Scottish Canoe Routes

Published Jan 2022 on Apple eBooks and Amazon Kindle

The most detailed book available on canoe tripping in Scotland; 530 pages of tips, techniques, route-maps, historical information and 10 accounts of trips on canoe routes from the Great Glen to the Maree-Fionn-Fada Circuit. Extensively illustrated.

"there's so much in there for other folk to enjoy and take from"

"lots of canoeing lore, history, geography and of course botany... [The stories] are a step above what is normally included in such accounts and are akin to the best travel writing"

Visit Apple Books Store and search "Canoeing Scotland"

Buy here on Amazon Kindle

This is a unique book that distills the wisdom from 30 years of canoe travel in Scotland and paints an indelible picture of what it actually feels like to explore some of Scotlands wilder waterways. If you want to canoe off the beaten track in Scotland, this book will tell you what you need to know, and set the scene for some great adventures of your own.

A book of great depth, here is just a small sample of the things you will discover inside, often topics of great practical use not often covered in the standard ‘How to Canoe’ books.

Turning blue lines on the map of Scotland into canoe routes. Reading the terrrain between lochs.

Planning your route. Gradients, streams and portages. Linking lochs.

The inner game of portaging - psychological tricks to get you through.

Plans for a paddle that has stood the test of time. Making emergency paddles en route.

Outfitting your paddle - tarp pole, camera mount, game board, map.

Learning from the pros - Canadian voyageur lore and how it can help you e.g. correct pacing of portages.

Learning to read Nature’s signs: what is the weather going to do?, find that elusive dry camp.

Entertainment for the windbound paddler. Inuit string figures.

In touch with the past; ancient portage routes in Scotland.

Camp fires: environmental and ethical issues.

Living off the land; forage foods you may come across in the Highlands.

Videoing your trip.

Training for portaging.

How to make a 130g camp chair alternative.

Learning for yourself, more valuable than going on a course?

Countless anecdotes from Canada’s Canoe Era. How did a Hudson’s Bay pot get 40ft up a tree? Expedition members recruited on their ability to portage and find firewood.

Canoe-Munroing.

What to put in your ‘Ditch Kit’

Negative-trace camping.

Preparing for storms at camp.

Final checks before you turn in for the night.

17th century Jesuit rules for canoe travel - still good advice today.

Canoe companions getting along, and falling out. The Simpson method for choosing trip-mates.

The rotating oven.

The downside of bannock.

The POD stroke.

Preserving the environment.

Making your own stoves.