Sea Kayak Angler

Essential Learning on Anglesey

2012-01-25T21:06:00.001Z

Back from a wonderful few days on Anglesey yet again.

First day was spent trying out a demo Rockpool kayak out of Bull Bay in the snotty seas, I think Dave has found his next purchase.

Day two was spent furthering rough water rescue skills on the north coast with top UK sea coach Nick Cunliffe of 'Kayak Essentials'.

Finally, after feeling totally beaten up we spent the Sunday on the Menai playing between the bridge supports on the large 9 metre tide.

Just a few simple photos of the weekend as the camera didnt come out much...

Nick explaining the 5 Essentials :-)

Coble Landing, Filey to The Sands, North Bay Scarborough

2012-01-17T12:33:00.000Z

Sunday dawned another beautiful if a somewhat cold day. Dave was keen to have a play in his new Delphin. A lunchtime launch to get the last couple of hours of ebb, the Brigg end was looking quite lumpy but with a wide berth it made for a fun crossing - on to Scarborough.

Dave and his new boat

North Bay and a bit of swell running, time for a little fun

Unfortunately on more that one occasion we both ended up swimming, what fools but great fun.

Humber in January

2012-01-14T22:13:00.000Z

We store the boats on a farm which is right next to the Tidal River Hull. On several occasions I have put in here and headed upstream to Beverley but never downstream. Today was to be that day, albeit a very last minute decision.

Heading down towards the city was uneventful and quite dirty and somber to be honest, steaming outfalls from chemical works are really not very appealing, I wouldn't want to be in the water here. It wasn't until the city centre when things got better.

Out into the Humber, cutting out into the main flow, a good 4 knots of tide here... The Deep

Grabby eddy lines everywhere, easiest thing I found was to just power through them..

Paull Lighthouse

Down towards Spurn, keeping an ear on channel 12 - Humber VTS, this brings home to what really is a busy waterway and with major tidal flows and grabby, devilish eddies everywhere this waterway needs respect. The Taran did me well, very fast, the Nordcapp would have been more forgiving but the Taran punched through the last of the ebb as I turned to return to my pick up at the village of Paull.

The Best-Laid Plans of Mice and Men.........

2012-01-11T12:59:00.002Z

Charts bought, tidal diamonds examined and route planned, Sunday looked like an ideal day for a play in the upper Humber over low water - what fun could be had messing between the mud and sandbanks, following the last of the tide down to the Humber Bridge, a play around the supports and then back up on the flood.

Launch point had been located, a pontoon from behind the pub at South Ferriby, near the entrance to the River Ancholme. Others had landed here over high water to visit the pub. Up early, over the Humber Bridge and down to the pub carpark, the tide was ebbing fast between the south bank and Reeds Island.

Problem....the pontoon had been removed for the winter and was laid on the bank, now there was 20 ft of deep treacherous mud between us and the water. Well that was that, no other safe access point could be found.

Not to be beaten, it was a nice day, the River Ancholme was close by but still, straight and quite boring, lets go find the Trent, it has good flow, certainly not as challenging as the Humber but could be fun.

Down to Newark and a put in just above the weir in the town for a push upstream...

Want a race?

A little bit of breaking in and out in the moderate flow.

Fi admires a weir..

It could have been very easy to have turned around and gone home but it turned out to be quite a nice chilled day in the best of the January weather. and about 18 kms covered.

New Year on Anglesey

2012-01-07T11:45:00.000Z

A few lovely chilled days on Anglesey with friends, a perfect way to start the New Year.

Humber Tributary

2011-12-18T19:22:00.000Z

A blistering cold day in December and both Fi and myself needed to get out. Between all the Christmas shopping just time for a quick paddle over high water. With icy decks and frozen hatches its still better than fighting for space in the shops.

Fi is eyeing up a goose for Christmas...

Loving the Taran still..

UK Paddling

2011-12-17T12:18:00.000Z

For my own benefit I thought it would be interesting to mark on a map the locations I've personally paddled over this last couple of years.....and I came up with this, locations marked in red.

Surfing Rockpools

2011-12-17T11:20:00.000Z

Big, big sea over here on the North East coast, chance of a bit of fun within the fairly sheltered bay of Filey. Dave brought his Alaw Bach and I was paddling the Taran.

A wonderful day catching nice clean waves along Filey front, I should have had an amazing video of us both surfing the same waves in tandem and much more but alas the Gopro was playing up. A few stills from the day..

We were both having such great fun as the surf built through the day, nice big clean swells that eventually broke sending you bongo sliding towards the beach at a fantastic rate.

Unfortunately Dave stayed on one wave far too long and ended up bongo sliding into a submerged concrete post....

We weren't going to let this spoil our day and it will fix.

Taran

2011-12-04T11:49:00.001Z

Feeling rather under the weather - man flu - and a 7 occasional 8 forecast it would have been very easy to stay at home but I wanted to have a run in this boat.

The tidal river looked like the sensible option, so after downing more pills it was onto the water at Weel Bridge Beverley. Ipod on and up the river I shot. Any feelings of instability soon dispersed and the boat handled lovely, for the majority of the journey the rudder was simply not necessary leaving the boat to handle through simple strokes and edging. Quick? Yes very, but then that is what its built for.

As the sun disappeared over the horizon the temperature plummeted, a quick stop and within seconds the wind chill painfully bit into my hands. Back onto the water and a sprint for the finish, a total distance of 28km, 14Nm for the afternoon.

Now I've familiarized myself with the boat I'm keen to get onto some more challenging water, but not until I've got rid of this blasted man flu.

Fooling Around at the Farnes

2011-11-22T23:06:00.000Z

A superb day for the end of November, a disappointingly flat sea but a bit of fun to be had anyway. Great company with Neil, Brian, Jim, Rich, George and Fi.

Incident Management at UKSG6

2011-11-10T21:17:00.001Z

A few photos by Axel Schoevers and Warren Parker from the recent UKSG6 of yours truly and side-kick Neil Turnbull.

Good Friend Neil's Video of the Recent UKSG6 Symposium, Anglesey 2011

2011-11-04T19:18:00.000Z

Esthwaite Grand Slam Kayak Match

2011-11-01T19:42:00.000Z

The idea was to land three species - pike, perch and trout from this lovely water within the English Lake District.

The weekend arrived and we made ourselves comfortable in Hawkshead YHA. Saturday dawned beautifully but within no time the weather deteriorated. Today was a practice day which found both Fiona and myself in search of pike.

We had limited success with one small fish each which proved to be a hard day for everyone.

Fi was happy as it was her biggest pike to date...but no way was she holding that thing as it had teeth.

Back to the hostel for a hot shower and freshen up and then into Hawsker with friends for dinner. A few beers too many and off to bed.

Sunday, match day, proved to be just as difficult and the fish eluded both Fiona and me. Good friend Simon did latch into a nice fish though, taken on a fly...

The fish, along with a trout later on gave Simon 1st place, well done mate. A wonderful weekend with good friends, shame the fish had not been biting better but it didn't spoil what was a very successful event.

Storm Gathering Symposium 2011

2011-10-31T22:51:00.000Z

A brilliant weekend up at Anglesey with friends. Big seas and strong winds made for an exciting experience.

Sea Kayak Bass - The Movie

2011-10-09T14:24:00.001+01:00

A lovely weekend at the beginning of October saw us paddling around Flamborough in search of bass. Flat, clear seas made for ideal conditions and a very productive couple of days - not to say fun.

Another Paddle up the River with Ant

2011-09-28T23:18:00.000+01:00

Another lovely day on the river, low water levels and high summer weed made fishing a little awkward but we did manage to hook and lose a nice trout.

But on such a beautiful day who cares about fishing...

Watch in full screen and HD if possible...

South Landing Kayak Match

2011-09-28T23:15:00.000+01:00

A brilliant match hosted by Stonefish. Fi brought the 1stWet&Wild roadshow down...

Won by yours truelly with a 9lb + skate

Sea Kayak Bass

2011-09-28T23:10:00.001+01:00

Flat Seas are usually quite boring in the sea kayak - unless you take a fishing rod...

Dave finds the bigger ones though - as usual...

Paddle Orkney 11

2011-09-28T23:00:00.002+01:00

Both Fi and myself made the long trip up north to experience the delights of paddling around Orkney. The excuse was to attend the symposium but we also spent eight days on expedition discovering this delightful place.

Watch in full screen and HD if possible..

South Landing to Fraisthorpe on a Snotty Day

2011-09-28T22:51:00.000+01:00

Assisted in leading a group around the bay with a southerly making things a little exciting..

Plenty of practice of putting people back into boats in challenging conditions...

Back on the River with Ant

2011-09-28T22:48:00.000+01:00

Another beautiful day spent with Ant chilling out on the river...

Runswick Kayak Match

2011-09-28T22:44:00.000+01:00

A brilliant day with lots of 'weather'.

It didn't stop the anglers catching though...

Some of us even took the lazy route....

Tope Fishing with Dave & George

2011-09-28T22:38:00.000+01:00

Dave hooks a good tope...

A bit of a rough landing..

SOT Course - Filey

2011-09-28T22:31:00.000+01:00

I, with Rod hosted a basic sit on top course for local paddlers within the shelter of Filey Bay, great fun was had by all with a little bit of learning thrown in to boot..

Yorkshire Coast Mini Exped

2011-09-28T22:23:00.000+01:00

George and myself took ourselves off for a couple of nights camping and paddling, setting up camp at Hayburn Wyke.

Dave met us for a spot of fishing

Fi walked on Saturday evening

Paddling Pooch - Ant gets to Grips with His Canoe

2011-09-28T22:16:00.000+01:00

Sea Kayak Symposium - Anglesey

2011-09-28T22:09:00.003+01:00

Anglers Afloat Disability Day

2011-09-28T21:59:00.001+01:00

Llangorse Lake, Brecon was the venue for a disability sailing and kayaking fun day. AnglersAfloat.co.uk in association with Powys County Council (via Llandrindod Sports Centre), Disability Sport Wales, and the Llangorse Sailing Club held the event on a calm, sunny Saturday in June.

And even a chance for a spot of fishing afterwards...

Scotland, Skate and the Corryvreckan

2011-09-28T21:31:00.003+01:00

Up to Scotland and the wonderful digs on Crinan harbour, a beautiful house straight off the slip, George a real credit to you for organising that one. We even had time for a bit of sight seeing.

Straight out for the skate fishing...

A paddle to Grey Dogs...

Across to Jura and the Corry...

Sea Eagles..

More fishing...and Fi gets her prize....

Four Star Training (again) Farne Islands

2011-09-28T21:07:00.000+01:00

Undertook more four star training, this time with good friends Neil and Brian, Phil Clegg lead the course..

Ken takes a good battering....

Kayak Fishing under Bempton - March 2011

2011-09-28T21:00:00.000+01:00

Clear seas saw me and Dave under the big cliffs..

Three Weekends, Three Sea Paddles

2011-03-14T21:47:00.004Z

Conditions have been 'paddle-able' but not favourable for fishing so the last few weekends have seen us out in the sea kayaks.

A little video, thanks Dave :-)

The following weekends saw us around Flamborough, firstly North Landing, paddling up under Bempton and then the following weekend out from South Landing.

Spring is most definately just around the corner, the Gannets are back on Staple Nook.

Just waiting for the big northerly swells to fall away now, we so need some cod for the freezer.

Row, row, row your boat....

2011-03-14T21:19:00.001Z

...gently down the stream....

Took a day off today and me and Fi loaded the open boat onto the van roof and headed to the upper reaches of the River Hull up near Driffield. Our launch site was to be Brigham, we paddled north towards the Wolds, sorry I should be more accurate, Fi paddled while i experimented with trolling several different lures...

I had to keep feeding her sandwiches and chocolate biscuits but mile after mile she did paddle....

Eventually got to the top end of the river where I had a bit of success last year with the boy, never fished it this early, was always June and July time earliest. Seems so different without any weed growth.

Got up to the top whirlpool behind the fish farms and pulled in tight to the reeds, chucked out across towards the white water in the hope of pike, lure of choice was a Spro BBZ.

First proper cast and the rod wrapped around nicely, too much of a sparodic fight for a pike, a few minutes later Fi had lifted the net under quite a nice Rainbow, brilliant result, this part of the river is known to have a few escapees from the fish farm, at least that was tea sorted.

Not to be outdone, Fi then grabbed the rod off me and had a few chucks herself

Not much else happening in that pool so we headed on up to the lock gates and jumped out of the boat for a breather, this area was known to hold a few pike as well as trout.

With that. Fi's rod wrapped around and she was soon scrapping against a better fish, this was no trout. I grabbed the net and after a little tussle I lifted it under a fairly nice little pike for her.

Back in the boat and we headed under the farm bridge and tucked right in next to the lock gates, this is were my son and myself had a couple of fish last year, I soon hooked into another nice trout (i think) but the hook pulled, Fi didn't fair much better either.

Back to the landing near the gates and Fi was getting a real dab hand at casting lures and spinners just short of the bridge, top respect to her as this is only her 3rd fishing trip.

This resulted in another nice rainbow matching the other at about 3 and a half pounds in weight.

What a brilliant little session, it started to get very cold and the paddle back to Brigham warmed us both up. Nice to land a few fish as its been quite a while, roll on flat seas and bars of silver.

Daves New Sail

2011-02-19T21:10:00.000Z

Dave was fortunate enough to receive a Flat Earth Sail for Christmas so on a cold January day we both went for a play putting in at South landing.

And always time for a little rolling practice.

No Place to Go

2011-01-06T17:36:00.000Z

Just as in life, it sometimes seems it doesn't matter which direction you try to take there is simply just no place to go.

December the 29th 2010, thick fog on the coast. Fed up of slobbing around and in need of some fresh air and exercise I chose to paddle the river Hull. Put in at Weel Bridge, Beverley and up to Hempholme lock, all the tributaries we frozen....

And not much point going any further than the lock or I would most certainly run out of daylight.

A pleasant 20 mile paddle that served a simple purpose.

Late Season Paddle under Bempton

2010-11-02T22:25:00.000Z

With Small tides and light winds forecast, it looked good for a short trip on Sunday. Fi and Rod have never paddled the Bempton to Speeton section of coastline. With an ebbing tide in the afternoon it was decided we would launch from Hunmanby Gap and paddle south over slack and then use the tide to get a little assistance on the return trip.

It was an overcast and misty day but The cliffs still looked pretty amazing albeit with the absence of the birds.

A quick rest stop on the way back, Rod gets himself comfortable on a rock...

A lovely day, slightly more distance covered than we anticipated and with a northerly wind building the return trip to the Gap was quite demanding.

The Broads

2010-10-21T20:51:00.001+01:00

This time every year a close group of friends arrange to meet at Oulton Broad, Lowerstoft. We usually book several lovely, warm holiday chalets on the waters edge, certainly my favourite 'get together' of the paddling and kayak fishing calendar. This year I took the lad, our craft to paddle was the open boat. I took the Nordcapp too as a couple of friends had shown interest in paddling it.

Our accomodation...

Saturday mornings launch

And on to the fishing...

No pike this day but we did manage to bag many nice roach, small chub and perch. It was busy on the water today as the sea was too rough for most to launch.

Theres a definate theme to this years meet....

Saturday afternoon had me in the water delivering a little coaching, Dave cetainly liked the Valley boat.

Sunday saw us back out on the Broads

This time we started to get a little bit of interest in our plugs, the pike were playing ball... It took several lure changes but eventually we conected with a lovely little fish of about 7lb. Job done...

Filey to North Landing and Back..

2010-10-07T21:14:00.001+01:00

Had a bit of a marathon paddle today, put in at Country Park Filey and paddled on down to Speeton and then under Bempton to Thornwick and North Landing. Then back of course.

A quick rest stop under Reighton...

Then on again under Bempton. Some of the northern Bempton (Speeton) cliffs are amazing, my personal feelings are that the cliffs north of Staple Nook are much more dramatic and featured then those at the southern end, it takes a bit more effort to visit this area but it is so worth it.

Back up to Filey before it got dark and another wonderful days worth of paddling.

Simply Bempton

2010-10-06T22:06:00.001+01:00

Got a flyer from work last monday and shot up to North Landing, Flamborough for a quick launch out and north under Bempton. Spawney Dave and Ian were already out there albiet Ian being on a much bigger launch than his kayak.

Dave was on the Dorado and in full 'bass' mode, I had gone for a piss about in the Nordcapp.

I had a paddle down to Staple Nook, sea state was most definately just 'slight' ....

But I wanted to have a mess about putting a video together so headed for any white water I could find. First attempt so hope you enjoy......

While I was out messing about Dave was catching prime bass, well done mate, knew i should have brought a fishing rod....

Ants First Fish

2010-09-21T11:15:00.001+01:00

With another day of strong winds predicted it was decided on a safe launch at Kelsey Gardens, Burstwick. Accompanied by son Ant, we were in search of the lakes predators.

We thrashed the water all day with just about every lure in the box but no pike could be tempted, we are assured pike are in the lake.

This being our third attempt for these big fish on this particular water it started to turn us nuts.

It was decided to scale down our gear and try for the smaller species, almost instantly we started to catch small perch and Ant had his first true catch.

Fi Gets to Grips With the New P&H Delphin

2010-09-13T21:34:00.039+01:00

Had the pleasure of paddling with Fi recently as she tried out the new Delphin from P&H. With a force 5 to 6 forecast it was decided to launch and paddle the lower Esk, from harbour mouth to Ruswarp and back.

Salmon were leaping along most of the upper reaches and as the tide flooded the river bed started to fizz releasing the pockets of air trapped within.

A quick play around the viaduct and then back down to the town. Get the feeling Fi liked the boat, it did seem to be affected by side winds but most definately a great alternative to a longer kayak for those shorter play sessions, not sure it will take the place of her Scorpio LV though.

As the seas settled it was then onto Robin Hoods Bay, this time Fi launched in her Scorpio...

A quick paddle under Ravenscar cliffs and on dropping a firetail lure Fi was into her first ever fish off a kayak, a nice pollock of about 4lbs. Second drop had us hooked to a right monster which would have easily gone 9lb but unfortunately it managed to spit the hook at the side of the kayaks.

Back into the bay, the northerly wind had blown up making conditions a little uncomfortable.

Once well into the shelter of the bay conditions got much more pleasant, last of the summer sunshine..

A quick landing onto Robin Hoods Bay beach and you would have been excused in thinking it was a mid summers day. The chip shop was a welcome sight...

Yorkshire Coast Paddle 2010 - in Aid of the RNLI

2010-08-31T20:46:00.001+01:00

On the morning of Friday the 27th of August Dave and myself set out from Skiningrove on the 90km paddle down the coast to South Landing Flamborough. The following three days paddling were some of the most demanding the team had done. It was the first time for both Dave and myself to use the kayaks for expedition. the whole idea of packing a sea boat for three days paddling did have its headaches for the inexperienced like us.

The forecast was always going to be rather borderline and we launched apprehensively from Skiningrove into breaking waves.

Heading down towards Staithes the large northerly swell was very much evident. We met up with the rest of the group coming out of Staithes. Nicky, Angela, John and Martin. As a group we made our way towards Whitby.

Into the harbour for lunch, poor Nicky, more at home in open boats, wasn't very comfortable on the swells and called it a day. Really good effort though.

Martin and Dave publicised our quest.

Then out through the harbour and on our way to Robin Hoods Bay were we made camp for the night.

Day 2 started with a nice cooked breakfast before we packed up & headed off at 09:00 leaving the sleepy hollow in pristine condition, the swell had subsided a lot overnight and we had a little play in the surf over the steel before we headed south again

The wind was a fresh westerly and despite the fact we were paddling against the tide we made good progress, we still had the problem of getting ashore so we just got a nice rhythm going and by lunchtime we were into Jacksons Bay.

Back on the water and the weather was getting worse now with squally showers and a fresh westerly pushing us on, which makes keeping a straight course a bit difficult.Fortunately we picked up the strengthening flood tide off Casty & were soon riding the jetstream down to the Brigg. We were still a bit unsure were we could spend the night, so we visited Barry at the cobble landing were he kindly bought us coffee & supplied replenishments to our beer cabinet.

We also took the opportunity to have a look at the weather forcast, it was pretty obvious that sunday was going to be a nasty day to be afloat. We reasoned that we would either have to end it here or get as near to Bempton as possible and then get an early start to get around the head before the worst weather arrived. -Plan B it is then.

The wind was already fresh & another hour got us to the beach between Rieghton Sands & Speeton, we found a nice quiet little spot & set up camp. A little more than 40km today, so a few aches, but not too bad really. Off the water and camp sorted.

Tents erected on the cliffs...

And what a view out of the tent door...

And a chill out with a beer, good food and a great bonfire.

Sunday morning and with a gale force 9 imminent it was necessary to get on the water for 5.30am and shoot down towards Flamborough Head. This last section was the most challenging yet, evil gusting winds, choppy unpredicatable swells and then a force 7 in our faces as we rounded the head, it was never going to be easy.

Finally at 9am Sunday we reached our destination, South Landing, Flamborough. Exhausted and tired we simply fell out of the boats and dragged them up the slip. The RNLI gave us a warm welcome and hot coffee.

An amazing if rather challenging few days, expeditioning really does get under your skin and I think we are all keen to get out there and do something again soon.

Importantly we collectively have raised over a £1000 for the RNLI, a brilliant achievement.

90Kms covered, two days on......and I'm missing being out on the kayak.
Thanks for reading.

Brigg Blast with Neil

2010-08-31T17:10:00.003+01:00

Good friend Neil came down from Coldstream to collect a boat here in Hull and so it was too good an opportunity to miss, the seas were up and there was only one place to go play - Filey Brigg.

He had just puchased a new P&H Delphin from Wet & Wild, a boat perfect for playing around in rough seas, the Brigg should be a great test.

The mixed up seas were very difficult to predict making it quite challenging, there was a very large underlying northerly swell present too.

Enough of this tom foolery and it was across the bay to play on the surf beach.

A lovely day with a very good friend. And did Neil like the new boat? He certainly did, nearly as much as I enjoyed him purchasing it ;-)

Fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

2010-08-23T20:39:00.004+01:00

Fundraising for RNLI - Royal National Lifeboat Institution

Independant paddlers, Scarborough Canoe Club and staff from East Barnby Outdoor Centre are paddling the full Yorkshire Coast, a distance of over 90 km from Saltburn to South Landing in aid of the RNLI. Do please give just a little at the above link if you can.

Thank You so much.

The Eddystone Challenge 2010

2010-08-16T18:57:00.011+01:00

The Eddystone Challenge, organised by the Mayflower Offshore Rowing Club, is a race from Plymouth to the Eddystone Lighthouse in the Western Approaches of the English Channel and back - a distance of 40 kilometres in open sea.
The race is open to any rowing boat, eg Quad sculls, Sweep oars, Celtic Longboats, Cornish Gigs and Canoes etc.

The event is a tough mental and physical challenge. The winning time is dependent on the weather, it has taken just under six and a half hours in force six conditions, and under four hours in force one. The event only has one rule, and that is to follow the safety instructions at all times.

View this map on Multimap.com
Get directions on Multimap.com

Two years ago, after a disasterious day in force 7 winds and spring tides up the Tamar, I swore I would not attempt this challenge again, Saturday saw me back at the Mayflower Club and on the start line at the Mount Batten Pier.

With a force 4 forecast the main event to the lighthouse was on. The trip out was good and quick, the northerly wind had everyone surfing around the Eddystone rocks in record time, the journey back was a different story.

Battling against strong head winds, frequent squalls and the odd storm thrown in it was never going to be easy. Many dropped out but a few kept going. You could see the storms coming over Plymouth as the town dissapeared into a grey blur, then moments later we would be trapped in great big squalls and thundering rain and all you could do was paddle for support and at least keep upright..

I'm so pleased to be able to say that with a combination of a bit of training, good planning and a little bit of nutritional and dietry guidance, I actually finished the event this year in just over 6 hours. It really is a grind, the Plymouth breakwater never comes into view and when it does it never seems to get any closer. I don't think I will be in a rush to do it again.

A really big well done to John Willacy who is breaking records left, right and centre, another first place for him in the Rockpool Taran - a paddler who is at the top of his game in a most amazing boat, what a combination. Well done to Mick too making it a 1st and 2nd for 'Team Taran'.

Results here:

http://www.mayfloweroffshorerowingclub.co.uk/eddystone/eddystone2010results.html

Flamborough Revisited & A Few Bass

2010-08-16T18:02:00.000+01:00

Met up with paddling friend Dave at South Landing, also coming along for the first time bass fishing was Geoff, a KKC coach and keen sea paddler.

Conditions were not ideal with a strong SW wind but it didn't deter the lads form bagging a few fish, heres Geoff with his first ever sea bass.

Then Dave goes one better and catches a fantastic fish just short of 6lb.

Up on the scarrs for lunch and Geoff is well pleased with himself

It was a wonderful afternoon and one of the biggest ebbs of the year so I spent much time messing about around the scarrs and caves.

A lovely nice relaxed afternoon afloat, so made up that Geoff got among a few fish, mission accomplished.

Flamborough to Fraisthorpe & Back

2010-08-08T22:13:00.000+01:00

Had a lovely paddle today with great company. Met up with Rod, Fiona and some of the Hull & District Canoe Club Paddlers at Flamborough and accompanied them on the journey to Fraisthorpe.

Stopping at Bridlington on the way to meet up with a few other paddlers.

Back on the water and down to Fraisthorpe, the lovely Fiona paddling her Scorpio LV, a really nice boat.

After an hour or so messing around in the small surf and quite embarrassingly being wiped out this muppet decided to turn around and head back to Flamborough.

A nice paddle straight back across the bay and I even managed to troll a lure for an elusive bass but it was not to be. Got around the head and the sea had chopped up quite uncomfortably. Eventually worked my way back to North Landing. Another 20 mile journey and a memorable day..

Humber Paddle

2010-08-07T19:47:00.001+01:00

I got a call from Rod at Wet & Wild in Hull a few days ago. He had been approached by the Humber Harbour Master that a couple of inexperienced paddlers doing a sponsored trip from Liverpool were looking at coming down the river in a day or so. They were looking for a couple of kayakers to guide them down the notoriously dodgy bit of water.

Well I jumped at the chance as I had not done the top end of the river and the following day found a few of us up at Goole ready to escort the lads down the river.

A good bit of tidal planning saw us jump on the river just before slack at Goole docks and within no time we were making quick progress down the river.

With a very handy NW breeze on our backs we were stonking down the river, 9.4mph at one point.

Within no time the Humber bridge came within view.

We were down to the bridge in about two and a half hours a distance of just over 20 miles. The lads were greatful for the company, the Humber isn't the prettiest place to paddle but it certainly does have its qualities.

View map of Goole, North Humberside, England, DN14 5 on Multimap.com
Get directions to or from Goole, North Humberside, England, DN14 5

A New Shore Caught PB Bass For Me

2010-08-03T09:41:00.000+01:00

Following on from the fantastic day afloat we had recently catching bass a few of us decided to leave the kayaks at home and have a go from the shore for these impressive fish. It wasn't long until a big bass was swirling at my feet and eventually it took my lure resulting in a screaming scrap and thankfully a succesfull landing of this lovely 5lb 14oz specimen.

A New Boat & a Spot of Bass Fishing

2010-08-02T10:46:00.003+01:00

Took delivery of the Nordkapp over the weekend and said goodbye to the old Aquanaut. Obviously keen to get out and give it a spin a accompanied friend Dave out who was set on bass fishing. I took a rod as an after thought.

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Launching from North Landing, Flamborough we headed south around the head, there was quite a good swell running and with the huge tide it was most definately going to be fun chucking lures around on the Nordkapp. Some good breaking water and surfable waves to mess around on though.

Initial thoughts were that the new boat was a lot more responsive, there was certainly less stability but I eventually gained enough confidence to put the paddle down and try a go for the bass.

With both Dave and myself knowing roughly were the fish can be found at this state of tide it wasn't long until we were both into bass. In the fairly flat conditions it wasn't over difficult to play and land the small fish but the Nordkapp did get picked up on the lazy swells quite quickly.

Dave was having fun with some good sized pollock as well as bass.

Up onto the scarrs for a break over slack. We dragged the boats up and decided to chuck a few lures around from the rocks.

It wasn't long until we were both catching fish from almost under our feet.

Back around to North Landing, I got as close in as I dare on the unpredicatable swells and breaking water, even running through some of the caves and stacks between the sets of big breakers. What a great buzz.

It was a lovely afternoon, quite chilled at times but with a bit of excitement too, the Nordcapp is well and truelly Christened with a few new scrapes along her hull and a few fish landed.......I'm still not sure I like yellow though.......

Filey Kayak Match and Three Days of Paddling

2010-07-28T23:10:00.001+01:00

Couldn't get to Filey until 8.30am of the morning of the match so missed out on a good night apparently on friday. Tent pitched, boat sorted, changed and down the slip just in time for the start. Got to the Brigg End and hung about a little and took a few snaps. The Mad Moleman was the first around the corner closely followed by Jellyworm, Damo and co.

I didn't see this one coming

Our Tarpon Ben, as mad as a box of frogs but we do love him

The fishing was kind to me and I managed to winkle out a couple of pollock to 5lb 3oz. Then with it getting a bit lumpy paddled back in with Kev who had been chatting up a seal all afternoon and this old girl followed him all the way back in with her nose on his stern, almost all the way back to the beach.

Saturday night was fun, a quick run down to the shop and we had everyone fed with a nice big BBQ. But having only had a couple of hours sleep the previous night I dosed myself up on a small vodca tipple and headed to my pit.

Sunday saw Lozz, Spawney and myself head off around the Brigg for a nice paddle and a little rock hopping.

We all had a little play on the end of the Brigg as the tide race had started to develop quite nicely, Lozz started to find out the diss-advantages of a SOT compared to a sea kayak complete with spray deck.

Spawney was starting to get just a little bored...

And so decided to practice his roll within the race on Brigg End

Back into the bay and a bit off messing about and rescue training , then back to the beach were we again met up with Ben who was waving around a huge cod and attracting the hoards of tourists.

Really well done Ben, his smile says it all and a new PB for him, 9lb exactly. He didn't even frown slightly when we told him it would have been worth £300 the day before

Monday and yet another launch was decided upon,this time both myself and Dave decided to target the bass, a poor but enjoyable day with just a few fish

An Evening On the River Hull with Friends

2010-07-21T23:46:00.000+01:00

Arrived on the river early so young Anthony and myself had a paddle downstream to the Beverley Beck lock gates,sunken boats litter the river.

Back up the river and as we waited for the guys to launch Anthony enjoyed a little picnic on the bank.

Dave and his lovely daughter turn up.

It was then a nice relaxed paddle up the river, a nice warm still evening. A few miles up and we stopped for a break.

Think my son has just experienced his first crush.

A selection of boats.

A lovely evening and hoping to do it again soon.

Pike Fishing on the Canoe

2010-07-17T18:55:00.001+01:00

My dear son Anthony was keen to get out on the open boat this weekend. With the weather being a little inhospitable we stayed close to home and put the boat in at Brigham near Driffield today. The wind was howling and we had to dodge several heavy rain showers but still great fun. Pike gear was taken more as an after thought but made for an interesting day.

The proud boat owner with his launch

Up the river towards Wansford

To the lock and the first place we actually found a reasonable depth of water to fish.

Fish on, a nice pike of about 7lb, the lad wasn't impressed with the tail walking next to the boat as he got quite wet. Fumbling for the net the fish spat the hook and was away, oh well.

More effort was required so we knuckled down casting a floating Spro BBZ lure anywere there seemed to be enough water away from the weed.

Even Dad started putting a little effort in - the beauty of a Canadaian Canoe is that they make a great fishing platform, nice and easy to stand up and cast from.

One missed take later and we finally get another good hook up with a small fish of about 5lb landed. The lad was very pleased but no way was he going to hold it.

The day seemed to brighten up just a little which made the slog back down to Brigham quite pleasant.

Have a go at kayaking

2010-07-16T09:19:00.004+01:00

Kingston Kayak Club have teamed up with Hull City Council Sports Development as part of their Sports Unlimited Programme this year to offer youngsters the chance to try kayaking. I was asked if I would like to assist with the coaching on this ten week course.

Most of the sessions have been conducted at the outdoor pool on the club premises but to give the kids a different environment to contend with we took them to Princess Quay yesterday evening. Great fun and with a full turn out everybody enjoyed the session.

Raft Building Fun

2010-07-13T18:46:00.004+01:00

Today I was privalaged to take control of a Raft Building Day with young pupils from Westborough High School in Dewsbury.The day again took place on the watersports lake at Kelsey Gardens.

It started with an introduction to rafts and raft building and then a safety briefing before the students went off to design a raft given the available materials that they had available to them.

With a little guided discovery they were soon on the path to producing a reasonable floating platform.

After another quick lesson on knot tieing the boys and girls were down to the waters edge and given the opportunity to construct their own rafts. But someone had tied all the barrels out in the middle of the lake, oh how inconvenient, only thing to do is go and retrieve them in the open boats - after a little tuition on how to hold a paddle.

Down to the construction of rafts...

The girls were soon making very good progress

And the boys were doing a very good job too

Both teams were well impressed with their boats

After lunch it was time to launch the craft and the rest of the day was spent having fun on the water.

A wonderful day enjoyed by all.

Coaching at Kelsey Gardens

2010-07-07T12:19:00.000+01:00

Was delighted to be asked to assist with an evening group booking at Kelsey Gardens Burstwick.

It was a delightfuly warm evening and all the attendees had great fun in the open boats and sit on top kayaks.

With the water being so warm it was difficult to keep them inside and on top of the boats which kept the coaches busy with rescues - all good practice.

The coaches sneak in a little 'me' time.

Before meeting the Clients

A great evening with a few lessons learned and good learning for the next opportunity at Kelsey Gardens.

Bass Rock

2010-07-07T11:30:00.001+01:00

Met up with friends from Scarborough Kayak Club and the East Barnby Outdoor Centre up at North Berwick on Friday night. Neil and his local palls were meeting us out on the water in the morning.

Bass Rock, a place I have wanted to be for a long time

After a slow launch conditions soon proved to be a little challenging with a stiff breeze blowing and a good chop on the water.

A quick circumnavigation of 'The Bass' and then it was all hands to fishing for dinner.

This proved to be a little disasterious with broken reels and dropped handlines. Fortunately Neil and his brother Brian can always be relied upon to find a few fish.

Neil produced a brief video of our exploits

In for lunch and Neil produces a home made fish smoker

And managed to feed us all with a feast of smoked mackerel.

A bit more paddling after lunch

Then in and back to the campsite for a well earned BBQ and 'just a few beers'.

Sharkatag and the Mull of Galloway

2010-06-21T21:22:00.001+01:00

Had a wonderful long weekend with good friends fishing

Highlight of the weekend for me was a very quick and dynamically planned trip around the Mull head, conditions were good, tides were right, I was in the right place at the right time, only one thing to do - go for it...

A Splash In the Bay

2010-06-13T13:42:00.002+01:00

With a fairly big northerly swell running fishing from kayaks was out of the question at most marks. Instead both myself and Dave took the sea kayaks down to Filey for a play in the surf...

First off onto the end of the Brigg - a huge rock outcrop that sticks out into the north sea.

And then across the bay to follow the swells onto Reighton beach..

Wreck Fishing from Kayak

2010-06-13T13:27:00.000+01:00

We had a pretty good session on a wreck 2 miles off Clougton last year , so with an almost perfect forcast for today, barring the possibility of fog we decided to give it another go. Cloughton is not an easy venue with steep access and a launch from rocky ground that would be a nightmare in a swell but with two working together it does save a 5 mile paddle.

A lovely day and quite productive too in glass like conditions

The Farnes

2010-05-23T20:29:00.001+01:00

Drove up to Northumbria with Dave on Friday night and met up with some Scarborough sea paddlers at Budle Campsite, Neil also came along as our guide and what a fantastic job he did. An amazing weekend, to be honest I haven't the words to describe it so will let the photos do the talking.

Coquet Island

Yorkshire Cod Arrive in Numbers

2010-05-23T19:25:00.000+01:00

Paddled out from North Landing with good friend Dave earlier this week in search of the Spring run of cod in the clearing waters. I'm glad to say we were not to be dissapointed.

A Week Away-The lakes, Skye & Northumbria

2010-05-17T22:10:00.002+01:00

Had arranged to meet friends Dave, Marion, Neil and Brian up on the Isle of Skye for several days tuition with Level 5 coach Gordon Brown of Skyak Adventures.

Seeing that it was a week long trip thought it prudent to take the family. We headed up to the Lakes for a brief stop-over and a little bit of open boating. We even managed to get Angela in the boat.

Sunday we then shot up to Skye. Not content with catching the ferry from Malaig I sent Angela over with the car and I planned the paddle across.

There was a force 4/5 wind pushing down the Sound so it was necessary to paddle up across Loch Nevis before taking the crossing, one of the hardest paddles I've done in a long while but very rewarding.

The following day was a chillout day and I did what any good sea kayaker would do on a day off the water - Visit the local distillery for free whisky.

Day 1 with Gordon Brown saw us on flat water progressing our techniques

Day 2 and the wind whipped up south westerly 5 to 6, perfect for rough water training. Into the van and down to the bottom tip of the island. Amazing stuff and it had us all well out of our comfort zone, paddling, turning and rolling in the dark water close to features had us all buzzing.

Day 3 was just a little more subdued and saw us playing in the tidal race of Kyle Rhea. So pleased as I made great progress on applying the cross bow rudder then into a reverse sweep - ok a little sad I know.

Gordon showing off...and rightly so

A wonderful week with good food, mighty fine whisky and great friends. Homewards we had a day in Northumbria and Holy Island, what a beautiful area.

Home and shattered but a brilliant week. Had a good look over at the Farne Islands, I'm sure it won't be long until we are all paddling around them.

Sea Kayak Symposium - Wales

2010-05-05T21:29:00.002+01:00

Had the pleasure of joining friends Simon and George on Anglesey over the May Bank Holiday for the Symposium. Our main aim was to get the Kaskazi Fleet of boats on the beach for people to demo alongside the big names such as Valley, NDK, Rockpool etc.

It was a lovely day and the real highlight for me was being allowed to go for a 'chuck about' in John Willacy's new prototype Rockpool Taran racer. The grin from ear to ear as I came off the water said it all, what an amazing boat it really is.

You can see more of Johns' Rockpool prototype Taran here

Saturday evening lead to the odd beer and a walk up to the Penryn Mawr tidal race - we all had opinions as to the best route through and what would be the best wave to play on.

Back at base and we joined in the after school party, its amazing who you meet on the dance floor at these events.......accomplished international paddler Freya Hoffmeister. See Freyas' site here

The following day both myself and George were a little too hung over to attempt a launch but good old Simon didn't let the team down and headed out for a fish from Cable Bay.

A lovely weekend and another top visit to Anglesey. I'm sure we will be back over there very soon.

A Catchless Report

2010-04-27T23:04:00.001+01:00

Met up with Dave this lunch time down in Robin Hoods Bay. Weather predictions were not too bad, SW winds, 2 to 3 with the chance of them building later. We hastily got onto the water and tuned into the weather report on the VHF. This confirmed much the same for the next 24 hours...2 to 3 SW now, building to 4 or 5 later

We shot out to some ground that has been kind to us in the past, our hopes were high as there was a couple of other small boats sat out there. Drogues were deployed and big shads were lowered to the sea bed...

It soon become obvious the wind was building sooner rather than later and more from the South than SW, the big tides were making presentation difficult too.

Nothing was happening on the far mark and the other two boats soon dissapeared, we decided to head back to the inshore grounds

The wind had really started whipping up around the headland, coming closer in was the right move

Dave took a couple of videos of my paddling for me to scrutinise

With the conditions getting no better it was time for home

More Learning in Fabulous Surroundings Pt 2

2010-04-25T22:54:00.001+01:00

This weekend was the final sessions of Level 2 Coach training with Saun and Harry of Wild River.

What a brilliant course that has now opened up so many more questions...........

The real work starts now, wish me luck.............

Ken

More Learning in Fabulous Surroundings

2010-04-19T20:59:00.004+01:00

Arrived in Cumbria Friday evening ready to start Level Two Coach Training first thing Saturday morning. This was being held at Derwentwater Marine with Saun and Harry of Wild River Coaching. http://www.wildriver.co.uk
It was a fabulous weekend with plenty of interesting and constructive learning.

To top it off there was time for a pleasant paddle after the course on Saturday evening. It was a beautiful evening and for the first time ever I took the Ipod with me. I wouldn't normally consider it while paddling on the sea or with company. But what a fabulous experience.

With direct access to the water from the digs - Derwentwater Youth Hostel

A short drag back up the drive

And what a view from the hostel

Looking forward to days three and four of the course next weekend.

Loch Lomond Inchcailloch Island Hoping

2010-04-13T22:27:00.004+01:00

My dear friend George had thought of a fantastic weekend, it entailed booking an island on Loch Lomond for our exclusive use. The time of year was right - April which meant few midges, the forecast was great...so we jumped at it. Met up with Tony (Trotter), his lad Sam, Stephen and Sophie the dog and of course George and myself. I brought my lad too, 5 year old Anthony, always a gamble, never camped before and quite new to boating....

We met up at Balmaha, loaded up, the guys were on kayaks, I took the open canoe so I could ship our lad and Sophie across. Within half an hour we were on the island and setting up camp and then time to relax

Well the adults could, the lads were given the task of collecting fire wood

and a bit more relaxing...

and a bit of food...

Tony kept us topped up with brews (when the beer wasn't about) and thanks to George we dined like kings...

and just a quick spot of fishing fro George....

Under the watchful eye of the lifeguard

Some just decided to play in the sand

A beautiful place to spend the weekend

Before we knew it, the daylight was nearly gone

and some others came and joined us...

Time to light the fire and just a bit more food

All lights out by 8.30..........honest.....

Up early and breakfast, duck eggs, bacon, sausage, beans and plenty of bread....

and coco-pops for others

Kit packed away, plan was to get it all packed away in the vehicles and then back out for some 'serious' fishing......

All stowed nicely

How does George get away with carrying so little???

Oh I see now.......

What a beautiful morning

Sam thoroughly enjoying himself..

Then to some fishing......plenty of fish showing down at the bottom of the loch but even after having several follows we were unable to hook into a fish.

Stephen fortunately did a little better on the fly

On the whole a lovely weekend, 700 miles, just home...and just so badly want to go back, the boy is fairly keen too, the best gamble i've ever taken. Thoroughly enjoyed the weekend and paddling the open boat, it was made extra special by having my lad with me. this really is the start of something extra special.

1st Uptiding of the Year

2010-04-08T23:30:00.002+01:00

I was so keen to get out and fish last Sunday, forecasts were borderline but do-able. Tried ringing friend Dave Saturday night but he was out galavanting around Scarborough town - them young uns. Couldn't sleep, was so keen to get out, up for 4.30am, I actually saw the sun come up over the fields, first time in a long time since I've seen that. As any good friend would do, I text Dave at 6am to let him know my intentions.

Launched from North Landing and headed towards Bempton, a little lumpy but quite ok. Got a call from Dave to say someone rudely awoke him so he got up and was now at the Landing car park . He decided to head towards Brail to do a bit of uptiding to begin with and we kept in touch on the phone and VHF.

Well it was hard work, I sat there uptiding with best baits....

In a fave area....

And the best I could manage was these....

Dave didn't fair much better, we met up a little later and tried several other techniques including jigging and shadding but the cod simply were not there...

But anyway, still a nice day on the water and its still very early season although this time last year we had already had some very productive days uptiding. Plenty of time for good fishing in the coming months though.....

Out Of The Comfort Zone

2010-03-29T14:48:00.005+01:00

Weather was looking just a little borderline yesterday with fairly strong SW to W winds, forecast was for 4 occasionally 5, dropping to 3 later. We surmised that if we tucked right in under the North Yorkshire cliffs we would be able to achieve a nice A to B journey sheltered from the worst of the weather.

An afternoon launch from Robin Hoods Bay putting in at Boggle Hole was decided the best option to take advantage of the last few hours of the flood and hopefully find the blow dropping away. Our destination was Scarborough North Bay, a distance of just over 10Nm.

The wind was whipping over the trees and out into the bay. We hand railed it right around the bay towards Ravenscar cliffs, it soon became apparent that the wind was funnelling through the bay and so a close break in around the corner would be necessary to prevent being pushed out to sea.

The small wavelets soon began building into surf able waves. We rounded the corner expecting shelter but found the wind was somehow cycloning around the huge cliffs buffeting us with unpredictable gusts that whipped the water off the surface and into huge spray columns raising 50 feet into the air. I wasn't happy, Dave is a competent sea kayaker but my fear was for one of us to end up swimming in these conditions.

A rescue would have been difficult and we would be well out to sea once successfully completed. I was thinking about get outs but the first place along this piece of coastline is Hayburn Wyke, still a long way off.

Fortunately as we surfed/blow further along the coast the winds became more predictable and settled with just the odd bit of nasty buffeting, we made good and fast progress down passed Staintondale.

As we reached Hayburn Wyke we were both smiling again and happy to continue our journey down to Scarborough. First past Cloughton Wyke, then Long Nab.

I decided to have a play at the odd little bit of rock hopping here but soon embarrassed myself timing a certain gap wrong and ending up perched on a small outcrop, the next wave soon had me afloat again.

Before we knew it we were edging around Scalby Ness Rocks watching for the breaking surf and into North Bay Scarborough. I small and unexciting surf onto the beach and within ten minutes we were sitting drinking coffee on the front awaiting our lift. I still shudder at the unpredictability of that piece of headland in those conditions, the shear power of the wind as it hit us was immense, fortunately mainly from behind and to the side but we coped and another good learning experience - this was always going to be a one way journey....

View map of Cloughton, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, YO13 0 on Multimap.com
Get directions to or from Cloughton, Scarborough, North Yorkshire, England, YO13 0

Dad & Lad Pike Fishing in the Canoe

2010-03-27T18:50:00.001Z

Having managed to persuade the lad to put the Wii remote down I dragged him down to a local lake that we have rights to paddle. Basic pike gear thrown in the van too to give a little more purpose to the day.

Chief fish spotter and head gilly doing his job

A quick chance to play in the mud while dad trys to tempt Mr Pike to take his softbait lure

No fish but great fun, for sure they will start showing as the temperatures rise

Club Paddle on the Pocklington Canal

2010-03-22T20:01:00.000Z

Home late from North Wales Saturday night and then Sunday morning up early to get ready to accompany the young paddlers on a club paddle up Pocklington Canal.

My young son Anthony was excited about coming so choice of craft today had to be the open boat.

A wonderful and relaxing day with the young paddlers & other helpers.

I must teach the young lad some paddle strokes

Anglesey Revisted

2010-03-22T19:18:00.001Z

Stayed at my friend George's on friday evening in Warrington, we had a great night, our George has just installed a home cinema system to threaten you local UGC/Cineworld/Odean and several beers & a number of kayaking DVDs later we had put the world to rights.

Saturday morning we shot off up to Holyhead and dropped off the kayak I trashed last week and then we travelled back down to meet Simon (Dorado) and his son George (junior) down on the slip at Menai Bridge.

We put in as the last of the flood panned out and then pushed on up through the Swellies heading up the Straits. Today I, like the rest of the lads, were paddling the Kaskazi composite fishing Sit on Tops, myself, Simon and George (senior) Kaskazi Dorados and young George a Kaskazi Marlin.

A quick mess around cutting in to what tide was left under the bridges

George at the cardinal marker

Simon at Lord Nelsons statue

Simon and young George at the entrance to the boathouse landing under Plas Newydd

and George (senior) inside

A quick pub break is always welcome

and then down to Caernarfon Castle - not been here for over 17 years and was a real treat visiting it again via the water.

A quick burger at the food van and we were ready for the slog into the stiffening breeze and remains of the tide to head homeward. The idea was to ferry glide across the tide and wind to find some lee on the far shore....it meant scrabbling across a big sandbank with barely a foot of water over it and then not finding much lee and more tide when we got there.

A lovely black and white photo taken by Simon with the three mountains of The Rivals in the background

It was a bit demanding but as we made progress the tide slackened and the wind dropped, even the sun shone for a while.

Back to the slip with just a little light left

A good paddle and a memorable day with good friends, well done to young George who hasn't done much paddling of late and another 16Nm under our belts.

Eventful Anglesey

2010-03-08T20:04:00.002Z

I booked onto a BCU Four Star Leadership Award training weekend with Roger Chandler who runs Coastal Spirit over in North Wales. I had met Roger a couple of months earlier while I was attending a Navigation course and liking his manner I was keen to be coached by him.

Well I shot up to North Wales Friday evening and it was dark when I got there, I had booked into a Youth Hostel and for cheap, good accommodation it cannot be beaten. Great atmosphere, drying rooms and comfy beds, beats sleeping in vans – certainly at this time of the year anyway. I awoke to an amazing view of the Snowdonian Mountains. Breathtaking….

Met Roger and a few of the other guys on the course not too far from Menia Bridge and after a coffee and a little bit of discussion we headed off to the north east corner of Anglesey to a small cove called Port Eilian. With a bit of rock hopping on the way we headed out towards Point Lynas

It was a beautiful morning and you could be forgiven in thinking spring was most definitely here, even the sea birds seemed to be taking in the suns rays. Not a cormorant but a shag no less.

The course is aimed at giving you the skills and leadership qualities required to lead a group of reasonably experienced paddles in moderate sea conditions. It covers all sorts of rescue and awareness issues as well as testing your own personal skills in moderate tidal and wind driven seas. The course is mandatory prior to a four star assessment and identifies areas the paddler may need to improve on.

We all had great fun and took part in different types of rescues including extracting paddlers from caves, assisted rescues, self rescues including recovering over the back deck, rolling, re-entry & rolling and using paddle floats in moderate water situations. A great deal was also taught on different towing techniques too.

We also had a bit of fun messing around, here’s me out of my cockpit, turned around and then laid down over the back of the boat and my nose on the very stern.

The notorious Anglesey tides had now started to gather pace and we headed out onto one of the many tidal races on the island that produces big standing waves, great fun for surfing.

We had fun on the smaller stuff and as it built we ventured further out onto the bigger waves.

We started to catch a few big waves and was having great fun….but then disaster, I surfed straight into the side of another kayak…..oops the rotomoulded Valley Aquanaut went directly through the side of the composite Romany boat, the impact had us both into the water and out of the boats, we were well in the thick of it. Quick thinking by Roger and a few rescues later we were safely on the way back to the bay. The holed boat was towed while I came alongside to give support and two of us constantly pumped out the water. No one was hurt, the boat will repair and it was later laughed off, as Roger said, "all good learning…".

Sunday dawned much the same as the previous day, the sun was shining and it was another pleasant day on the water. This time we launched at the Northern End of Holy Island and paddled from Soldiers Point around to both North and South stack, the infamous Penryn Mawr tidal race was disappointedly given a wide birth today as a breeze had got up making it a little extreme for the course syllabus. We will be going back.

A fun day was had with further coaching in leadership and navigation, a lovely day on the water. The coastline and caves are just amazing.

Finally as the day was slowly coming to an end we re-grouped in an eddy, I was the last to get back in as I was busy playing in the tide. I suddenly realised our group had grown by two in number, and then somebody spoke aloud and said “So hands up all those who have holed boats this weekend?” It was non other than two of the UKs best known sea kayakers and producer of ‘This is The Sea’ DVDs Justine Curgenven and Barry Shaw. Totally amazing, I was buzzing….

Thanks for reading, the North Wales coast is just fantastic, just cannot wait to get back over, which will be within the next few weeks as I have a boat to repair and return – well come on, any excuse will do. Thank you Roger for an amazing course.

A Quick Paddle around Bridlington Bay

2010-02-28T19:54:00.000Z

With strong northely winds and swell there was only really one place to launch safely today, in the shelter of Bridlington Bay, launching from South Landing.

Paddled up to the head were the rath of the northerly swell was evident as it carved around the headland. Back down towards Bridlington with a bit of company

Plenty of anglers fishing the European Open Match

And a few more further up near the landing

Back in mid afternoon after a play in the surf

Ten miles on the GPS but feeling like much more

Not the most exciting paddle ever but a few miles under the belt and maybe helping towards paddle fitness.

A Bit of Coaching Experience

2010-02-24T19:54:00.000Z

A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be added to Kingston Kayak Clubs Coaching roster and am now helping out with pool sessions on a Monday evening at Albert Avenue Baths. At first I was very nervous being the 'new boy' but I soon relaxed and had great fun coaching and helping the youngsters with their paddling.

Today was really special. The club occasionally plays host to small groups of under privileged young adults and I was asked if I would like to attend and coach some of them. Well today was spent on the outside pool, this morning on open boats and then this afternoon in kayaks. A bit of learning new skills for the group and then lots of fun and games on the water. What an enjoyable day it has been.

Fishing from a Canadian Canoe

2010-02-14T18:42:00.004Z

Took possession of an old Euro Kayak Trapper 500 a couple of days ago so yesterday was spent sorting it out, actioning a couple of small repairs, fitting a bit of bouyancy and then lacing it all together.

Today we decided to add water and took the boat to a local lake where we met Ian the proprietor of the site. My son was really excited and it was so nice to introduce him to open boating, I think we have started something here...

I thoroughly enjoyable couple of hours messing about on the lake - so pleased that the tuition I received from Kim Bull ten days or so ago had stuck..

Then this afternoon I decided to see what it was like to fish off one of these boat - and I was pleasantly surprised

A drogue was definately required though, just a little breeze had us drifting too fast to fish, once set the drogue did its job very well.

Well, I think I'm sold, any freshwater fishing afloat from now onwards will be done in the open boat if possible....and with the company of my son.

First Step onto the Coaching Ladder

2010-02-05T19:28:00.010Z

Having wanting to get involved in coaching for a while I booked onto a UKCC Level 1 coaching course with Paul & Matt of After Adventures http://www.afteradventures.com/ . It would be great to get involved with coaching the youngsters at our local club and also with SOT kayak fishing taking off like it is it would be nice to assist new anglers to the hobby get onto the water safely.

The course was to be run over two consecutive weekends in January. It involved classroom work plus much practical work out on the water. Ice on the lake was always going to make the deep water rescues challenging.

The course was attended by six of us aspirant level one coaches, a mixed but lovely bunch of lads and lasses.

We were honoured to have the teaching conducted by Kim Bull, a Level 5 Canoe & Level 4 Inland/Sea coach, Kim is also a BCU Coach Educator and a UKCC BCU Level 1 and Level 2 Coach Course Director. http://kimbull.co.uk/

It was a wonderful four days of learning new coaching skills. Personally my own open boating skills were always going to be questionable and the course demands all attendees to be competent in two disciplines.

What was required was a day’s tuition with Kim in the art of paddling an open boat. I arranged to meet him at Hexham on a lovely stretch of the Tyne. Kim was able to offer exceptionally good training and within a period of eight hours I was paddling like a competent open boater, this was more to do with Kim’s teaching skills than my own ability at learning new things.

It was quite an emotional rollercoaster and today I'm feeling quite battered and bruised but finally I had achieved my goal and was awarded the status of level One coach.

Skye 2010 With Gordon Brown

2010-01-21T13:56:00.002Z

My dear friend Dave has booked us on again for the 12th, 13th and 14th of May, several days tuition and a couple of days paddling with good friends - it couldn't be better. There is light at the end of this horrible dark and cold winter tunnel after all . . . .

A Season of Learning

2010-01-19T19:24:00.007Z

Having re-kindled a passion in sea kayaking I only thought it right this time around to get the correct training. Hopefully so as to stay safe, help others and to get as much pleasure out of the discipline as possible.

I had gained my old BCU two star many moons ago and had taken it no further. So it all kicked off again by taking a Foundation Safety & Rescue Training Course (FSRT) and new Two Star award with Matt & Paul of After Adventures http://www.afteradventures.com/ over in Pugney Country park near Wakefield, I dragged my good friend Dave along for the ride too. Of course the new Two Star syllabus now contains aspects on open canoes, a first for both of us but very good fun and not too difficult to pick up as many of the strokes cross over to this discipline very well.

Dave recovering a second open boat

I have been training reasonably hard towards the Three Star Sea Assessment and finally booked with Nigel Hughes of H2GO http://www.h2gocoaching.co.uk/ down in Poole, a long way but I was already down that way to see fishing friends at the 'Flounder Meet'. On a very blustery sunday I took the assessment and again it went very well. Suprisingly the water was VERY cold, much colder than I expected but then this was probably due to all the fresh water entering Poole Harbour from recent flooding.

Having completed the above I then started to turn my attention to both the Four Star Sea Leader award and Level One Coaching, it would be great to be able to give a bit back to the sport in the way of helping with club nights and events. I started to look at the pre-requisites I would have to undertake prior to these.

First up I thought it would be prudent to get my 1st Aid Certificate back up to date. I approached Ian Dallaway whom had advertised an Aquatic First Aid course on UKRG and promptly booked on.

It was an excellent day refreshing old knowledge and learning new methods and practices.

Next up and one I had really been looking forward to achieving was a Sea Navigation and Tidal Planning Course. For this I approached Dave Brown from up in North Wales. I spent an excellent day with other sea paddlers learning how to read charts, calculating tides and planning voyages.

Brilliant fun, I had done much groundwork prior to this course but still learnt so much on the day.

What is so very evident is the quality of BCU coaching on offer from all the providers out there, professional, experienced and knowledgable.

Next weekend is the start of the Level One Coaching with Matt and Paul, I had better get my head stuck into the BCU Coaching bible and candidate pack. Also fingers crossed the lake defrosts rather quickly too.........

Paddling the Humber, Christmas Break 2009

2010-01-19T18:41:00.002Z

Took my first tentative strokes onto the Humber just after Christmas, small tides and no wind made for a lovely paddle. Launched from Country park near the Humber Bridge and paddled up to Brough on the last of the flood and then came back on the early ebb. A lovely paddle.

A few stolen hours between Christmas and New Year

Pike fishing on Rutland

2010-01-12T22:35:00.001Z

Not a kayak in sight but a brilliant couple of days at the beginning of the pike season on Rutland. Sam, Simon, Rupert and myself booked a pair of tenders for a fun filled couple of days. Fish for both Rupert and myself, a new pb for Sam and plenty of pike for Simon on the fly.

A Golden Autumn Day on Windermere

2010-01-12T22:08:00.002Z

I met good friend Simon at the south end of Windermere early one October morning, he had brought the full fleet of Kazkazi kayaks with him to loan to a youth group. While they were paddling the length of the lake we had the chance of a much more relaxed paddle with the bonus of chucking a lure at Windermeres predators. No pike but an amazing day.

Boxing Day paddle under Bempton cliffs

2010-01-12T21:44:00.007Z

To blow the cobwebs away both Dave and myself had a good paddle to Staple Nook and back. There was a bit of sea on so we had to keep our distance from the cliffs and no chance of getting through the arch but a pleasant paddle non the less....

2009 in Not So Brief

2010-01-10T16:33:00.007Z

January through to March saw myself and Dave uptiding locally around the Yorkshire Coast

March also saw me doing a bit of white water paddling up on the Ure at Slenningford Water Mill in Yorks

It was then off up to sunny Scotland, more specifically Crinan near the Sound of Jura, the target - huge common skate.

Last chance saloon, the sun was setting..

And finally a skate for me

Nothing much else from this trip with the exception of a thornback ray

The wind brought a quick end to the fishing

So a bit of sight seeing was in order

A beautiful place and cannot wait to get back up there

Back home and it was my first tentative paddle around the back of the Brigg ….

No fish to be had around there, but dabs in the bay

April saw us back up and down the Yorkshire coast uptiding again…

Dear friend George came across to join us.

Mid April saw us back up to Scotland for some amazing common skate fishing

And back down to the depths to fight another day

The following day saw us having a chill out paddle down the Sound

Last weekend in April saw the Yorkshire safety training course

While at the same time Whitby forum member John was jumping to raise funds for the RNLI

I paddled from Runswick to Whitby to see him off

And then later a bit of plaice fishing in the bay

A couple more paddles locally, Holderness and Flamborough

And a couple of trips up a Humber creek

Early summer saw me buying an old 15ft sea kayak to tidy up and play with

New deck lines, tapeing the seems and adding new footrests had it sea worthy again.

We also had a tentative try at wreck fishing out from Robin Hoods Bay with reasonable results.

The results of our drifts after downloading to a pc

Had the first paddle in the sea kayak, from Filey to Flamborough North Landing, around about 18km.

As the waters warmed and cleared we turned our attentions to pollock and lure fishing behind the Brigg

With a new ride - the Kazkazi Dorado we went for a paddle under Bempton to investigate a recent rock fall

Beginning of June saw me out from Boggle Hole in the Dorado – took a little bit of getting use too but a good move and a pb cod of just over 10lb to leads and shads.

Then it was a quick shoot of to the Mull of Galloway for Sharkatag, what an amazing area and a brilliant weekend…

A few small tope, nothing very big for me…

Simon into a very big smoothound

The inevitable social...

A brilliant fish for Lozz

And thorny for Curly

Rogues gallery

Some wonderful species to be had including my first ever haddock

Back home and the bass were showing

Lozz on his way back down the country came to visit

And plenty of cod for us

Means only one thing...cod crumble

George came across to see us both and the weather was spot on for a bit of tope fishing out from Holderness and a fantastic fish for George

Back out bass fishing and a nice little suprise

My first ever garfish in UK waters, the last one I had was over 30 years ago while holidaying on the Dutch coast as a boy.

Last weekend in July so a few of us shooting down to south Cornwall in search of porgies – the less said about that the better – I was sooo ill…

No sharks but plenty of dolphins

Back home and a chill out on the local river for pike and perch, great fun..

Using some trick lures

Back out on Holderness for the local tope. Not a great success, two very big fish lost due to tackle failure and just small ones landed. Bait was hard to come by but we got some in the end.

A bit of chum

A bit of a species hunt with the Whitby league

Gurnard

Thornbacks out of Filey

Some good fish for Dave

One for me

Out from Flamborough, to the Smithics for launce

Watch for these horrid things though - weevers

Simon

Then in under the cliffs float fishing the live baits

Back to the Humber creek in search of flounder, plenty of baits

Another trip further north with Spawney for the pollock, lots of gear lost and a steep learning curve but we get a few fish

A tackle graveyard

back to the league and species

More plaice from Sandsend this time

More Gurnard

Eels up the Esk after dark

Another fruitless trip up the creek, I will bag one of those creek mullet and bass sometime

September saw a group trip up to the Isle of Skye for some kayak fishing and some tuition from Gordon Brown in the sea kayaks, amazing and wonderful memories

Mr Gordon Brown showing us how it really should be done

Back home and out on the species hunt again

September and the Scarborough match, brilliant fun with great friends

Safety course on the sunday, great to give a little back

Out again to catch more species on different methods

bass on a fly

coaly on a float

Snappers meet in Lowerstoft, one of the best, fishing on the Broads

Then a quick rush over to lake Windermere with Simon, the poor man was so poorly but a pleasant day no the less

No pike but a beautiful day

October saw both myself and Dave purchase true sea kayaks, Dave a fantastic Rockpool, myself a Valley Aquanaut

Autumn was upon us and the sea was colouring up, time for uptiding and a window in the weather.

Re-took my BCU 2 star and FSRC, got Dave involved in the later

Boxing Day 2009 and out for a paddle under Bempton, weather was kind, could have been fishing

An amazing year, 78 launches in total and a year to last a lifetime

If you got this far thank you for reading.

Isle Of Skye September 2009

2010-01-10T16:26:00.001Z

Dave, Marion, Neil, Simon and myself arranged a trip up to Skye for a little bit of fishing and two days coaching with the UKs top Level 5 coach Mr Gordon Brown.

The journey up was a little eventful due to Neils car blowing a turbo pipe but we got to the ferry in good time.

We wasted no time to get to the accomodation which was fantastic, it also had the most amazing view from the patio window

The kayaks were unloaded and away we went for a paddle

The fishing wasn't anything spectacular but the scenery most certainly was.

Day two saw us going for a paddle, launching from Elgol and circumnavigating Soay. The weather was amazing and the scenery stunning, plenty of small pollock and the odd big one that got away.

A weeing Soay sheep

Then onto the serious stuff and the tuition, brilliant stuff and a fantastic coach. We all learnt so much..

The Gang

An amazing four days and cannot wait to get back up there, hopefully summer/autumn this year.