Fifteen brave souls set off on annual‘Pressie Paddle’

East Kilbride Kayak Club enjoyed an oarsome start to 2017 with their annual‘Pressie Paddle’ on the banks of Loch Lomond.

Fifteen brave souls set out from Luss on Sunday, January 15 to blow away the cobwebs from their Christmas and New Year excesses.

The ‘Pressie Paddle’ sees members bring along their new paddle gear from Christmas to show everyone, before they embark on a day of activities and sightseeing.

In all, there were 13 sea kayaks and two canoes as the gang departed from Luss Visitor Centre and headed off south to Inchtavannach.

They group island hopped for a couple of hours which included a brief stop to explore the small ruined castle on Inchgalbraith.

The weather was overcast and, apart from a brief, but heavy cloudburst just south of Luss, stayed dry throughout the day. After lunch the canoes, which are slower over the water than the long, sleek sea kayaks, plotted a shorter course back to the put-in. The rest of the group carried on around several more islands, heading north and around the large Inchlonaig, before heading back to Luss.

Club member Neil Bennett said: “This was a great way to start a very busy 2017 season and an excellent way to blow away the winter cobwebs.

“It is always a great sight to see so many colourful boats gliding along together, as it was to see them all pulled ashore on a small beach on Inchmoan for our lunch break.”

Once dried off, changed and loaded up, the gang headed to the Balloch House Hotel for a quiz night.

The club is active all year round at sea, on rivers and at Glasgow’s Pinkston Slalom Course.

EKKC has now returned to its winter quarters at Hamilton Water Palace on a Friday night.

For more information or if you fancy joining the club, visit www.eekcc.com.

It is always a great sight to see so many colourful boats gliding along together...