Here’s the blogpost link. This was another glorious month of wild weather: I’ve never travelled seas quite so unpredictable. Me, the camera, and everything I owned were frequently sea-soaked for long spells at a time, and, unlike in previous months, showers often blocked the views. So there aren’t as many photos as usual, but the ones that are here will long remind me of intense feelings: swell that rushed in like oncoming tenement buildings and waves crashing down with industrial force.
The month began back on the Western Isles for Faclan, the Hebridean book festival. The first few pics are from a Lewis road trip, then a glorious snowy night in a cave on Clisham. The rest are from the journey down west Sutherland. Llinos Elin Owen joined me for one stretch. Here, she’s about to ride down a wave as I – just about – balanced to take photos (to me a photo like this, taken far out at sea, is far scarier than one in huge coastal surf):
Indeed, the swell for that section of the journey was beyond anything I’ve experienced before: the sucking undertow between waves wrenched at the kayak, threatening to pull the boat side on, while every peak was a ski slope. In other words, north-west Sutherland lived up to its reputation. I risked photos rarely in such conditions. Click on the thumbnails for bigger pics.
The Frayed Atlantic Edge 