Welcome to my Sea Kayaking (b)log
The Etain is a conscious departure from previous Valley designs. Valley kayaks were traditionally more “fish-form” i.e. widest point slightly forward of centre. The Etain is more neutral, in fact very slightly Swede form i.e. widest point rear of centre. Swede form kayaks have a different feel, slightly more glide and a perception of speed that is more noticeable because you are now paddling in a narrower part of the boat. The paddling stroke is also less encumbered and there is a general feeling of having less boat between you and the water.
For more info goto : http://www.valleyseakayaks.com/ or on facebook https://www.facebook.com/ValleySeaKayaks
Meeting up at Anglesey Outdoors early on Saturday morning, we split ourselves into groups depending on the weather/swell/tides/conditions and what we wanted to do. I Paddled with Jimski, Graham Cooke, Sue Couling, Dez Watson and Alan Riggott. Jimski lead the trip. After the overnight storm, there was lots of swell and fairly lumpy...
Day 1 Skills with Roger Chandler. We paddled from Cemlyn bay and did skills on Harry Furlongs tidal race before heading towards Carmel head. I saw some Dolphins over lunch and thought I was seeing things. Roger later identified them as Risso Dolphins. This was a tough day with me making mistakes as...
As this was a solo paddle I called up the coast guard on my new DSC VHF radio . This was the first time I had actually called the coast guard using dsc to provide trip details and having prepped all my responses, ready for the coast guard (ie. where departing from,...
Rhoscolyn towards Trearddur (Porth Diana) and back with Phil Clegg, Andy, Khrista and Annette. The wind was slightly NE, force 4 gusting F5. We went out to the Beacon and had a play in the tide race against the wind. A few surf waves were to be had downwind, but then required a huge...
Penrhyn Mawr and South Stack with Phil Clegg, Andy, Krista and Annette. Krista was from Canada and Annette from Sweden. Phil asked Andy and I if we would join him to make the numbers up. We set off from Porth Dafarch and headed to Penrhyn Mawr. I practiced my roll in the outer race,...
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...
