Welcome to my Sea Kayaking (b)log
Once again a visit to Penrhyn Mawr, this time with Tani and Seda. Both are doing their 4 star with me next weekend. We did lots of skills - rescues self rescues rolls in the flow, on a fairly lumpy Penrhyn Mawr as swell was coming across the waves. On the way back we...
The start of my four day weekend saw me doing a chilled out solo paddle from Rhoscolyn down to the Airfield for a bit of surfing, then back up to the Beacon. The weather was excellent with light winds and a clear blue sky. Near to the Cymyran straits there were some fairly reasonable...
Penrhyn Mawr again with Brian, Andy Sloan and Dave Blake's group. We all got there far too early. We (Brian and moi) told them it was far too early after the night before, but they insisted on a 9:30 on the water. Hey ho. Another hour in bed would have been nice. When we...
Although it was neaps, Penrhyn Mawr outer race was rather pleasant with some good surfs to be had. Middle wasn’t that good for surfing, but good for skills etc. Managed a Reentry roll in the outer flow along with some rolls. My first roll was incredibly slow and I had to pull the boat around...
After a wet night (internally) in the Paddler's Return bar at Anglesey Outdoors, with Dave Blake and few others, we decided a surfing session at Rhosneigr was in order for Sunday. Just ten minutes into the session, Mike was hit by another Sea kayaker, resulting in a very nasty cut from his neck out...
The weather forecast for North Wales was very poor, with high winds and rain for much of the day. So Michael Hargreaves in his new boat and I decided to meet up on the Menai Straits at Moel-y-Don. This allowed us to paddle up with the tide towards Menai Bridge, have lunch and come...
Once again, my now annual trip around Kerrera on the Oban Sea Kayak Race. The sit on tops or Surf Ski’s, as their owners like to call them, probably outnumber the traditional Sea Kayaks these days and most people paddle with Wings (nothing to do with RedBull - although I suspect a few of...
The Skerries off Anglesey, is one of those magical places in our world. It's not easy to get to, especially from a kayakers perspective as it is surrounded by strong tidal streams. But it is well worth the effort. Especially when the Terns are nesting. I have to say, I have long admired Tern's...
After a quick flurry of messages on Facebook late on Friday afternoon , I arranged to meet Gareth and Sarah the next morning. Gareth also brought along Dave who I sort of knew a little of from the Paddlers Bar at Anglesey Outdoors. The more the merrier! After a quick conflab at <ahem> Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch...
On holiday in North Devon for a week, but unfortunately the weather was not playing ball. About the only option for a paddle was the Taw and Torridge rivers. So putting in at Barnstaple about an hour before high tide, I paddled up and through Long Bridge before returning downstream. and under Taw Bridge....
There was quite a swell forecast for 5th June coming from the North. Consequently South Landing was fairly quiet in terms of the car park and sea state. Setting off Stu (VE Paddles) and I immediately bumped into a group of kayakers who had been out to Flamborough Head, who told us it was...
Sunday saw HW Liverpool being at 12:59, so we decided to paddle out to Puffin Island. This paddle works well for getting home at a reasonable time, as it is err... "sort of" on the way home! From studying the guide books, Cruising Anglesey and Welsh Sea kayaking we could see that leaving from...
It was a big spring tide weekend, but with HW around midday it was not the best time-wise for getting on the water at 10:30am. I paddled with PL and Abo. Due to the prevailing weather conditions, everyone with a sea kayak on Anglesey seemed to have the same idea. The car park at...
Both my paddling chum and I were both very keen to do this paddle. The wildlife, cliffs, and caves make this an excellent trip. The forecast was for sun, sun , sun, with winds f3-f4 SE, strengthening later with 1-2ft of swell. Setting off from South Landing we were soon rounding Flamborough head in...
Sunday 20th March. My last day of paddling on my long weekend before heading back to the daily grind. I paddled this time with PL and Brian. Brian had a brand new boat to christen. We decided to paddle from Porth Eilean to play in tidal race as the tide would be ebbing. We...
The day after the four star training with Roger Chandler, I met up with Plum Loaf for a paddle. We decided on paddling to North Stack as the tides worked well for this trip. The tides were Mean Neap tides. Before setting off, I did some more fiddling with my boats outfitting. Penrhyn Mawr when...
Day 1 As pre course homework Roger asked us to plan a suitable journey as a four star leader - I used Phil Clegg's Journey planner (see downloads) and planned from Porth Darfarch to Trearddur Bay and back, which was well within remit. In the end we paddled from Rhoscolyn out to the tidal...
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...
Ok, so this is not exactly a sea trip, but I am going to include it here as when you cannot get to the sea, it is the next best thing! Besides it isn't a million miles away in similarity from paddling the Menai Straits. As it was, the Trent was in full flow...
