CARLOWAY CLAPOTIS

On 16^th November, Sunday afternoon Jamie Sullivan, Mike Sullivan and Robert Emmott went on an adventure up the coast of Carloway. We set off about 2:00pm and arrived back at the Carloway Pier about 4:00pm.

We paddled up the coast, exploring some of the little caves and blowholes we came across. It wasn’t that rough but there was a wee bit of swell. When we rounded the second corner it started to get a bit bumpy. The swell was probably around 5/6 foot with the occasional 7 foot and a lot of clapotis.

Robert continued to go along the coast but Mike and Jamie stayed off a bit. Jamie was feeling a bit nervous as we approached the island off the headland named Craigeam A’Bheirigh. There was a big set that came in and Robert tried hard not to get smashed against the rocks or tipped upside down. We didn’t go through the gap between the headland and the island because there were a lot of big sets coming through the gap and there were also breakers in the middle with clapotis at the sides. We decided to turn round and I was happy with this decision because it would take the strain off my arms and we would be able to do a bit of surfing. That’s exactly what we did. It was great fun. I nearly fell in at one point but after a while I got used to wobbling around and bumping up and down.

We arrived at the island off the other headland called Eilean Bhinndealaim. We couldn’t get through the gap this time either because the tide was too low. All the same Robert went to explore while Jamie and Mike stayed back and played in the clapotis and watched the white horses out at sea behind us and the big swell crashing against the island rocks.

Next we headed round the tip of the island and back down towards the Pier. We soon came across a gap between two rocks jutting out of the water with rolling waves coming in consistently between the two rocks. Mike and Robert were thinking about this very hard. Finally, Mike came to a decision. After a while of sussing it out and thinking about his timing, Mike fired through and made it out the other end to see Jamie waiting patiently for him. Followed close behind him was Robert.

Soon we found a sheltered bay so we all decided to get out and have a snack which consisted of lots of tea, hot chocolate and biscuits. After that and having a wee toilet break, we were back on the water. It was much calmer and we were all just talking to each other. We were soon back at the Pier and out getting changed into our dry clothes. It all went too fast for me but all the same, it was great fun!!

You can see a short video clip of the trip here!