Fab Winter Camp on Etive

The day after Ian and I played with skates and rays, I headed out west again. This time with Ash, aiming for a relaxing winter camp in his hot tent plus a little fishing on Etive.

We’d a late start (well I did:-)) so it was noon before we launched and headed up loch. This time we took Ash’s tent and stove rather than my Robens equivalent. Chuck in ample wood and food supplies and my little Orkney was filled to the brim!

We set up on one of my favourite spots, on an old charcoal pit. It’s a lovely flat pitch amongst oak trees overlooking the loch. Apart from the effort of hauling gear up above the shoreline it’s pretty much perfect.

With the tent set up, we headed back out on the loch for a couple of hours as the sun faded in the west. I didn’t bother dropping anchor and we picked up a few little spurdog as we drifted very slowly. Mackerel baited hokkais did the damage but pretty much any mackerel bait will work – the fish ain’t too fussy.

Meantime, Ash ground some fresh coffee to provide easily the best brew I’ve ever tasted afloat. We fished, swigged coffee and generally put the world to rights. Eventually the sun finally disappeared and the sudden chill reminded us that it was early January!

‘Twas dark by the time we arrived back at our stony beach. I then proceeded to demonstrate perfectly how not to moor a boat. The darkness was quite disorientating and I took several attempts to find deep enough water. Eventually this eejit succeeded and stumbled ashore, leaving the boat reasonably safe for the night.

Having chilled down nicely it was a real treat to get the tent stove blazing and return some warmth to my fingers. Ash’s pot of sausages and beans went down a treat before we hit the sack. As did a wee drop of malt in my hot chocolate 🙂

Icy Morning

We awoke to cold, grey light in the morning and large rafts of ice on the loch. Ash kicked off some coffee and bacon rolls for breakfast whilst I checked out the boat and took a few photos. The sky was fine and clear but the sun stayed low behind the mountains, so it was chilly!

Breakfast over, we headed out for another few hours fishing – again chasing mainly small spurs. Eventually the sun did struggle clear of Ben Cruachan – an excellent excuse to stop ashore for another fine brew of fresh coffee.

Another wee spell fishing and then it was time to break camp and head back to civilisation. A nice bonus (for me!) was that Ash had the hassle of tent drying and gear sorting 🙂 It’s certainly not the easiest job in mid-winter!

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