resource Loch Lomond is for all of us in this part of the world, and how enormously rich it is in its natural history, not to mention its human history too. And as for the canoeing, I can’t think of a better introduction. I certainly hope to join the expedition down the Kelvin, which I understand is being planned for later in the year.
I must finish by saying a big thank you to Michael Reid, who did the organising on the FORK side, but sadly had to miss the actual trip because of work requirements, and to Mark Eden-Bushell, who must have played a major part in bringing it all about, and most of all, of course, to Cliff for his splendid guidance and enthusiasm, and his hard work, and to Alan likewise. It’s presumably mainly Cliff and Mark who have forged the partnership between Wild by Nature and FORK. Long may it continue! And if you get a chance to go canoeing with Cliff or Alan, or equally to go for a wildlife walk with them, grab it. It’ll be a great experience.
Stephen Bostock
