Welcome to my Sea Kayaking (b)log
A good friend of mine, Dave, is looking at buying a sea kayak. He asked me what he should buy, to which I replied, “You really need to try as many boats as you can for yourself.” Having established that he is looking for a general-purpose sea kayak, one that will do for one...
What a wet day. It did nothing but pour down all day long. Consequently, when I arrived at the HCC boat containers at the RNCYC, I wondered if anyone was actually going to turn up. But then Steve arrived, closely followed by Kate. With a club boat loaded onto Steve's car, we set off...
We decided on a late-autumn getaway to Dubrovnik, perfect for exploring the iconic old town and unwinding a bit. For those who love Game of Thrones, Dubrovnik’s old town is a must-see, and October turned out to be an ideal time to visit, with temperatures still comfortably in the mid-20s Celsius. We spent three...
Saturday. Si and I met the others at the truck stop at 9:00am in Holyhead. We were joined by Ashley, Matt, and Gareth. Due to the tide, predicted swell and anticipated weather - a strengthening SW breeze, we decided to paddle from Porth Dafarch to Rhoscolyn and back. We didn't get to see much...
I had arranged to meet Kris, Si and anyone else who was interested at the Holyhead truck stop cafe for 0900. Kris had a plan to paddle to South Stack and then to paddle PM tidal race later in the day. As we left the Truck Stop, Kris bumped into a friend of his...
I've just come across a little booklet written by the UK Sepsis Trust. I wish I had been told about this following my little sepsis episode a year ago. Or at least been given some of the info by the hospital when they discharged me. But then again, if I was told, I would...
With the weather looking a bit wild (F5-F8) on the West Coast of Wales, I posted if anyone was interested in a Flamborough trip on the Sunday. It turned out Sabina was already on planing on heading to Flamborough. So, 10:00 am meet at South Landing, on the water for 10:30 was agreed. Simon...
Owain told me he had not paddled on the North coast of Anglesey, so I said I would see what I could do. Looking at the tides I could see that if we went from Bull Bay with the tide towards Middle Mouse, the tide would turn at 12:24 and bring us back again....
This Saturday saw me paddling with Owain, a friend I've known for some time from paddling the white water course at Holme Pierrepont in Nottingham. Owain was in Anglesey with Nottingham Kayak Club, although most of the NKC group had signed up to paddle with Roger Chandler of Coastal Spirit for the day. Owain...
On Sunday we paddled from Cable Bay down towards Llanddwyn Island. We didn't get there as we stopped off at the Church in the Sea (Cribinau), followed by Port y Cwch beach for lunch. We perhaps stayed too long on the beach. After all, it was a glorious day. We did a big beach...
Kris was already at our meeting point as we arrived at the Point Lynas roundabout. No more than a couple of minutes later, we were joined by Wendy with her Rockpool Isel demo boat. We quickly unloaded the boats, before moving the cars back up the hill to the carpark. As expected the north...
With the weather forecast for SW F5 gusting to F7 there was much debate among the various groups at Anglesey Outdoors as to where would be best for a paddle. Having had a little drive down the coast to Trearddur Bay and seen the various conditions, it was an easy decision, head for the Menai...
With the wind being f3-f4 NW and a reasonable swell forecast, I led a group of three paddlers: Keith, Spencer and Paul. This day I was paddling a Valley Gemini SP, lent to me by Valley. It is a lovely looking boat in nice metallic Blue with a funky white stripe down the middle...
After another wet and windy night, I woke to the sound of the rain pitter-pattering on the roof of my van. Eating breakfast and drinking coffee in the warmth of my centrally heated van, I looked out of the windows at people scurrying about in the rain. Hellen Willetts was on the telly giving...
It was the final LCC Angelsey Weekend camping of the year and I thought I would go along. I arrived on Friday night in the pitch dark and drove onto the field. Uh-oh! I soon realised the field was extremely wet and my heavy van was wheel spinning just at tick-over on the grass....
I put out an email to all the sea kayakers I know saying I was running this trip. In the end we had a nice group of Royanne, Bill, Keith, Simon B, Mick and Ron.I chose to do this trip as the tidal streams are weak in this area and with the tide time...
After a good night in the Paddler's Return with Gareth and Sarah, Sunday morning arrived all too soon. Sticking my head out of my tent, I met Becka and Jules who had arrived in the night and had pitched their tent close to mine. It was raining and by the time I'd been to...
Having arranged with Gareth and Sarah to meet at Parc Cybi Truck stop at 09:30 on Saturday morning, I decided to head over on the Friday night rather than a very early start on Saturday morning. With the usual Friday night traffic, I arrived at Anglesey Outdoors just before 11:00 pm, just in time for...
Paddled with Plum Loaf and three ex-marines, so plenty of banter!! We ran a car shuttle, leaving one car at the start and two cars at Bull Bay. One of the marines was fairly new to sea kayaking, so we needed to ensure he was ok with the trip. Setting off from Cemlyn Bay...
For a first sea paddle of the year what better place for it to be than Rhoscolyn. And for once I didn't do the driving over to Anglesey, thanks to Dusty and his monster truck. So having met the gang, had the usual faff, we set off. Despite it being a cold, it was...
