As the sun set, what we had managed to achieve began to sink in. We had done the ‘Cape’. The weather hadn’t been perfect and it certainly had challenged us but we had managed and we all had that pleasant feeling of tiredness mixed with satisfaction.
The sound of surf pounding the beach isn’t the sound you want to hear when you wake up, especially knowing that you have to get through it and paddle another 20km to the take out. However once Andy woke me properly and I actually stuck my head out of the tent door, I realised the surf wasn’t that big; only 2 foot and dumping.
Once afloat the down-drafts returned and we skated around the sea stack of Am Buachaille in gusty conditions. The coastline South of Sandwood bay didn’t disappoint us with a variety of cliffs, stacks and bays to explore and view. The cursed wind finally dropped and we had dolphins cruise past us along with a local fishing boat - the first human we had seen since we had set off from Durness.
We turned in towards Kinlochbervie and stopped at the Caribbean like beach of Polin. Around the village of Oldshoremore the beaches are as good as you get in the Hebrides or Arisaig but with the bonus that they won’t be overrun with other sea kayakers.
Once ashore at Kinlochbervie, all that was left to do was the shuttle back to Durness and reflect on the trip; the highs, the lows, the challenges, the scenery and that feeling of satisfaction.
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