Into the Wilderness .. On the road again

I was in heaven going round Handa and full of life in Laxford but then .. for no reason at all ... my lousy liver started to give me trouble again. It is the nature of my liver disease .. when its not having fun .. it makes sure I start to lose all sense of enjoyment or motivation doing the things that I enjoy doing.

I'm sure a doctor would give a better explanation .. but I assume its because the liver is like the oil filter in a car. Once it starts to clog with gunge .. the engine cant keep lubricated and doesn’t run well. My joints start to ache with lack of liver oils. I also compare my liver to the ignition system in a car. It produces tiny drug things that are fired to my brain like happy pills.

Of course a doctor may scoff and say its nothing of the kind. I never took biology at school so know little about the wonders of human engines. I can keep my inflatable boat outboards running perfectly and do my own maintenance and servicing on them.

What I do know is that after my time at Laxford .. the spark seemed to go out and I started to get natural happy pill withdrawal symptoms. My joints started to ache and I lost interest in my boat. I had planned on following the entire coast line from Loch Laxford to Skye in my little 2.75 meter long inflatable. Obviously only on suitable weather days and launching it from easy access points.

From Handa I could see the Old Man of Stoer standing off the Point of Stoer and was looking forward to exploring Eddrachillis Bay before paying the Old Man a visit.

My initial plan was to access the area from the slipway at Kylesku ..just underneath the road bridge.

But when I arrived ..I found my liver was only firing on two cylinders and not its normal four ..so lost any interest in launching a boat. I did enjoy sitting on the grass relaxing and watching the tour boat going by.

I then decided that I would have a look at Clachnessie Bay where I knew there was a lovely sandy beach with easy access to The Old Man and also Oldany Island ..another interesting island I had long looked forward to visiting.

When I arrived at Clachnessie ..the tide was miles out .. and I lost interest in launching from there. The thought of hauling even a small inflatable boat across the sand seized all my joints solid.

Because I had lost all motivation..I didn’t care anyway..so that was one positive thought I had.

I continued my drive along the coast. I knew Clachtoll had a lovely beach and a campsite. The thought of a campsite was now quite appealing as I was starting to itch for a warm shower.

Unfortunately the sea swell crashing onto the sands put an end to all notions of stopping here and launching my wee boat.

I moved onto Achmelvitch which has another campsite and lovely sandy beach

I managed to find enough enthusiasm to have a walk along the beach to see the small and unusual “Hermits Castle”

A visiting English architect took many months building in the 1950’s. Once completed..he only spent a weekend staying in it before moving on. I enjoyed seeing it ..but moved on after taking my photographs.

I decided to head for Lochinver.

Although my liver was not sending the happy pills to my brain.. the lovely scenery was ..and I could feel my enthusiasm for boating gradually returning.