Last weekend took us across the Solent to the Isle of Wight, one of the things on my ‘tick list’ !
This month I received a couple of copies of Canoe Focus, the official magazine of the British Canoe Union ( BCU ). I sent in an article a while ago about my trip to Barra in the Outer Hebrides. It appeared in a copy of Canoe & Kayak UK last year, and I’d forgotten that I’d sent it to these guys as well !!
Hayling Island is a true island, completely surrounded by natural watercourses at all states of the tide. Looking at its north to south orientation, it is shaped like an inverted T, about 6.5 kilometres (4 miles) long and 6.5 kilometres wide. A road bridge connects its northern end to the mainland of England. A small passenger ferry connects it to the neighbouring island of Portsea where the city of Portsmouth is located. To the west is Langstone Harbour and to the east is Chichester Harbour.
The natural beach at Hayling was predominantly sandy but in recent years it has been mechanically topped with shingle dredged from the bed of the Solent in an effort to reduce beach erosion and reduce the potential to flood low lying land. At low tide, the West Winner sandbank is visible, extending a mile out to sea. The coastline in this area has substantially changed since Roman times: it is believed much land has been lost from the coasts of Hayling and Selsey by erosion and subsequent flooding.
Last weekend took us around Hayling Island, the temperature did’nt get much above zero all day! but at least the sun came out for a bit, and the sea was calm!!
“Does exactly what it says on the tin. Two days covering the essential areas of sea kayaking, navigation, safety and rescue.
You will spend the first morning in the classroom, looking carefully at how to plan sea trips including tidal and weather considerations before heading out onto the water to put it all into practice. Day two is all about staying safe on the water, dealing with incidents including towing, rescuing capsized paddlers and getting yourself back into your boat.”
Is exactly what we did ! and there would have been more pictures! but! I lost the digital camera in the lake………………………..
Last Sunday was the annual Adventure Dolphin Thames trip, the weather could’nt have been better ! also the tides were perfect, enabling a put in at Putney, and a leasurely trip through the centre to Tower Bridge.
It was low water at 12:30 so there were a few places to stop for lunch, we decided on a place by The Tate Modern.
We stopped for about an hour while the tide turned which we then used to take us back again !
All the usual sites as pictured below……….
End of last week I joined the Isle of Wight Sea Kayaking crew for their circumnavigation exped. The trip included instruction on planning, navigation as well as packing a sea kayak for a multi day trip.
Pretty much ‘Plan A’ changed as soon as we got on the water at Freshwater! a swell was building so it was decided that we’d head off to the Solent coast.
We set off for the north coast where we could find some shelter from the wind and swell. After a while we ended up in Newtown Creek where we packed boats and launched again!
We headed off towards the Solent and followed the westerly tide for a couple of hours passing Yarmouth and ending up at Fort Victoria Country Park This was to be our first camp spot.
.. This weekend was a trip inland to Milton Keynes! however, we did find some water for Adam to have his first try in a kayak!
Another year, another Lighthouses, Cliffs & Caves trip with the folks from Plas y Brenin National Mountain Centre. This year my fellow group members were Chris, Brian, Richard, Tamsin and Adrienne all looking for a couple of days good seapaddling. Our guides for the weekend were Rosemary and Karl.
After the usual nourishing ‘Brenin’ Breakfast we were introduced to our guides who took us off for introductions, experience level and what we individually wanted out of the weekend. We then participated in the planning of a trip that day, looking at tide times, weather reports, OS maps and charts. After deciding on a trip, we then visited the stores where we picked up stuff like paddles, BA’s, flares etc.
Our trip on the Saturday was to be from Point Lynas to Bull Bay on Anglesey.
This trip gave us a Lighthouse on Point Lynas a couple of sea caves and a replica ship in Amlwch Port!
Set off from Porth Eilian
There’s a couple of people in there…………..
Karl, pointing out some stalagtights………..
Lunch stop at Port Amlwch
Berthed at Port Amlwch, the Schooner Pickle………
Last cave……………………..!
Arrive at Bull Bay.
Sunday brought a change in the weather! which made us decide on a ‘plan B’ ! This would take us to the Menai Straits where we could stay out of the strong SW winds forcast for that day.
This still meant we had to check out the tides as there are various sections on the Straits which are affected, such as ‘The Swellies’
Route from Menai Bridge, a trip of about 11km.
Lunch stop, tarp up, then the sun came out !
All in all another good trip on the Menai, one which I’ve done before, but felt more confident this time round!
The weekend finished off with the usual tea and cakes back at Plas y Brenin, additional information was provided by Rosemary on reading material, resouces etc. and ‘goodbye’s’ to fellow group members !
