Stirling Rowing Club to Silversands at Aberdour. 22/09/2023
Sea Kayak trip using Tiderace Pace sea kayaks
Trip Report: Daves Go Forth! Stirling Rowing Club to Silversands at Aberdour. 22/09/2023
Dave Cuthill (Lothian Sea Kayak Club and Forth Canoe Club).
It was Dave Brown’s idea. Start in Stirling, Down the River Forth, on to the Firth of Forth and paddle to Aberdour.
I’ve never fancied the trip. But I was wrong. It’s a marvellous run.
We had to get up well before dawn at 5 a.m. Leaving Milnathort, we took Dave’s car to Aberdour and drove my van via the M9 to the put-in. Many thanks to Stirling Rowing Club for allowing us to use their jetty. (About Stirling Rowing Club). We managed to get started on the river at 08:30am.
We managed the 60km trip in 8 hours, and that included a half-hour late lunch stop at LSKC North Queensferry. So our time on the move was 7h33m.
Dave Brown paddled a Tiderace Pace-16 Action
Dave Cuthill paddled a Tiderace Pace-17 Tour
High Tide was 08:40 and the river was running fast. We launched and immediately moved at 8km/hr. The grassy river banks sped past as swirls and eddies showed on the surface. Speed increased to over 10km/h after the first hour when we passed the Bannock Burn. The second hour was faster, peaking at 11,12,13 km/h as we passed Alloa, where some ancient abandoned wooden boats could be seen, skeletal, in their last resting place. These two hours on the river were marvellous. I don’t think they can have changed since the days of Bruce and Wallace. Nature untouched. There is very thick bankside foliage and if the water had been lower, we would have seen the glaury, steep-sided riverbank. We were cheered to see the Kincardine bridge from Alloa, which we passed at the 3-hour mark. Soon after this, we could see the Forth Bridges 20 miles away. Going past Grangemouth, we tried to follow the Marine Chart deep water channel, thinking it would be faster water ebbing, but we were surprised to measure a slowing down. We were checking speed and pace between our tracks on our Garmin wristwatch computers all the time whilst paddling. We stopped every 50 minutes or so for a sip of water and a bite of an energy bar.
At the 4-hour mark, we were in mid-channel doing a steady 8km/h with a force 2 to 3 Beaufort wind behind us.
We stopped at LSKC North Queensferry after 5h50m of steady paddling, having only paused a few times. There we were happy to meet Alice McInnes, who was extremely generous, giving us onion bhajis and tea bags, which revived us mightily.
My heart rate maxed at 150bps with an average of 123bpm.
Our average pace was 8m/km. We were glad to have river-flow, tidal and wind assist!
After a 30 minute break at NQ, we set off under the Forth Bridge. By this time it was slack water.
After Jamestown, our speed slowed to 6 and then 5kph as a big weather-front passed overhead, causing a 20-minute thunder shower and a veering wind to the North. From North Queensferry, after 1hr45m we reached our end-point at Silversands beach Aberdour.
It was a very enjoyable paddle and I recommend it.
Dave Brown ready first!
Preparing the boats at Stirling.
I had no idea that the Forth was such a big river. It shares a corner of three OS Maps, Which I didn’t have. We printed out the route from Google Maps and encapsulated them. There is also a Community pontoon, but it’s locked and you need to be a Stirlingshire resident to get the combination.
Abandoned hulks at Alloa
Thanks go to Stirling Rowing Club for giving us written permission to launch at their well-appointed pavilion and jetty.
Many thanks once again to Alice McInnes for advice on launch-site and for sustenance and good company at NQ.
Dave Cuthill