The slopes of North Barrule are open country, by permission of the land owner and their tennants. The views would be great on a clear day and weren't bad even with the poor visibility that we were experiencing.
Saturday, 10 May 2008
North Barrule
Since Jim was in a weakened state through lack of pork pies following our little bit of a paddle, I went off on my own for a stroll.
The slopes of North Barrule are open country, by permission of the land owner and their tennants. The views would be great on a clear day and weren't bad even with the poor visibility that we were experiencing.
The slopes of North Barrule are open country, by permission of the land owner and their tennants. The views would be great on a clear day and weren't bad even with the poor visibility that we were experiencing.
St Bees to the Isle of Man
Months of training (a quick paddle along the Bridgewater canal) and exhaustive preparation (an email to the ferry company) resulted in a successful crossing from St Bees to the Isle of Man in Jim's double kayak:
Kirstine kindly drove Jim and me to the campsite at St. Bees on Friday evening. We packed some of our gear into the boat before getting a few hours of sleep. The tents and the rest of the gear were packed at 2:30am on Saturday morning, in preparation to catch the high tide.
We paddled away three minutes behind schedule, leaving the slipway at St. Bees at 3:33am:
[Photo: JimK]
It started to get light about an hour after we set off and the sun was well up by half past five:
The Liverpool Coastguard were very helpful and supportive via the VHF. There wasn't much going on - we only saw a few other craft on the water. We did get an offer of a bacon barm from the helmsman of the Night Cat though:
[Photo: JimK]
Visibility was quite poor - we could only see about a mile through the mist. We were almost at Maughold Head before the white buildings of the lighthouse became vaguely perceptible.
We landed on the Isle of Man about 6hrs 15mins after leaving St. Bees. By 10:00 we had phoned home to let our other halves know that we were safe:
Kirstine kindly drove Jim and me to the campsite at St. Bees on Friday evening. We packed some of our gear into the boat before getting a few hours of sleep. The tents and the rest of the gear were packed at 2:30am on Saturday morning, in preparation to catch the high tide.We paddled away three minutes behind schedule, leaving the slipway at St. Bees at 3:33am:
[Photo: JimK]
The Liverpool Coastguard were very helpful and supportive via the VHF. There wasn't much going on - we only saw a few other craft on the water. We did get an offer of a bacon barm from the helmsman of the Night Cat though:
[Photo: JimK]We landed on the Isle of Man about 6hrs 15mins after leaving St. Bees. By 10:00 we had phoned home to let our other halves know that we were safe:
Thursday, 8 May 2008
Charts by cycle
Jim and I decided that the forecast was looking good for a little jaunt in the Irish Sea by double sea kayak. Since neither of us had any charts, I took the afternoon off work and nipped across to Warrington on my bicycle. I got back home with the necessary items a few hours, 50km and two punctures later.
Saturday, 12 April 2008
Ravenglass Seaquest
This was a great day out. It's good to have events where there are plenty of alternative activities for the non-paddlers. My wife and sons had fun on the steam train while Lojska and I went off in the boat to do this orienteering event on water.
It was a bit gloomy when we first arrived and there wasn't much water to be seen but things improved on both fronts during the afternoon.
We just managed all the checkpoints in our big yellow barge of a double kayak in just over the allotted three hours. The last checkpoint was a mistake - we gained 30 points for getting to there but it cost us 35 penalty points (for being 15 minutes late back to the start).
Lojska enjoyed herself. She got a bit upset at the end - cold feet on sharp pebbles - but wants to do the event again next year. Hopefully, she'll be able to do her share of the paddling by then!
Thanks to Phil and Annette for organising the race and to all the other entrants for making this such a friendly event. I hope to see such a good turnout at the Fleetwood SeaQuest later in the year.
The course:
It was a bit gloomy when we first arrived and there wasn't much water to be seen but things improved on both fronts during the afternoon.
We just managed all the checkpoints in our big yellow barge of a double kayak in just over the allotted three hours. The last checkpoint was a mistake - we gained 30 points for getting to there but it cost us 35 penalty points (for being 15 minutes late back to the start).
Lojska enjoyed herself. She got a bit upset at the end - cold feet on sharp pebbles - but wants to do the event again next year. Hopefully, she'll be able to do her share of the paddling by then!Thanks to Phil and Annette for organising the race and to all the other entrants for making this such a friendly event. I hope to see such a good turnout at the Fleetwood SeaQuest later in the year.
The course:
Monday, 5 November 2007
Anatomy of a trashing
As mentioned in yesterday's post, I had a thorough trashing on a reef break. I lost my spare paddle (a nice Double Dutch slalom C1 blade), a handheld flare from my buoyancy aid front pocket and my camelback water carrier from the back pocket. Thinking things over, I only rolled six times rather than seven but there was an element of luck in the fact that I got away without injury or more serious losses. I hope that my lost kit will be found by someone that can make use of it!
The initial cause of the trashing was simple; I was playing chicken with a fairly substantial reef break and sitting looking at the scenery at the same time. I like views along the coast with some breaking surf in the near foreground, but it is important to keep watching out for freak sets of waves.
I noticed a large wave coming in that could present a problem, so I turned and paddled into it. My relief at reaching the crest didn't last for long; a second wave of a similar size was right behind it and I could see a third wave over the top of it that was even bigger and already starting to break. I made it over the second wave but lost all my speed. The third wave looped me over the back as I tried to climb the vertical face.
I had a washing machine experience in the ensuing bongo slide, repeatedly rolling and then getting power-flipped. It took most of my strength to keep hold of my paddles and I was glad of the ocean cockpit that made it very unlikely that I would get dragged out of the boat. The wave was still too steep for me to really get back in control until I found myself in relatively calm conditions after the sixth roll. Thankfully, I was still about fifteen or twenty yards from the pinnacle of rock that marks the reef and had time to get off the wave and turn the boat around before the next wave.
I rode out a few waves while I got my breath back and secured some of my remaining gear. There was no sign of the items that had gone. I spotted a nice little rip going out alongside the reef and used it to get out beyond the break without any further incident.
I had a number of items of luck:
1) I got trashed on the last wave of the big set, so there was plenty of water on the reef from the earlier waves.
2) The water was deep enough for the boat to loop without hitting anything (not entirely luck - smaller waves had been passing over this area without breaking, so there was at least depth equivalent to their height).
3) My map and GPS, inside an aquapac, were properly secured.
4) There were no rocks sticking up (again, not entirely luck - the reefs along here tend to be slabs).
5) My paddle didn't snap, despite taking a lot of force (not entirely luck - I did a controlled release of the paddle shaft with one hand at one point to let it twirl around, taking the pressure off the paddle and allowing a reverse screw roll with the other end).
Lessons learned:
1) Secure all your gear, even if the conditions are good. I had just tucked my spare blade under some deck elastics rather than using my usual approach of 2-inch webbing with a quick-release buckle. My BA pockets have fixing points with cords attached but I hadn't bothered to tie in my flare or water carrier.
2) Keep an eye out to sea no matter how nice the view is! There can be freak sets even on a relatively calm day.
3) You are always on your own in the surf zone of a rocky shore. There is no way that anyone else should endanger themselves by coming in after you. I was very aware of the need to stay in my boat and keep hold of my paddles.
4) A reef break is generally steeper and more powerful than the break on a nice sandy beach. I think that it's faster too - my GPS registered a maximum speed of 22kmph. While I am sure that this is far from accurate, it felt to be about the right ballpark!
I got away with this through a combination of luck and experience. Years of playing and rolling in the surf meant that I had a good idea of what was going on even while I was been tumbled around. My roll is still good; all of the rolls in this case were on my weak side. The skills are still there to allow me to get off the wave before getting into the shallow water where there might have been problems of boat damage or difficulties in turning the boat around. Kit helped too; the boat is fitted out for me with a snug seat, solid knee tube to brace against, small cockpit opening and a bulkhead footrest.
The adrenaline rush and the sense of euphoria immediately after getting away with such a trashing is tremendous. However, I have too many responsibilities these days for me to be happy with taking these risks. I wouldn't intentionally repeat the exercise because I don't like to trust to my luck.
The initial cause of the trashing was simple; I was playing chicken with a fairly substantial reef break and sitting looking at the scenery at the same time. I like views along the coast with some breaking surf in the near foreground, but it is important to keep watching out for freak sets of waves.
I noticed a large wave coming in that could present a problem, so I turned and paddled into it. My relief at reaching the crest didn't last for long; a second wave of a similar size was right behind it and I could see a third wave over the top of it that was even bigger and already starting to break. I made it over the second wave but lost all my speed. The third wave looped me over the back as I tried to climb the vertical face.
I had a washing machine experience in the ensuing bongo slide, repeatedly rolling and then getting power-flipped. It took most of my strength to keep hold of my paddles and I was glad of the ocean cockpit that made it very unlikely that I would get dragged out of the boat. The wave was still too steep for me to really get back in control until I found myself in relatively calm conditions after the sixth roll. Thankfully, I was still about fifteen or twenty yards from the pinnacle of rock that marks the reef and had time to get off the wave and turn the boat around before the next wave.
I rode out a few waves while I got my breath back and secured some of my remaining gear. There was no sign of the items that had gone. I spotted a nice little rip going out alongside the reef and used it to get out beyond the break without any further incident.
I had a number of items of luck:
1) I got trashed on the last wave of the big set, so there was plenty of water on the reef from the earlier waves.
2) The water was deep enough for the boat to loop without hitting anything (not entirely luck - smaller waves had been passing over this area without breaking, so there was at least depth equivalent to their height).
3) My map and GPS, inside an aquapac, were properly secured.
4) There were no rocks sticking up (again, not entirely luck - the reefs along here tend to be slabs).
5) My paddle didn't snap, despite taking a lot of force (not entirely luck - I did a controlled release of the paddle shaft with one hand at one point to let it twirl around, taking the pressure off the paddle and allowing a reverse screw roll with the other end).
Lessons learned:
1) Secure all your gear, even if the conditions are good. I had just tucked my spare blade under some deck elastics rather than using my usual approach of 2-inch webbing with a quick-release buckle. My BA pockets have fixing points with cords attached but I hadn't bothered to tie in my flare or water carrier.
2) Keep an eye out to sea no matter how nice the view is! There can be freak sets even on a relatively calm day.
3) You are always on your own in the surf zone of a rocky shore. There is no way that anyone else should endanger themselves by coming in after you. I was very aware of the need to stay in my boat and keep hold of my paddles.
4) A reef break is generally steeper and more powerful than the break on a nice sandy beach. I think that it's faster too - my GPS registered a maximum speed of 22kmph. While I am sure that this is far from accurate, it felt to be about the right ballpark!
I got away with this through a combination of luck and experience. Years of playing and rolling in the surf meant that I had a good idea of what was going on even while I was been tumbled around. My roll is still good; all of the rolls in this case were on my weak side. The skills are still there to allow me to get off the wave before getting into the shallow water where there might have been problems of boat damage or difficulties in turning the boat around. Kit helped too; the boat is fitted out for me with a snug seat, solid knee tube to brace against, small cockpit opening and a bulkhead footrest.
The adrenaline rush and the sense of euphoria immediately after getting away with such a trashing is tremendous. However, I have too many responsibilities these days for me to be happy with taking these risks. I wouldn't intentionally repeat the exercise because I don't like to trust to my luck.
Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay
The Sunday paddle from Whitby to Robin Hood's Bay and back was magnificent; porpoises, an alleged peregrine, seals, a nice little surf at the turnaround and a thorough trashing on a reef break. Sadly, I have no photos because some water got into my camera when I was rinsing it off after the Saturday paddle.
The trashing is just about visible on the GPS track: the line going onto the rocks about 2.5km from Whitby on the return leg. It was slightly expensive (lost paddle, flare and camelback) but most invigorating.
The facilities at the marina in Whitby made things very civilised. There were handy taps for fresh water, reasonably secure parking and nice clean toilets and showers.
We paddled as a group of six, which I believe to be the ideal number for such a trip.
The trashing is just about visible on the GPS track: the line going onto the rocks about 2.5km from Whitby on the return leg. It was slightly expensive (lost paddle, flare and camelback) but most invigorating.
The facilities at the marina in Whitby made things very civilised. There were handy taps for fresh water, reasonably secure parking and nice clean toilets and showers.We paddled as a group of six, which I believe to be the ideal number for such a trip.
Sunday, 4 November 2007
Whitby to Runswick Bay
We had a paddle from Whitby to the edge of Runswick Bay as part of the NWSK end of season meet. Caution was the order of the day, with a fairly strong breeze and a rather messy mixture of chop and swell. Our original plan to paddle to Robin Hood's Bay was dropped because we felt that it was better to start out against the weather, making the return easier.
We got on at the marina in Whitby:
and then paddled through the harbour to get to the sea:
We took a break at Sandsend, landing through small but very dumpy surf:
My newly repaired IceFloe looked very nice sitting on the sand in the sunlight:
The paddle off towards Runswick Bay gave some nice views:
Getting back to Whitby:
We got on at the marina in Whitby:
and then paddled through the harbour to get to the sea:
We took a break at Sandsend, landing through small but very dumpy surf:
My newly repaired IceFloe looked very nice sitting on the sand in the sunlight:
The paddle off towards Runswick Bay gave some nice views:
Getting back to Whitby:
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