Coastalsurvey

Brian Wilson has paddled more miles in his 37 years than most people will walk in a lifetime. Two of his kayak trips have resulted in books. The first, Blazing Paddles, recounts his 1985 circumnavigation of the Scottish coastline. In four months the Aberdeen native paddled 1800 miles and braved some of the worst weather the North Atlantic has to offer. Dances With Waves, Wilson’s account of his 1200-mile voyage around Ireland was published last year.

Brian Wilson, author, kayaker and crofter.

After 10 years working for Scottish conservation groups as a wildlife warden and countryside ranger, and a stint drying Kentish hops for Guinness, Wilson settled in Ullapool, a fishing and ferry port on the shores of Loch Broom in the western Highlands. Today Wilson lives on the outskirts of Ullapool with his partner MariePierre and their daughters, Malin and Manon, where he makes his living as a self-described “activity crofter” — a mix of contracting, consulting and training. His mainstay is drystone walling in restorations of traditional Highland buildings, with sidelines in writing, lecturing and teaching kayak clinics. When coastalsurvey caught up with Wilson at The Ceilidh Place in Ullapool, he had just returned from an ocean canoeing symposium in the Shetlands.

Q. What is it about coastlines that you find so compelling?
A. “There’s a concentration of everything along coastlines — you’ve got a great richness of wildlife and it’s a good way to learn about the people who live there, what they do and how they get by. Kayaking is also a lazy man’s way of traveling — using the tides and the wind is sort of like hitchhiking.”

Q. After surviving 30-foot swell off Cape Wrath, gales and a permanently wet butt on your trip around Scotland, you decided to kayak around Ireland — were you suffering from amnesia or what?
A. “The 1800 miles and a wet arse didn’t put me off doing it again. The idea of paddling around the country is just a vehicle to hang other stories on. In Ireland there are more people doing more things at sea level than Scotland, which is remote.”

Q. What are your favorite coastlines?
A. “Normally the west coast of Harris, but having just come back from Shetland, I would have to say that that’s a close rival.”

Q. The shores of northern and western Scotland look pristine (except some of the rivermouths). Are there any substantial ecological threats to this coast?
A. “Harris at the moment is under threat of coastal quarrying for roadbuilding material, but really a more insidious threat is fishfarming. The fish farms are highly dependent on chemicals and it has a big effect on native fish stocks and shellfish.”

Q. This part of Scotland seems to have a stable economic balance of crofting, tourism and fishing. Are there any factors that might disturb this equilibrium and change the face of the coast?
A. “The balance is always slightly shifting. Tourism has gained precedence lately. A lot of farmers and crofters are thinking about diversifying a little more to take advantage of that.”

Q. In Dances With Waves you talk about the feeling a kayak gives of being immersed in the ocean. Is that what keeps you involved in the sport?
A. “That’s important — contact with the living ocean — but the capacity for self-contained, unlimited travel is the main thing, being able to access places you couldn’t otherwise get to. On the Isle of Harris I met an old man who asked me, ‘What is your definition of an island?’ I said it’s a piece of land separated from other land by a body of water. He said, ‘You’re wrong! It’s a bit of land joined to other land by the sea.’ ”

Q. Are you planning any more epic kayak tours?
A. “I’ve been doing short journeys chosen for comfort. I travel with my family now in Feathercraft folding boats. We’ve been to Finland, Norway, Greece and the coast of Africa. Baja would be great. I’d love to paddle around Baja.”

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Both books are available from: The Two Ravens Press in Ullapool.

The Ceilidh Place is located at 14 West Argyle St., Ullapool IV26 2TY.