solo sea kayaking Loch Bracadale *

* Some of the content is not made for kids.

Quote from “Skye and North West Highlands Sea Kayaking” by Doug Cooper:

“What Loch Bracadale lacks in tidal streams it more than makes up for in scenery. With the Cullins on one side and MacLeod’s Tables on the other, Skye’s most famous mountains overlook you. Add to this the spectacular cliffs and cave of Wiay and this is a great day out.”

First trip with Trak 2.0 Kayak.

First I have to say I call myself an enthusiast amateur when it comes to kayaking and I want this to be the starting point of this description of my first trip in true sea conditions with the Trak 2.0 Kayak. At the same time I have to say I was not one of the backers, I paid for the kayak in full and I have no affiliation with the guys at Trak other than the fact that they invited me to be a ambassador a couple of times and I refused. I’m a cunt I suppose.

Let’s start from the beginning. For this trip I traveled across the UK, from Southend-on-Sea to Dunvegan. I used a mix of trains, buses and taxis. For those of you living in the UK, I used the C2C train from Southend to Fenchurch Street then I jumped in a taxi to Euston, Caledonian Sleeper dropped me off in Inverness, then I took a train to Kyle of Lochalsh, from there a bus to Portree and finally the taxi dropped me off in front of the door of my B&B host.

Beware, some might ask a few questions about what you actually carry.

After such a trip, I can say the Trak 2.0 is portable in a sense that I can drag it through public transport and taxis but I wouldn’t be able to carry it to the water, on my back on a hike in the hills for example. Some say it’s possible, I’m definitely not strong enough for that. Buying the backpack, harness frame thing, whatever you might call it was a waste of money.

Talking about the paddling day, I launched @ 8am from the Harlosh point if I may call it that and landed @ 2pm in the same spot, circumnavigating Tarner Island and on the way back chasing some dolphins in the middle of the Loch for one hour and landing for 30min break on the beach on Harlosh Island. Check the map if you’re really interested.

I think it was after 3 hours that my left leg started to fall asleep and I needed to stretch it out. That means I was having to take the foot off the peg to get the blood flowing back through and as a result I was loosing control as such. I think in rougher conditions not being able to keep both my feet on the pegs would be dangerous?! Not sure but that’s what I imagine giving the level of skills I poses. It is important to mention I’m approximately 75kg in weight and 175cm in height as I believe it has a huge impact on the comfort on longer paddles. All the layers and PFD I’m wearing probably makes me look bigger.

Other struggles comes with solo sea kayaking and are nothing to do with the Trak 2.0 Kayak. A second person would be helpful when it comes to landing or launching at low water. Not sure how the weight of the Trak 2.0 compares to other kayaks. I don’t even bother with that as I can’t own a proper kayak for the storage and transport issues. To be noted though, the 18kg weight of the boat easily turns into 25kg or 30kg depending on what you actually carry with you. I didn’t have any camping gear this time around so I didn’t spend much time planning how to load the kayak and I only did one trip at the put in and two trips when landed. That’s because I was tired, the tide was well out, rocks were huge and I wanted to take the shot as well.

I really enjoyed the adjustable rocker and I pumped the keel jack about 16 times, even with the broken keel tube, duct tape is a miracle. Not sure if that’s anywhere near the limit but I liked it.

I should make a video about my broken keel tube.

Another issue specific to the Trak 2.0 and all other folding kayaks is the lack of watertight bulkheads. I have to use the Trak inflatable bags and another one behind the seat if I want to have any chance of self rescue.

Have a laugh watching me struggle.

I can’t roll so any tip over is a wet exit in my case and with it comes a lot of water filling up the kayak. The day before this trip I’ve gone out to refresh my few skills in swell and wind. At the end of that outing I’ve tried a self rescue and of course it was a fail. Plenty reasons for that. The main one being my head, I panicked. All the self rescue practices I’ve done with the Trak 2.0 was around Southend where there’s no swell only sometimes I went out in windy conditions. This time I had an off shore head wind, the swell was significant for my abilities and added all up in my head I thought it’s time to panic. I didn’t even try a second time as I usually do at home. But not all to waste, I had a chance to experience swimming and towing the kayak onto the beach and it worked.

Before the self rescue fail I was still thinking about attempting to paddle to Macleod's Maidens the following day. In a way I’m happy I failed because that made me scrap the grand plan and choose the easier paddle around the islands on Loch Bracadale. It was wise. One rule to keep, the day before a big trip, a self rescue must be done and the way that goes should tell if I’m safe or act as suicidal.

Few more stills from Loch Bracadale.

Don't go before you watch the video of the trip, a masterpiece as usual.

I hope this post makes sense and gives anyone interested a rough idea about what to expect but I believe in the end it boils down to personal experience and is very important to have that in a safe way before committing to a proper trip.