SUP Mag UK lo-res free to readers April 2014 lo-res free to read | Page 58

A good start

Monster?

Starting out in the dark is quite a strange
feeling. When you can just about make out
the route in front of you and catch a
glimpse of someone up ahead, distances
become hard to judge.

Thoughts of the Nessy legend caused
alarm at one point when I heard splashing
noises from behind. Glancing back nothing
was there so I concluded it was just the
wind pushing the water. It turned out that
Mark Slater had gone all stealthy on us
with no lights on his board. He had been
creeping up making good time downwind.
Mild panic over!

During my run up to the event I had been
training with Crispin Jones down in Devon. We
quite often end up competing together
during races and have a great respect for each
other, so to paddle with him on this challenge
I knew would be good for both of us. We had a
plan to stick together and push ourselves for
a good time. Having someone with such a
bright torch strapped to their board, lighting
up the whole valley, was also very useful.

Loch Lochy was a challenge. Mark was
much more suited to the downwind
conditions we experienced. He started to put
a little gap between us. About a hundred
meters ahead he ran into trouble. At first we
thought we heard him shout: ‘I’m drowning’.
Spotting he was off his board we entered
rescue mode. Fortunately he was OK, Mark
had simply run aground. As we picked the
pace back up the wind really got going and
we ended up catching a few bumps.

It was soon apparent that our pace was
quite high, we planned to make use of the
flat calm conditions before the sun rose and
our first stop would be in sight.
Approaching our first big test at Loch Lochy
the wind began to come through, a hint of
snow hung in the air and the temperature
dropped. Winding along the canal Rob
Stewart passed us at a blistering pace. We
knew it was a long way ahead yet and
decided to stick to our plan, and soon
enough we reached our first portage.

Tough stuff
My run up to the Great Glen wasn’t a smooth
one with injury and a lack of training.
Despite this I was paddling well and
confident of setting a good time. As we
approached the halfway point I was ready
for some food and drink.

A steep climb up a slippery snow covered
bank awaited us – wetsuit boots and a
heavy board meant for a tricky assent up to
the pathway. After helping each other it was
a five hundred meter walk to our entry point
the other side. I found out quickly that
having to carry a dry bag with spare clothes
wasn’t the best idea. I had chosen to paddle
in lighter gear as I knew how warm paddling
makes you, most others had full dry suits
on and didn’t require spare clothes.

I was falling back though and I just couldn’t
stick with the pace. When your mind is
telling you to speed up and [