2026-01-17 Sailing club and return via Clynder
Training paddle out in the Taran. Started off looking pretty miserable but turned out to be a really nice enjoyable paddle. Out and about in Gare loch Fab! 6.5 nm 1 hour 36 minutes GPS track...
2026-01-13 Loch Lomond Island Bagging
During the Loch Lomond Helensburgh Canoe Club trip on 27th December, we bumped into another kayaker, Phil Smith, who had driven to Scotland, all the way from Portsmouth. Phil was desperately trying to bag the Loch Lomond Islands to rack up as many points for the 2025 "Performance Sea Kayak 1000 Island challenge". Coming...
2025-12-27 Loch Lomond with HCC
A nice between Christmas and New Year paddle with Helensburgh Canoe Club - Gordon, Steve and Stuart. Not only was it my first trip with the club, it was my first time on Loch Lomond and my first trip on fresh water in my NDK Romany Surf. We paddled across to Balmaha for coffee,...
2025-12-22 A new boat “IRN-BRU” – a NDK Romany Surf
First trip out in my new boat “Irn-Bru”. A Romany Surf with an orange deck and blue trim, as per the IRN-BRU colours. I have to say I am quite pleased with it. Especially seeing as I have never paddled one of these boats before, even before buying it! Thankfully, and as expected it’s...
2024-10-08 Adriatic Double Trouble
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...
2024-09-21 Whitby Scatterings
With the first anniversary of my wife’s mother’s passing approaching, my wife felt it was time to scatter her mum’s ashes, along with those of her stepdad, "Six-Foot-Ten Ken." They had both loved Whitby, so we decided to hold the scattering at sea, just outside the harbour. The plan was for my wife to...
2024-08-19 Shanklin Sandown jaberland piddle paddle
The sea was pretty rough and the sky overcast with rain at times, windy too! Quite a big back eddy had formed which meant I was against the tide coming back, hence why I stuck so close inshore on my return (see my gps track), using the groynes as much as possible to stay...
2024-08-17 Jaberland to St Helens fort and back
Holiday Paddle on the IOW. Ok so it's really called Yaverland, but due to me misreading the paper map, it became Jaberland and so it will always be (to me)! The photos and video captured the day really well Distance 10.5 nm Time: 2 hours What a fab paddle...
2024-07-28 The Stacks with Ashley and Si
The photos and video captured the day really well Distance 10.5 nm Time: 3.4 hours Paddlers were: Ashley Si and Si What a fab paddle...
2024-07-27 Anglesey North Coast with Si
The photos and video captured the day really well. Not including the incident (reported to Canoe Wales - say no more) Distance 20 nm Time: 6 hours Paddlers were: Si and Si What a fab paddle...
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,...
2023-09-15 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...
2023-09-12 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...
2023-09-08 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....
2022-08-26 A Gloomy Trip around Seil Island
Due to lots of non kayaking family related issues (its been a bit of a year!), this was going to be my first trip on the sea since the Isle of Wight circumnavigation in July! Despite hitting my local stretch of canal hard, you really cannot beat a good sea trip for upping the...
2022-05-14 Harrys, Church bay for an ice cream, followed by a sneaky Skerries trip
Today High Water would be at 10:28 Liverpool (British Summer Time). Hmmm.... Mid Morning HW's always makes for awkward trip planning for adventure seekers like Si and myself, due to the fact that the tide will be ebbing for much of day. For instance, the Stacks flood 4 hours and 50 minutes after HW,...
2021-09 Devon Holibobs
As you may, or may not have noticed, having bought the "Carrot" (An Orange Tiderace Pace 17 Tour) at the end of August, I did not take her to Anglesey for my paddles with Si, Wenders and Tom. I guess I wanted to check her out first, without rushing. Besides paddling in the Pace...
2020-09-27 The Skerries
The weather was set fair for Sunday, so what could be a better option? A trip out to the Skerries. We met up at Cemlyn Bay. A rather large group too, so Si and I decided to do our own thing, separate to the group. Mirco was leading the other group and planned on...
