Archive for Windsurfing

Solway

August 30th, 2010 • 1 comment Windsurfing

One and only one from the Solway Firth last weekend.  Windsurfing being the order of the day and I dont have the kit for water shooting (yet).  This is us waiting for the tide to come in:

Tiree

April 18th, 2010 • Surfing, Windsurfing

Ever since I was wee boy I wanted to go to Tiree.  You could say that all the Scottish Islands have a unique character of their own, but Tiree somehow sits apart from the rest; it gets an usually high level of sunshine for Scotland, is fed warmer water by the Gulf stream and, because it’s low lying, the wind sweeps over it unhindered from the Atlantic.  This and an ambundance of fantastic beaches all the way round the island makes it a fantastic place for surfing and windsurfing, attracting a maverick surf crowd and giving it a kind of Hawaiian-esque atmosphere to the place.  It regularly hosts the Tiree Wave Classic and was the venue for the World Cup Finals 2007.  The island’s hostel must be a great place to be in high season.

There’s more to it than just surfing though.  A highlight for me was running out to Hynish, where you can see out to the famous Skerryvore lighthouse, built around 1830 by Alan Stevenson, one of a prolific family and father of Robert Louis Stevenson of Treasure Island and Dr Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.  The lighthouse was an ambitious project at the time, the tallest lighthouse in the country, it remains impressively perched on a rock 10.5 nautical miles out to Sea.  We couldn’t get someone to take us out, that’s for next time.


About High-8

High-8 is a loose gathering of like minded adventurists who document first person, on the ground experiences with words, photos and film. The hope is to form a rough guide to outdoor adventure sports in Scotland and provide a warts and all, honest representation of what we find. No sport is excluded from mountaineering and mountain biking to gorge walking and kayak all are welcome and encouraged.

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The Code

The Country Code, which most of us learned in school (and we probably haven't read since!), was updated in 2004 when it became the Countryside Code. Here's the updated version:
  • Be safe - plan ahead and follow any signs
  • Leave gates and property as you find them
  • Protect plants and animals, and take your litter home
  • Keep dogs under close control
  • Consider other people
In Scotland, where there is a more general right of access, there also exists the Scottish Outdoor Access Code:
  • Take responsibility for your own actions
  • Respect people’s privacy and peace of mind
  • Help farmers, landowners and others to work safely and effectively
  • Care for the environment
  • Keep your dog under proper control
  • Take extra care if you are organising a group, an event or running a business.
There's obviously a lot to to be learned from these - it's amazing how many people get out to enjoy the countryside but are still happy to leave it in a mess. Even with the recent updates, the Countryside Codes seem slightly outdated when considering the wider issues involved when lots of people get out into the countryside. Some places just can't handle high volumes of people, no matter how they behave and publicity, no matter how interesting or well-done , has the potential to attract lots of people to an area. Blogs including video, pictures or words, form part the the wider media which could easily contribute to tipping the balance, and so we as bloggers have to consider the implications of what we decide to post. Can the place we're writing about take more people, and if not, it might be wiser to leave maps, place names or grid references out of posts. In Scotland, the Mountain Bothies Association has been careful to protect the location of some Bothies due to mis-treatment and, in some cases, even malicious vandalism. That is not to say they would not advocate people using them - in fact, a well used, maintained and loved network of bothies exist, and the MBA as an organisation is there to encourage this. Some bothies are busier than others but generally it is the less remote places which are more susceptible to abuse - something which might be worth considering when deciding whether to post information. It must be said, in most cases it's obvious what should or shouldn't be publisiced, but it's worth taking these considerations to mind.

Please note: The Code is constantly being revised and added to. If you like to add something login in to the discussion on the forum.