Welcome to my Sea Kayaking (b)log
With next to no wind and a mirror-flat Gare Loch, I decided to do a nice little training paddle out to Kilcreggan (for coffee and cake, of course) before heading back home. Before setting off, I tried to call the King’s Harbour Master (KHM Tel: 01436 674321 Ext 3555), but the phone just rang...
Another training run in the Taran to Kilcreggan, this time without cake and coffee! On rounding Rosneath Point, I nearly didn’t bother. The wind was blowing strongly from the west, with occasional gusts. Not only that, but the swell was rather large and, along with the wind, was coming directly at me. I decided...
It was raining when I left home to travel the 6 miles to the "A Frames Dive Site" at the now-disused Finnart Oil Terminal on Loch Long. By the time I reached the car park, the rain had eased off a bit, but it was all a bit misty. At least it was nice...
Having spent the morning with my chainsaw and chipper, chopping trees and processing the branches, I decided to take the afternoon off and head out in the Taran. It was a beautiful day, after all. With no particular plan in mind, I headed across to Clynder to gain some shelter from the wind blowing...
It was one of those days when you seem to be constantly battling into the wind and swell, regardless of the direction you are travelling. Setting off from the Kirk Brae slipway, I headed into the wind and swell. By the time I'd reached Rhu narrows, the wind was coming at me from the...
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...
First Date with a Rockpool Taran I’ve had a bit of a hankering for a Rockpool Taran for a while now — probably made worse by scrolling through the blistering times that Taran owners post on the Performance Sea Kayak pages. For the last few years, I’ve been paddling a Tiderace Pace 17 Tour...
A nice little trip around Bardsey Island (Ynys Enlli). I've been eyeing up Bardsey Island for a while. Now I was staying in Aberdaron and the weather was looking good, I had my chance. I had looked at the tides and studied various tidal stream atlases. But I had another parameter to account for,...
Another cold very grey day, saw Si, Keith and myself heading to Borthwen. We paddled out to Rhoscolyn Beacon, through the various tidal races, until we ended up looking at a rather sizeable race, just off the Beacon. Although it looked almost inviting, we all acquiesced to decline having a go. Firstly it was...
Simon and I had arranged to set off from Anglesey Outdoors at 8:00am, for some breakfast, before heading up to Cemaes Bay. Cutting a long story short, someone (ahem me!) forgot to pick up their kit from the drying room at Anglesey Outdoors. I guess a combination of still being a bit sore about...
The final truck stop meet of the weekend, but this time SI and I were meeting Andras. A chap I'd met before at Rhosneigr and who Si knew from paddling with in the past. The wind and swell had picked up overnight. With both Si and myself needing to get home at a reasonable...
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...
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...
Saturday saw me going to meet the gang at Rhosneigr 9:00am sharp for some super surfing. Since my last trip out in my surf boat I had found it had foot pegs, buried behind a load of foam. I had also sorted out the backrest and so it was all good to go. The...
During a rash moment over Christmas I booked onto an Advanced Sea Kayak assessment. I thought, "March, It'll be warming up by then". Wrong! It was only the week of the "Beast from the East". Even so, I travelled up to Anglesey after work on the Tuesday night, arriving at Anglesey Outdoors close to...
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...
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...
Mrs T told me that on her boat trip a couple of days earlier, they had gone down the coast to Ynys Lochtyn, where there was another pod of dolphins. So setting of from Cwmtydu, I headed to Ynys Lochtyn, sticking close to the cliff to admire the cliff rock formations. At Ynys Lochtyn...
Wondering around the quaint Welsh port of New Quay (Ceinewydd) my wife spotted a sign advertising two hour boat trips. "Why don't I go on a boat trip whilst you go for a paddle" she said! Well I am not going to say no to that! An hour or so later I was setting off...
On a weeks road trip to Cornwall in our new (to us) Murvi Campervan, we found and excellent car park overlooking the sea at Trevone. What's better still is that the owners allowed us to stay overnight, for a small fee. It was so good we stayed two nights before moving on. Consequently, I...
