Loco SUP on Location at Loch Ard in the Scottish Highlands

Loch Ard Paddle

No Swell to get excited about… No wind… what on earth do you do? Lorna and I decided to head north of Glasgow in search of some inland paddle spots. We loaded up the trusted 9’5 Loco and the new 7’10 Loco boards into the bus and headed off.

We arrived at Loch Ard near Aberfoyle and unloaded the boards. Wetsuits on and set off across the Loch. Im 80kgs and jumped on the 7’10 for the first time and paddled it across the water no problems at all. I thought that the surf specific SUP would be no use for this application but I was pleasantly surprised at the stability. It didn’t have the glide like the 9’5, but we weren’t racing anywhere, so I didn’t care.

After a good fitness paddle session exploring the shore line, various wee islands and boat houses, we returned to the shore. I did some practice with switching stance and generally practicing for the next time I get a chance to SUP in the waves which was great. We even managed to spread the Loco word by converting an open top canoeist into a SUP’er after only a 5 minute shot… Not sure we had as much success converting the bus load of ASBO kids that drove by hollering some f’s and c’s at us… ha! All round good way to utilise your surf SUP on a flat day. Get out there and get sectioned!

Words: Doug Paton.

Photos: Lorna Dalgleish.