2024-03-03 The Stacks (with a lot of messing about in Penhryn Mawr)
The photos and video captured the day really well Distance 11.5 nm Time: 6 hours Paddlers were: Andy Ian Si and Si What a fab paddle...
2024-03-02 Rhoscolyn
The photos and video captured the day really well Distance: 9.2 Nm Time: 4h 41m Paddles: Ali Andy Bill Ian Si and Si. What a fab paddle...
2024-01-07 The Ormes
The first paddle on the sea of 2024 and it's been a while in coming. What with the weather being dominated by low pressure systems for much of the later part of 2023, I have not been on the sea in ages. With light winds forecast for once, I decided to get up early,...
2023-09-16 A Windy Maiden
Having left the Mull of Kintyre behind us, we ended up just north of Oban, near the airport. The weather was not looking great, with stronger winds and heavier rain forecast well into next week. If I was going to get a final Scottish paddle in, this holiday, I had to make the most...
2023-09-15 Mackerel for tea! Carradale, Mull of Kintyre
Friday, 15th September was a wet, wet day. Having been to Campbeltown in the morning to buy some whisky, I decided to go for a quick paddle out into Carradale Bay to see if I could catch some Mackerel for tea. Earlier that morning, before setting off to Campbeltown, I had been walking the...
2023-09-14 Carradale, Mull of Kintyre – Windy!
Having left Arran via the Lochranza ferry, we headed down the single track road on the Mull of Kintyre to Carradale. The first night we were there there was an almighty storm, but the following morning the winds eased and I was able to get out in my boat. It was still fairly windy,...
2023-09-12 Arran – Lamlash Bay – A quick fish and pootle (downwind fun)
For todays paddle in Lamlash bay, having made sure I was well outside the "No Take" zone, I had a little fish for some mackerel. My rig is very simple, a weight, with four lures on a hand spool of about 40 meters of mono filament line. On my first cast, I let the...
2023-09-10 A trip around Holy Island (Arran)
The $100 Million super yacht Sea Eagle II was visiting the beautiful island of Arran. I had a paddle out to her in Lamlash Bay before circumnavigating Holy Island. Lamlash Bay, Arran and Holy Island are stuningly beautiful. I will be going back. :-) My boat is better than yours! Distance: 6.4 nm Time:...
2023-09-08 The Sugar Boat wreck off Helensburgh
The Sugar Boat, or correctly named MV Captayannis was anchored off Greenock at the Tail of the Bank waiting to unload a cargo of raw sugar from East Africa for processing at the Tate and Lyle refinery when, on the night of 27th January 1974, a fierce gale caused her to drag her anchor....
2023-09-01 An Aborted Anglesey Circumnavigation Attempt
This year, every time I've planned for a date to do the Anglesey circumnavigation, something would happen; mainly the weather ie. far too windy, or family stuff would clash. All the dates I had planned for this year just came and went. This year hasn't exactly been great for me getting to the coast...
2023-06-Mull
A Mull non-circumnavigation. The Si's trip to Mull to circumnavigate Mull by sea kayak, cut short by appalling weather and other unlikely events. After a long spell of fine weather, you may ask why were we going now? Well it's all to do with holidays of one "Si", the OT and the OTM, read...
2023-06-12 Surprise Skerries
We were only supposed to go to Middle Mouse, but conditions were so fab we ended up doing the Skerries! Brill day and a great end to a long weekend!...
2023-06-11 Silver Bay Stacks foggy
Paddling in a sauna! Fab day! ...
2023-06-10 Cemlyn Bay into the wind and swell to Camaes, then around Carmel Head – Roller Coaster Sea!
The wind forecast was for a moderate Easterly breeze. For some crazy reason, we decided to head up to the north coast to see how far we could go into the wind from Cemlyn Bay. The flood tide was due to start around 09:40, so we were going to be in wind over tide...
2023-06-09 Stacks Trearddur
Liverpool Tides for 09/06/2023 BST M 03:27 8.67 HW 10:29 1.75 LW 16:01 8.05 HW 22:50 2.35 LW Penrhyn Mawr (PM) floods about 3:30 hours after HW Liverpool. Consequently, it was already flooding from about 07:00 (03:27 +03:30 = 06:57). As we were setting off from Porth-y-Post at 09:15, well, it would be rude...
2023-04-05 Menai Straits
The weather forecast for Wednesday was not at all good. Si and I went and took a look at Trearddur Bay and we were not impressed. Very windy, Rain showers, big seas and flat broken waves. Fine if you fancy being bongo'd sideways constantly; but neither of us did. So we chatted to the...
2023-01-29 Trearddur Bay
Sunday, the weather was not looking too promising. The forecast stated conditions would deteriorate with strong winds increasing throughout the day. So, after a hearty breakfast in the Paddlers, we decided to head for Trearddur Bay. Initially, we talked about heading around the coast towards Rhoscolyn, but soon after setting off from the beach,...
2023-01-28 Stacks Again
Saturday morning, I met up with Si, Keith and Ashley for breakfast in a little cafe at Valley. The reason for having breakfast here instead of in the Paddlers, was that Anglesey Outdoors and especially the Paddlers was heaving! If we'd had gone to the Paddlers, we would have been waiting for a very...
2023-01-27 Stacking It
2022 was a bit of a weird year for me. It started off fairly normally, but from July I was increasingly busy with some family bereavements. Apart from my IOW circumnavigation and the Oban Sea Kayak Race which had been previously pencilled in on the calendar, if I did get any time to go...
2022-08-28 Oban Sea Kayak Race 2022
Having spent much of Saturday cycling around Kerrera and Oban on my trusty Brompton bicycle, in what can only be described as superb weather, I was feeling well rested and relaxed the night before the race. The contrast from gloomy Friday to sunny Saturday was incredible! One annoyance though; I realised I'd left my...
