Tidal Exe

We had a pleasant paddle down the Exe from Countess Wear to Turf Locks and then back up the canal. The weather was good, with the gentle wind blowing us along the canal to match the assistance that we had from the tide going down the river.

Flamborough Head

The second paddle of the day was planned for Flamborough Head. We went a little further than we originally intended because the morning paddle at Spurn Head had been dropped.

See Jim's blog for his account of the day.

Spurn Head

Jim and I were hoping to launch at Spurn Head to have a look around the Humber Estuary. We had a change of plan after a chat with the warden of the nature reserve and an inspection of alternate launching sites.

The Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have a warden in the area of Spurn Head. Andrew Gibson is the Outer Humber Officer with whom we had a chat.

The two important items that Andy Gibson told me with regard to sea kayaking at Spurn Head are:
1) No launching within the nature reserve.
2) Unusually, the nature reserve owns the foreshore down to the LOW tide line. Landing is not permitted, other than in an emergency.

Andy and his staff were very friendly and helpful. They are generally sympathetic towards sea kayaking and other low impact activities. However, they cannot be seen to set a precedent that might open the gates to all manner of craft.

Alternate launching sites were either too muddy at the state of tide when we planned to launch or too far from the forts that we had intended to visit (given that we only planned a short paddle).

Blackpool Illuminations

I had to agree immediately when JimK of NWSK suggested the daft idea of a night paddle to see the Blackpool illuminations. In the end, there were ten paddlers meeting at the southern end of Blackpool for a trip up to the North Pier and back.
It was a bit of a trudge to the water - we got on at mid-tide:
It was still light when we set out:
But it started to get dark quite quickly:

Jim was one of the organisers of the trip:
and Peter was the other:
We all carried head torches as well as using light sticks. Some of us also had more powerful torches tucked away in our kit. However, the light sticks were enough on this occasion.
My thanks to Jim and Peter for a very enjoyable evening, even if it did make my head cold come back with a vengeance!

Macclesfield Canal

I met up again with Richard, a friend from university, for a paddle with the kids. I took Lojska along and Richard took both of his daughters. The venue was a new one for me - the only part of the Macclesfield Canal that I have paddled before is where all the locks are at Marple. It was a pleasant surprise to find that the Macclesfield Canal is another example of a canal with a long section that has no locks.

Lymm and Thelwall

An early morning paddle makes a good start to the weekend. On this occasion it was a 16km paddle on the Bridgewater Canal, going out to Thelwall and back:

The canal is pretty quiet at 7:30am, giving a pleasant view from the cockpit:
There was a light breeze but the reflections were impressive when the wind died down:
I was paddling at a gentle pace, taking nearly two hours to complete the distance. As a result of the pace and the early start, there was a fair bit of wildlife to be seen. This included a kingfisher; these birds seem to be getting relatively common along this canal.

SeaQuest

I missed last year's Sea Quest event, so it was very pleasant to be able to turn up with Jim and his double sea kayak. The sea kayak entry was rather low this year and we were able to win rather comfortably with a time that must be about half an hour slower than the course record. The event was started by one of the local dignitaries (who waited patiently when the tide was a little later than expected):
We started in nice, sunny conditions:
Jim planned the start thoroughly:
We had time for some photos at the halfway point, showing the plastic goose that was the real winner of the event:
Looking back from the finish we could see that the weather was on the turn: The wind started to get up after we finished, giving the open boaters an interesting time. We went back out to take some photos. Phil, one of the organisers of the Ravenglass Seaquest event, had a good result:
The best thing about being faster than the pack was that we had time to nip back to Knott End for ice-cream before attending the prize giving. The event was well organised throughout and the food that was laid on at the prize giving was a good finishing touch. A second surprise bonus was to find that the event sponsorship by Brookbank Canoes included some vouchers for the prize winners.

The event raised a good sum for its chosen cancer charity. My thanks go to Peter Roscoe and the Outdoor Adventure Group for a great day out.