Swimming Loch Rannoch …..

Swimming Loch Rannoch …
Many many years ago Colin Scott and I arrived at Dunkelds Craig ‘a’Barnes just north of Perth, to find a wet crag and an uninspiring grey day that certainly wasn’t going to lend itself to any hard climbing. Not to be disheartened we decided to stretch our legs on a Munro and headed for that beautiful pointy peaked, see it from everywhere in Scotland rocky hill, mound of Caledonia, the great Schiehallion.

CHOOSE LIFE!!

We had by then smoked so many joints that I  missed a turning or maybe even two 😀 arriving at Kinloch Rannoch instead. So on a whim as we were almost there anyway decided to visit the infamous Rannoch station because of its legendary Trainspotting fame. My distant memory of that fabulous drug enhanced journey up the loch-side to the train station that  day was years later to be the catalyst of my return late last winter with a good friend and my paddle board. Paddling up the loch that sunny November morning I rediscovered its attraction, enough to make me think again of considering the infamous Rannoch crossing which in turn lead to my journey across it on a Paddle Board earlier this year. Now that was a set of life’s connections right there !  How our future is built by our experience never ceases to amaze me as we we unknowingly lay the foundation of our future through the building blocks of our past. Fuck me that is deep 😀

The beautiful Loch Rannoch during the crossing

The beautiful Loch Rannoch during the crossing

During the Rannoch crossing I paddled across loch Rannoch in the blazing heat and after a hard night fighting it out on Rannoch moor and later Loch Laidon I had to regularly take a quick swim in its fetching embrace (Brrrrr) to both cool down and at times stay awake. I knew then that I wanted to return and swim the length of it, hopefully before winter. At 10 miles long it would be a solid test of my endurance and sensibility dictated that I should wait until after my 7.5 mile Ullswater end to end race and use that as a build up to the 10 miles of Loch Rannoch. Patience is a great virtue, one bestowing itself better as I get older.

The Ullswater three… Bongo , Deeks and I

However it has been a funny old year and as what is the new normal of 2020,  the Ullswater end to end race didn’t happen the way it was intended. We arrived to find the race cancelled only 20 minutes before our arrival due to dangerous conditions caused by very strong winds and powerful waves on the lake.

Swimming Ullswater

Big waves do not deter a Scotsman as we would never get any training done if  waiting for good conditions 😀  So  as we were in the vicinity we decided to swim the unofficial Ullswater end to end fun swim 😀  It is a very busy lake with motor boats and even Jet skis on there, not to mention paddle boarders, kayakers, fishermen and even old peeps paddling at the side. Lovely scenery though and as is typical of the lake district no bloody parking. However it held a unique experience, one of difficult temperature regulation rather than swimming endurance but that’s another story….  Fuck I was cold 😀 😀

The 2 amigos !! love this little guy <3

I really enjoyed our Ullswater swim and I was very keen to get to Loch Rannoch. The perfect forecast fell only a week later and I felt fit, didn’t have any niggles from the week before and was in a good place mentally so Frank and I set off from home late on the Friday night heading for the Schiehallion car park.

ooops !! wrong Schiehallion

The plan for Saturday was to wait for the sun to get high in the sky which would help warm the lochs surface slightly and hopefully myself in it. Maybe it was all psychological but I like to think I have all the cards in my favour. I was hoping for a time somewhere between 5 and 6 hours so Midday would be as late as I would be comfortable with to allow plenty time in the water before the sun started to go down. This left Frank and I a chance in the morning to take a brisk walk up one of the finest hills in Scotland…. Schiehallion!

follow the yellow brick road …

We arrived at the Schiehallion car park quite late and there was only one van, result!! I thought it might be very busy given the sunny forecast. However 6am the next morning the first car arrived and soon the car park was mobbed ! I dragged myself out of bed and cooked a light brekkie for Frank and I before we set off up the hill. Its a really nice mountain , accessible for everyone with a lovely path to follow right up to a rocky Summit with a fantastic view. We set a pace though as I wanted to be ready loch-side bang on midday. The weather was like peak summer and the sun was beating down from early morning although as we progressed up the mountain the chilly wind forced my coat out the bag.

Frank checking out the summit post , hoping it was a giant bone

Frank as always was up front waiting for me at every rise and soon we were summiting. I could see the full length of Loch Rannoch and beyond to the Rannoch moor. It was amazing to see almost the entire route of the Rannooch crossing before me , the terrain that I had travelled through was awesome !!  and it truly put a scale to it that I could never imagine from water level. I smiled smugly remembering the toil of that 24 hours and the satisfaction of seeing the van.

Schiehallion Plateau

No time to waste on the summit though and we headed quickly off. Soon we were back at the van.  I started to get the food into me that would fuel me across the loch. Many will laugh but I really do like to fuel up with a pot noodle or two, they carried me across deserts in the Sahara and Gobi so don’t mock 😀  Later on though I had the  KIND bars and my favourite Bounty bars at the ready.

We headed for the west end of Loch Rannoch where the river feeds in only to find that I was being forced into a change of plan. I would not be able to swim from the west where the natural watercourse lay due to the very slight wind. Loch Rannoch is 10 miles long and almost straight which means the wind travels the loch almost unbroken. Meaning that the phenomena of fetch causes large waves to form with even the tiniest of breezes, making the last few miles very hard work. I encountered this same problem on the Rannoch Crossing    that day I didn’t have the option to swap ends and was forced to my knees, hugging the bank for a couple of miles until the waves dissipated enough to get going properly. This day thankfully was different.

Welcome to Kinloch Rannoch … again! <3

I headed back to Kinloch Rannoch the way we had came and parked up on the east side in front of the beach, my last minute change of plan meant that hitching back was my only option as I was swimming away from Kinloch Rannoch not finishing there as I had intended.  I don’t worry about things like that as they always work out, outdoor people never see each other stuck, ever! You can guarantee someone will stop to help you and Loch Rannoch is a mecca of campers, fishermen, walkers and canoe/paddle boarders so I would be fine.

Eastside Beach…

I was a little unsure which kit to take with me,  definitely my new thermal suit as I would be immersed for 5-6 hours but would I need gloves and thermal hat? It was a roasting hot day and I didn’t think so but the water temperature calls the shots. I decided on a test swim to be certain, If I was to take them and felt too hot I would be stuck with them or forced to dump them and neither was an option. After a short 200m dip I decided to go without. The water was 13-14 degrees!  I would certainly be too hot . Scottish lochs heat up on the surface just like everywhere else in the world and we have had an exceptionally warm time of it up North this year. We like to tell everyone they are freezing cold though, keeps the numbers down 😀

Midday came and I bade farewell to Frank who after his morning Schiehallion adventures would no doubt snooze the rest of the day away in the van. I looked up the loch and could see the mountains in the distance marking the end, they looked very small but I was undeterred. I slipped into the water, heading out in a straight line towards where my next stop would be, the western shore 10 miles away. I found my pace, sank into a nice rhythm and went into my headspace. This is what I truly enjoy about endurance and being on my own, the undisturbed peace of my own head and the shit that’s in it 😀

The ultimate management system ……….

Very rarely do I rewrite anything on the blog unless it is to correct a fact but this time I have had a respected friend comment that there appears to be 9 miles of the story missing?, so thought I would explain. The fact is that this is exactly the way it is in my head. When I go into my long distance solo swimming headspace it is like a trance state, one of almost deep meditation, every stroke the same, breathe first left then three strokes later breathe on the right… repeat. My head goes to a special place, one of deep thought and where time is very different.

Loch Rannoch had my head filled with thoughts of Vix, the good times we have had and the adventure we have to look forward to, I love her with all my heart  <3  In between I would drift into existential questions, memories of kayaking and even thinking of solutions to mathematical problems. All helping fill the void of time and subconscioulsy combatting the boredom of repetitiveness. Yet I very rarely have a recollection of anything as at the front is a stroke by stroke moving meditation. Large chunks of time are gone unless I actively take mental snapshots and Loch Rannoch as beautiful as it is, was also very straight. No sighting of headlands to remember or dog leg vistas changing in front of me just one big centre line and I sank deeply into my head. I think in 8 miles I stopped one time and only because I thought I should eat something.  Bored yet ? ? Ok on with the story 😀

Eilean Nam Faoileag

The time and miles went in quickly and soon I had the Eilean Nam Faoileag in sight. This is a small Island with a stone built tower. It is in the middle a little short of 9 miles into the swim. An old refuge and latter prison built in the 19th century by a local Baron. I decided to pay a visit and see it up close for myself. I sighted for the small tower on the horizon and put the head down. For a while despite the effort I was putting in I just didn’t seem to be getting any closer, I started to get the impression that I was swimming on a treadmill 😀  This is what happens without being in the headspace, the reality of long distance swimming becomes clear, its slow going and you notch away at the distance in tiny increments of time and distance, once you start becoming aware of this its like your a slug racing a cheetah .. your going nowhere fast …

Eilean Nam Faoileag

It felt a long time coming but as everyhing long distance you have got to keep grinding and eventually I was climbing out the loch and standing on the shore, the tower looming high above me. Its a room with a view for sure but I wouldn’t fancy being imprisoned there much in the winter. While I was topside I grabbed some heat from the sun, it was toasty and in my black rubber suit I wasn’t long heating back up. I could have stayed in the sun forever but the end was now in sight with just over a mile left to the western shore.

Eilean nam Faoileag crannog

A bounty bar later and I was back in the water putting the hammer down. I was tiring but still  strong, my pacing had been good and I was now buzzing to reach the finish. I hit the shore a happy man.  I had a brief ten minutes soaking it all in before I headed for the road . A single van later and Alec from Motherwell and his mate had picked me up after stopping for no reason but to ask me what I had been doing. They kindly took me straight to my own van with a dose of Glasgow banter thrown in for good measure . I was happy to be greeted by Frank who waiting patiently in the van having had his daily dose of ZZZzzzzzzzsss 😀

Job done and notch another one up against 2020.

not quite 10 miles … but I am over these things 😀

Posted in Adventure, Motivation, Training, Wild swimming | 6 Comments

The Rannoch Crossing ….. in a day !

Rannoch Moor (Mòinteach Raineach) is an expanse of around 50 square miles of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland. A stunning journey is to be had across this true Scottish wilderness and its name is The “Rannoch Crossing””.

Crowberry tower on curved ridge with the expanse of Rannoch moor behind..  C:Graeme.N

As a hill walker scrambling up curved ridge on the Buachaille Etive Mor, then later as a fully-fledged rock climber looking out from the belay ledges of the great Rannoch wall I have always been fascinated by this great moor. It is a sight to behold from high above, the lochs that meander across it to the mountains that lay beyond, just screaming for an adventure across it!  I always knew I would need to explore it eventually as there had to be a way across, and there was, it is called The Rannoch crossing!

The Rannoch Crossing … Loch Ba to Loch Tummel

I first heard of this legendary crossing during my time as a white-water kayaker. A means of crossing the wild and remote Rannoch Moor by navigating the small bodies of water that form Loch Ba before following the desolate channel of the Abhain Ba to the majestic Loch Laidon. From here a magnificent journey across huge Lochs and twisting rivers ensues to taking you East. Traditionally done over 3 days as a team with open canoes. It had me hooked years ago, sowing that little seed, just sitting there dormant, waiting.

Learning to SUP

Waiting at least until late last year when I spent a short time learning to paddle-board . A Rannoch Crossing on a SUP, a winter crossing when the rivers flowed bank full, the lochs cold and clear, snow still on the mountain peaks and no one around, bliss! …… That long sown seed had started to grow! Questions in my head were being asked, would it even be possible? Certainly it should be but a serious undertaking especially in winter requiring much more than SUP skills …. this was the journey for me!!

Hoping for a snow capped Schiehallion

I started my research during Xmas, a lot of it … the obsession was growing and my Rannoch crossing was definitely going to happen, and in the novel form of Stand-up paddle-boarding. I only had to wait for the right conditions and more daylight. I started to plan seriously, it was all working out, everything looked good. I had it mapped, roughly timed and my minimal equipment requirements listed.  A winter crossing meant it would be tough with the water frighteningly cold, the nights freezing and the days short. All worth the extra work for the winter beauty and the increased water levels in the rivers joining the lochs ……. Early April seemed to be the goal.

Lockdown

Then Covid-19 happened, Fuck me!! Travel restrictions and numerous other logistical problems. I could have worked it out and gone for it anyway but the MCOFS didn’t want anyone in the hills so I would be a proper mug if the shit hit the fan, and there was plenty potential for this. I held out hope for good news but it just wasn’t coming, April passed by and the outlook was still grim for travel … Ah well, shit happens as they say and it was now early wild swimming season. I love to wild swim and it allowed me to feed the  “insatiable rat” that was so very hungry.  The outstanding lochs of the Scottish Borders were easily accessible to me even during Covid lockdown.

Wild swimming Mark 😀

The weeks of lockdown passed and travel restrictions slowly lifted, going North was now possible but I was well back into the business of wild swimming and my North Sea diving. SUP was put to the side and my interest in the Rannoch crossing had waned. At least that was until I took my SUP with me on a diving trip and spent a few beautiful hours on the sea one evening. An idea popped into my head as I towelled off atop St Abbs head, “A summer Rannoch crossing” this might be fun and all the work was done. That was it, the desire was back, the realisation of the plan might finally happen… I just need the weather on my side and the wind at my back.  A couple of weeks later I was driving up the A82 on a Friday night with my SUP and small rucksack of survival equipment loaded in the back……………………

ok so I packed in a hurry 😀

I packed the van before work and intended to head North to GlenCoe soon as I had finished, planning to start in the early evening from the layby on the A82 right next to Loch Ba at the top of Glencoe. If I worked hard I could reach Loch Laidon by sunset where I would camp on one of its numerous beaches. The Edinburgh By-pass and a car crash however had other ideas and by the time I was through I had lost almost 2 hours, not to be thwarted though, Onwards! I eventually arrived at the side of Loch Ba and made haste, I would probably still make it in time even if I had to hike a little in the moonlight

Heading off on loch Ba to the backdrop of a glorious Glencoe sunset was inspiring , so inspiring that I wasted another half hour on photos … Navigating Loch Ba to the Egress seemed easy on a map during planning but from flat on the loch the beaches and banking all look the same, like a continual wall with no exit. It is almost impossible to see a way out but luckily I had employed the use of my trusted GPS unit, on blind faith I followed it through to the start of Abhain Ba, the small river flowing between Loch Ba and Loch Laidon.

Abhain Ba

Abhain Ba was to prove shallow and twisting with more time dragging the Sup than not and with the impending and fast becoming darkness worrying me this was to prove one of the most difficult sections of the crossing. One that If I had been able, I would have kept for daylight. But that wasn’t to be as from here the midges went truly wild and what was just bearable before became a sadist’s testicle squashing torture-fest due to the ever-growing swarm around me. They were insatiable and I was forced to keep moving no matter what, suffer or suffer. I realised that I was literally following a GPS arrow and river bank blindly in the pitch black night. The cloud cover had shut out all light, not even a flicker, only a head torch reflection.

Suddenly I became very grateful that I always carry 2 sets of spare batterys. At this point in the crossing it was becoming very hard and difficult to keep going and extremely frustrating, then on top of everything the fucking midges upped their attack again!! Several times I had to immerse myself in the deep water just to have a break from them … the scourge of Scotland had me near breaking point , fuck those damn midges !!

night time navi …

Eventually I made it to Loch Laidon in pitch-black darkness, the clouds blocking any light. It was unnerving and I decided the safest place to be was bang in the middle of the loch away from any rocks, reeds and whatever else might be close to the bank, finally a little respite from the midge was finally had. I must have started to relax as my eye lids became very heavy, time for sugar. I sat down on my board, realising that I was in the middle of nowhere, on a remote loch at night …cool !  I dug out my KIND bars and filter bottle, fuelled myself up and set off following the GPS direction down the loch. Half nodding off I started to consider that if I did fully nod off and fell from my board would I find it again in the dark? Imagine swimming around out here with no board .. fuck that ! I got a little nervous and went to the knees for a while 😀  a lack of sleep can amplify the bad things in your head at times and I remember running through the Sahara desert on my own at night during the Marathon Des Sable  thinking people were following me, convinced myself I could hear them and see their shadows but later deciding it was only the water sloshing in my bottle and the flicker of my head torch on the sand.

working hard through the night

Eventually the sky started to show light and a small breeze finally got up, soon the midges were all but gone and I could see the shape of the loch in front. Loch Laidon is a long haul and this morning felt especially long,  although looking at my GPS I realised that I had covered a lot of ground … Happy days.

Dont let anyone ever put you off buying a GPS .. best thing ever !

Following my GPS on blind faith again it took me right to the end of the loch and straight to the Egress with the Garbh Gaur, a river I had previously visited with my Kayak. However thankfully it was a lot tamer than my white-water flood level visit. It flowed/portaged uneventfully and it wasn’t long before I was paddling into the secluded Loch Eigach, now in the blazing sunshine. I pulled onto a little beach, put my head on my rucksack and lay in the sun to grab 10 minutes, I awoke an hour later, super power nap!!  I felt reborn and what a place to be alive. Checking my GPS I realised if I didn’t hang around, I could be at the Tummel loch by the end of the day and my Van, I really wanted my van, full of pot noodles, sweeties and coffee!!  oh and my kingdom for a shit coffee 😀

Portaging the hydro

Out of Loch Eigach lay the Gaur, another cracking white-water river, a grade 4 in spate with a cracking technical section but thankfully not today, once I had portaged the dam and power station it was even more portage than SUP but thankfully a single track road appeared close to the rivers edge to help out.

Yet another portage !

Further down it deepened and meandered a little before eventually opening out into the grand beauty of Loch Rannoch!  I love this loch, it’s always busy though in the summer months. Despite a hard start due to a side wind it soon eased off and became a glorious paddle along its length. I was roasting at times as the sun was so hot but I was able now to go for a quick dip to cool off … I was buzzing!

Loch Rannoch

Eventually I reached Kinloch Rannoch at the end and I took a well-deserved break on its beach, I was feeling it now but what a day I was having … No time to dwell, the pot noodles were waiting and my decision to go light with only KIND bars for fuel was starting to fail me

the beach …. <3

I portaged beyond the small dam and set off on a meandering canal like River Tummel which took me nicely across the shadow of the iconic Schiehallion and onto the Dunalastair water …From here I was treading carefully as there’s a huge Dam not long after after the main body that I wasn’t wanting sucked into!!

A short while later I cleared a corner and there it was in all its man-made concrete glory. The one thing spoiling the purity of this crossing is all the hydro-work after loch Laidon,  yet at the same provides considerable interest to the journey… I made a bee-line for the shore though as I wasn’t interested in getting too close to this and from beyond it the shallow water portage-fest would be a nightmare. Knowing the river from previous white water visits I made for the road high above and hiked along it until I could safely drop back to the easier sections that intertwined with more portages down to the Tummel loch, soon that was gone and another final portage took me to my final stretch into Loch Tummel.

Loch Tummel

Loch Tummel is a fine Scottish Loch surrounded by fantastic scenery and I was enjoying the evening sun, still surprisingly full of energy. I was getting slightly bored with paddling but still enjoying the journey and being lost in my my thoughts on life and what was waiting for me in my van sat near the end on the shore …, full of pot noodles , oooohhh , paddle faster, faster!! … wouldn’t be long

lets have it !!! give it here !!  <3

Finally, it was in sight! the van!!  the pot noodle transportation automobile!! the van of dreams full of pot noodles! I could see it, my muscles engaged for the final mile, the SUP became a speed boat…….. Pot Noooooooooooooddllllleeeee let me have it 😀 They never tasted so good ! EVER!! ….  When I got there I didnt even pause on the shore, I was starving and the feeling as I walked towards the van was a mix of both desperate hunger and total satisfaction. I boiled the kettle, poured the Pot and sat on the step of the van eating, looking up at Schiehallion and absorbing just what I had done … happy days indeed 🙂

Happy Days !!

Looking back now I had a fantastic journey across a barren moorland above and beyond  GlenCoe, it lead to a beautiful valley full of breathtaking lochs and mountains. It was 40 plus miles of extremely difficult terrain, very remote in places so not to be taken lightly. A high level of outdoor skill was required and my river knowledge helped me considerably … Don’t be afraid, just treat it seriously, learn your craft and as always research the shit out of everything 😀

Time to Hang up my SUP boots or maye here’s to the winter crossing   who knows !!

Posted in Adventure, Kayaking, kayaking, Motivation, SUP, Wild swimming | 2 Comments

Swimming the Border Big Four….

“The Borders Big Four ” This long distance wild swim consists of four of the largest lochs in the Scottish Borders. Swam together they are a little under 11 miles of breath taking beauty… Swimming them all in one day is a stiff test for any hardcore wild swimmer.

 

 

Years ago, the infamous duo of Kenny Short and my uncle Micky Lyons, two very good swimmers, introduced me to wild swimming and I instantly loved it, racing up and down the Barnes loch on a Wednesday night during the summer was fun, took me outdoors and kept me fit to boot… triple win !

The early days at Barnes loch

Soon I was looking to go longer and arrived at Alemoor one sunny Saturday afternoon. It was the perfect size for a hard evenings training. Roughly 2500m up and down made it just the perfect distance to allow you to go full out, stumbling up the bank at the end with shoulders and a chest like Tarzan, and arms like Cheetah ?

Alemoor

Eventually I ventured further and started to try end to end swims on all the larger Borders Reservoirs and lochs. It was all new to me back then, a huge adventure that was taking me to places I had never been and in my own back yard !! . It was a pleasure to swim up these  beautiful virgin lochs and I slowly traveled across the Scottish Borders  swimming the full official list of reservoirs and worthwhile lochs. I have a style, something important to me in that I try to swim a loch by entering from the stream that feeds the loch, then across the loch as centrally as possible, trying to follow the direction that nature originally intended. This probably means nothing to most other wild swimmers but to me it’s my best style and it keeps the spectral disorders at bay ? In addition to this I like to swim the big ones solo, my mind goes to a special place where time and miles just disappear. It is a peaceful state of bliss that I rarely find in my normal life and definitely not my work !!! <3 😀

The Borders Big Four

In my humble opinion the best and my favorite swims of all the Borders lochs are the Fruid, Talla, Megget and St.Marys. These are “The Borders BIG Four” nestled in the land of wild swim paradise!   All are exceptionally fresh and clear reservoirs surrounded by big hills and beautiful countryside. What self respecting wild swimmer wouldn’t want to swim here I ask. And luckily for me they are all easily accessible from my home.Back in 2015 I planned to swim them all in one day and run between them making it one continuous trial. I planned it out, set a date, then BOOM! my recurring shoulder Injury put paid to that attempt when it gave in again the week prior and lead to surgery number three!! capital F for Frustrating!! I am nothing if not patient and enduring so eventually I planned again to do it in September 2019. The diving was so good that year that I couldn’t find enough time to do diving and train ?  This year though, even in the ill-fated mess of 2020 I had thought it might be the perfect year.

The ill fated Ullswater 2020 end to end

I entered the 7.5-mile Epic Events chill-swim event, The Ullswater end to end race along with my friends Bongo and Deeks. We all agreed to train together regularly to prepare as seven and a half miles is a distance worthy of respect and a little extra training certainly wouldn’t do any harm. … 2020’s old friend the Covid-19 virus appeared before we even got going and threw a spanner right in the works for a while. Thankfully only temporarily as luckily Alemoor isn’t very far away. We didn’t have to wait too long before being able to access it without travel restriction.

Stuart Deeks bare arsed wild swimming legend !!!

Training eventually started and we regularly notched up the miles, I embarked on a few long ones across the Megget and a fun rough weather swim on St Marys, this interspersed with some hard and fast sprint sessions up and down Alemoor. My uncle Mick is the pace man, he is like a wind up bath toy ! just point him in the right direction and whoosh he leaves a wake up the Loch, machine !!   Things were going well in 2020, shoulder was strong .. I had started to consider the Borders big Four again, even planned an early attempt but weather blew it off. I added a few trail miles here and there with Frank as I was considering the non-stop solo again. Training continued and I was getting fitter. During one solid swim up  the Megget I thought of the Big Four again, fuck it !! let’s do it soon.  I considered my options and after speaking to Stuart Deeks one afternoon about it we decided to do it together, self-supported and in ethical style although we would wear wetsuits and use my van and Stuarts four-wheel drive to shuttle rather than run between, it was cool by me ?

Bill and Ben wild swimming men !

5am Sunday morning saw me leave Denholm, van loaded and heading to meet Stuart up on the A7 just after Hawick. First stop was the Fruid. We arrived to find a beautiful morning , we changed, shuttled the van and started at the inlet stream before swimming a central line for the dam. The water was fresh and the miles seemed to disappear quickly as we rapidly approached the dam. I was slightly nervous about the dam section on the Fruid, my last visit saw me encounter very strange currents which  I am not afraid to admit had me very worried, especially as I was swimming solo. Thankfully we didn’t get sucked down any big holes so job was a good un!!

A very rough Talla

Off to the Talla! This is a beautiful valley and the swim up the loch is especially scenic and enjoyable, this morning though it was blowing a gale and with the huge waves that were forming it was an exciting swim, it  felt like a stormy North Sea. This helped pass the time though pushing us along nicely too and soon we were at the end jumping in the van heading for the Megget with almost 5 mile of swimming under our belts already ?

off to the Meggett

The Megget is without doubt my favorite loch of the four. The mighty Megget I like to call it because when the wind gets up the waves formed here are far bigger than any of the other four.  It is the loch where I have had so many amazing times while camping there in my van. I have solo swam it end to end more than any loch and fallen off a SUP into its waves many many times. It was the first of the two longer swims, nearly 3 miles long and after almost 5 miles of swimming already in the bank it was a thought to look to the end which seemed so far away but onward we had to go. Summoning our fortitude and with heads down and arms churning the distance shrank every time I sighted ahead. My mind was full of good Megget memories and soon I was walking up towards the van at the end, only one loch left.

Finally Stuart and I rocked up to St Marys, the finall loch of the four. No doubting its a beautiful loch but not my favourite swim, it’s got headlands that never seem to end and I am always very glad to see the finish. Psychologically it was a nasty one for me to finish on but we were finally here, number four of the Big Four. Heads down and we got to the business of finishing the challenge , one that had seemed such a huge task at the start but now had only 3 miles left to go , lets have it!! fuck yeah !!!! My arms were still strong and I had developed a head full of crazy thoughts, elated then unhappy and extremely bored of swimming, I jumped between these but always knowing that at the end I had finally completed something I had wanted to do for years. We reached the beach that marked the end of our long day, satisfied, tired and hungry but we sat there a while laughing and congratulating each other. Happy days the Borders Big Four was ours and at just under 11 miles of swimming across breathtaking countryside and sparkling lochs we deserved our dinner. Happy days and thank you very much indeed Scottish Borders. <3 your a star !

is that your real nose ?

A great challenge and one that maybe next year I will return to solo and run between each loch … maybe next year ….. maybe!  😀

 

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Diving the SS ST. BRIAC

SS ST. BRIAC was a British Passenger Vessel of 2,291 tons built in 1924 by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton, Yard No 1165 for the Southern Railway Co, London. She was powered by 2 x 2 Oil fired steam turbines – giving a speed of 19 knots, 433nhp 5200shp. Engines by William Denny & Brothers, Dumbarton. Taken into service by the navy June 1941. Served as a Fleet Air Arm target ship. Mined off Aberdeen on the 12th March 1942.

Great dive and a very adventurous day given the sea conditions … I learnt a lot .

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