Ritchie arrived last night after a hard paddle in a strong head wind. I met him at Nairn’s harbour where he was looking very salty, literally, and very tired. He was on the harbour wall with Mike, a very good friend of Ritchie’s brother-in-law. Mike and Corinne retired to Nairn several years ago.
We came back to our most excellent holiday home, The Meadows Chalet in Auldearn, a few minutes’ drive from Nairn. Wanda and Steve, the owners, have made us feel right at home. They have two delightful dogs on their welcoming committee, siblings Penny and Tuppence. Ritchie had a much anticipated warm shower, put on dry, clean clothes from home, and ate an enormous dinner. He was so tired he looked like he was going to fall asleep at the table. After a 30 minute restorative nap, he sorted out his wet kit and talked with our nieces Anna and Wendy in Houston. Wendy had just celebrated her 7th birthday with a trampoline party.
Ritchie was up at 5:15 this morning, on his own. Once I got up, we had an enormous cooked breakfast and several cups of tea. Ritchie did laundry and spread his gear from one end of the house to the other, including outside each end of the house. We had a homemade cookie snack before lunch. (There is a definite food theme here.) Then we drove into Inverness to buy a VHF radio, 2 map cases, and food for the next leg of the journey. We came back home and started snacking again.
In a previous blog, Ritchie mentioned meeting Donald Macpherson. This evening, we met Donald on the beach in Nairn with his partner Diana and their two dogs, Harris and Louie. Donald brought Ritchie a book by Rowland Woollven, who completed a circumnavigation of Britain by sea kayak from 2008 to 2012 using a Greenland paddle like the one Ritchie uses. Donald runs Explore Highland, offering canoeing and stand up paddle boarding experiences throughout the Scottish Highlands. Diana and I talked about dogs, people and her amazing job while the boys talked about boats.
Tomorrow, we plan to make a more concerted effort to get some chores done ready for Ritchie’s early departure on Wednesday. We will take a break to have a fresh seafood lunch in Nairn with Mike at the Sun Dancer Bar & Restaurant. It has been lovely today to just sit around, relaxing, chatting and eating.
I will send Ritchie off to Lossiemouth a little more rested, quite well fed, and ready for the adventure ahead. And I’ll miss him all over again.
One Man And His Boat 