KAYAKING TO CLEAN
This May Kayak Summer Isles teamed up with our friends Evoke Adventure to make a start on cleaning the Summer Isles from plastic.
The arrival of Erin and her 9 lovely guests who had come all the way from Cornwall kicked off our adventure into the Summer Isles and begin our mission. Team Evoke were staying at the Port A Bhaigh campsite in Altandhu all week, while our guests at Kayak Summer Isles joined for discounted day trips.
Over our last season in the Summer Isles, our guides had compiled a list of beaches which we hoped to tackle. The scale of plastic was apparent from afar, but nothing until we looked up close- it is a big task! 
Each day involved a mix of kayak adventure and beach cleaning, a perfect harmony of eco tourism. Throughout the entire week spirits were high despite the daunting volume of rubbish. Each beach gave a social and thoroughly enjoyable adventure, with challenges on who could find the most interesting object.
Tying buoys to the back of our kayaks, there was plenty of added secondary stability to our boats. Some materials such as old oil barrels and fish boxes were whisked away for art projects and even to be made into kayaks in England. The rest we piled high and secured to be removed later with larger boats.
Over our five days together, we cleared a total of seven beaches with an estimated amount of trash somewhere around the 2 tonne range. There are MANY more beaches and hidden geos to clear which we hope to tackle in future years. We are also working together with the local organisation Living Seas who are making fantastic efforts in Marine conservation locally, they will be helping us hugely in the effort to remove our piles. Those places we did clear however had an amazing difference after our cleans. It’s definitely a great start to a long project.
Here are a few of our piles from the week. A great success by all our and Evoke’s guests.
And of course our fashion show….
Make sure to check out our friends at Living Seas who will be helping us to clear the piles as well as continuing the effort to clean the islands and our local beaches throughout the year. It’s awesome they’ve just got their own wee boat to help do this too!
We are hoping to run another Paddle against plastics trip around May next year. If you are interested in joining please let us know. The more hands the merrier.