A silent Loch Ness for Martin MacRae on day four of his canoe trip

Published: 02/09/2011 08:58 - Updated: 02/09/2011 10:03
A silent Loch Ness for Martin MacRae on day four of his canoe trip

Inverness kidney patient Martin MacRae is now paddling his way along Loch Ness as continues his epic canoeing and camping adventure.
Mr MacRae, a novice canoeist, is undertaking the six-day trip from Fort William to Inverness with an innovative portable dialysis machine in tow.
The 53-year-old former oil worker is just one of two patients in Scotland to have use of the machine which has dramatically changed his life and enabled him to undertake the trip. He is hoping to raise £50,000 to buy three more machines for Raigmore Hospital’s renal unit.
Mr MacRae is keeping a daily diary for The Inverness Courier and below is his latest entry:
Day four - We head down to the canal to set onto Loch Ness with our hearts in our mouths. We are by now feeling more confident in the water.
However, the challenge of Loch Ness and possibly "Nessie is more than enough to make our wobbly knees even weaker.
"When we reach the loch, our hearts lift as we have been blessed with perfect weather, and the water is silent and calm like glass. Looking out, the far distance seems to drop off the edge of the world, we all marvel at the beauty of Scotland ...
"We reach Foyers in a fantastic time of four-and-a-half hours and instantly begin to set up camp and dialysis. Today, there are a few unforseen alarms with the NXstage machine. However, Sharon, Martin and right hand man Ali Anderson tackle them without breaking even a sweat. We are all so impressed with their team work and problem-solving skills.
"We lock the canoes together as we realise that a stiff south-westerly wind has picked up across the loch. However the log fire keeps us all in good cheer as we listen to goats bleating in the distance, hoping they won’t visit through the night and chew down our camp!"

http://www.inverness-courier.co.uk/News/A-silent-Loch-Ness-for-Martin-MacRae-on-day-four-of-his-canoe-trip-02092011.htm