Fed up of the inclement sea conditions, and in an effort to do anything to not have to erg, a men’s 25+ (and one lady) crew decided to head to Loch Lomond for a bit of winter training.
Arriving at Balloch mid morning the crew launched free of charge from the Duncan Mills slipway. The first leg down to Balmaha felt like we might as well have stayed in home waters as a brisk wind whipped up the waves and sporty conditions ensued.
From Balmaha we crossed using the islands for cover to land briefly at Luss for a quick bite to eat and a coffee before the hard slog back to Balloch 5 hours after we left.
The crew were involved in various drills and technical skills to help improve performance and to keep us warm! Everyone had a slot coxing and stroking with Duncan unanimously voted best at both (electoral pop’n = 1).
The boat was packed up in the rain that finally arrived after threatening all day and proceeded to follow us all the way back to North Berwick.
Overall it was a very worthwhile outing and easily done in a day. It was easy to launch and recover and in better weather lots of places to land on the various islands for a wee explore and for changeovers.
Total distance 29km. Total moving time 4 hours.
Reportage by Duncan McKay and thanks to Robbie Wightman for towing and the idea in the first place.