Humber, Whitton Island Circumnavigation

 

A fun afternoon on the Humber, another circumnavigation of Whitton Island using the last two hours of the flood for the outward journey and the beginning of the ebb for the return trip. This time in the fast boats. With that easterly breeze it was always going to lump up a bit on our way back. Another 34km covered. Interestingly we recorded a top speed of over 17kmh, 8.5 knots.. you've got to love that tide assist.

Humber Bridge to Kilnsea

A journey we have done many times, what should have been a simple but long trip turned into a real grind. Forecast was for southerly breezes with a touch of westerly in it. The westerly never materialised and instead what we had was a touch of easterly, just what you don't want for this journey. To add to this the seven metre tide just didn't really assist as well as it should have, maybe due to the high pressure system. Fi, Glenn and Dave did bloody brilliantly and took the conditions on the chin. We ran out of tide coming up the seaward side of Spurn but the group ploughed on.. I think we are all pretty knackered right now...

SUPs on the Humber

 

With a good forecast and suitable tides Rudi and myself launched at the north side of the Humber Bridge and took the flooding tide west towards Brough. With tide assist we made great progress and we achieved a top speed of over 5 knots (10kmh). Reaching Brough at high water we had a mooch around the Haven and then back down with the ebb and a breeze on our backs.

Humber Marathon

Local launch, two people, one hell of a daily exercise workout. Jumping on the river three hours before high water on small tides we ferry glided across to the south bank. Then to South Ferriby, Reeds Island and then down to the village of Whitton before crossing to the north bank and circumnavigating Whitton Island clockwise. It was then a simple journey back towards the bridge on the ebb with lots of fresh water flushing us down assisted with a back wind. Six hours on the water and the best part of 40kms covered

Humber in the Sea Boat

Cadet Lewis has been nagging for me to take her on the Humber in the sea boats for ages. With settled winds and a suitable tide we made our way from the Humber Bridge to Whitton Island as soon as their was a little light. Plenty of tide assist in both directions made for a fast journey. Amazing light for most of the day, it rained and it hailed but the sun made lots of appearances A very respectable 34 Km covered.

Humber on SUP

Just occasionally our local estuary is benign enough to consider launching craft such as paddle boards. The river really needs a lot of respect but small tides and light winds meant we could dabble a little on this dark and turbulent waterway. Launching a couple of hours before high water meant we could have a wander up river and hand rail along the north bank before returning on the beginning of the ebb. I followed these awesome ladies on paddle boards in a fast sea kayak just to give support if necessary. The girls did amazing... Crazily stupid down at the Hessle foreshore this afternoon, hundreds of people, traffic issues and to top it off some snowflake moaning because we saved a parking place for our colleague, we are looking at better places to launch in the future...

Whitton Island (Humber) Circumnavigation

This little trip has been on my 'to do' list for some time. Plenty of tide assist and a total distance of 19 Nautical Miles ( 36kms ) Whitton Island is an island situated at the western end of the Humber Estuary in northern England. The almond-shaped island straddles the county boundary between the counties of East Riding of Yorkshire to the north and North Lincolnshire which otherwise runs over tidal water roughly along the centre line of the estuary. Parts of the island fall within the boundaries of four civil parishes. Only in recent years has the island emerged sufficiently from the mud and sand bank known as Whitton Sand to be mapped by the Ordnance Survey as a new feature. Whitton Sands forms a part of the Humber Wildfowl Refuge. Whitton Island is owned by Associated British Ports. In March 2017 the RSPB signed a 50-year lease on the island to manage it as a Nature Reserve.

Humber by Sea Kayak

So its that time of year again that I like to kick start the season with a couple of decent long journeys under my belt. From Paull to Kilnsea is a big journey but launching access at Paull has become very difficult of late due to the new flood defences. Easier access but a way longer trip option is to launch from the Humber Bridge. Though with only five hours ebb to get to Kilnsea and a distance of 34 miles (55km's) it can be difficult to find company to join me on this stupidly long and soul destroying trip that usually means pushing against tide up the coast along the outside of Spurn. All the usual old sea dogs are away paddling seas afar and on courses, so who could I convince to come paddle with me for 6 hours over such a distance with no breaks? Bring on Liz Thomas... Give her due respect (and we don't always see eye to eye) she cracked on and actually gave me a run for my money with very little complaint, hats off to you Liz and well done. This was a hardcore trip that very few local dedicated sea paddlers have had the balls to complete.... respect.

Humber

A very benign and still day on the Humber. Chris is a very experienced sea paddler and has paddled all over the UK and beyond but never paddled this home water. It was great to fulfil that ambition for him today. Plan was to circumnavigate Reeds Island but with only a 5.9 metre tide and being delayed very slightly at the South Ferriby pub we had to turn back and cross the river east of the island. In fairness I think the sands have shifted and it had nothing to do with the second pint of Moretti... Chris, lovely to spend the day with you mate..

Across the Humber

I was tasked with guiding a really nice chap across the Humber. He is making his way around the UK coast and this was to be his first crossing. Both his journey and the weather came good on Tuesday evening. High water was around 9pm and of course river traffic would also be be at its peak at this time.

We made our way down to the point from Kilnsea

Humber by Open Canoe

I'd had my mind on this journey for quite a while, I had completed it many of times  in a sea kayak but never in a canoe. The forecast came good, light to moderate westerly winds and a small ebbing tide.

Even with all my sea experience and knowledge anxiety was fairly high, worst case scenarios where considered and solutions worked through accordingly.

Launching at the village of Paull at high water allowed me a clean launch, to take advantage of the full ebb tide and would allow me to miss the boat traffic around Hull docks.

The ebb was slow to start and the first couple of hours where numb and laborious.

Canoes on the Humber

Along with many friends, I've paddled the Humber quite frequently in the past but always in sea kayaks. The Estuary does require some forward planning, tides need to be correct and wind speed / direction needs to be within limits. Sunday proved to be one of those days although visibility was fairly limited at our time to launch - approximately two and a half hours prior to high tide.

With this in mind we decided to put the open boats in near the bridge and stick to the north bank, leaving the crossing of busy shipping lanes to another day. Non the less we had a pleasant day using both the wind and tides to our advantage.  A couple of hours up towards Brough and beyond, a quick lunch stop and then a return journey on the building ebb... well there's no need to work too hard...

Reeds Island Circumnavigation with Roger

Sea Kayaking the Humber with Roger from Ken Oliver on Vimeo.

Humber Fort - Bull Sand Fort

I've been wanting to have a look at this fortress in the Humber for a while - Bull Sand Fort, this is the one way out in the Humber and marks the southern point of the main shipping lanes. Bull Sand Fort is 1.5 miles from shore off Spurn Head. It is a 4-storey concrete building with 12-inch (300 mm) of armour on the seaward side, and originally armed with four 6-inch guns. Today was suitable for a blast down the river to visit this monument. 47 kilometres covered and I'm feeling it..

A Sad Day on the Humber

On a sunny Saturday morning in mid June I met up with some sea kayakers from Sheffield. I had not paddled with these guys before and the plan was to circumnavigate Reeds Island. Neil who I had spoke to on the phone was interested in demo-ing the Taran.

We met next to the Country Park, Hessle and proceeded to sort equipment. Launching at 9.30 am gave us a leisurely two hours to get to the top of Reeds Island and if we had time to spare we could even have a quick stop at the South Ferriby Pub, always a bonus.

We headed onto the water and took a ferry glide across the river pointing up into the incoming flood, facing under the bridge. As we headed out, the water become lumpy and small breaking waves were forming due to the effect of wind against tide, I was happy with the group though, we had discussed experiences prior to launching and knew we were all more than competent in this environment.

We had hardly got a short way across when right in front of us a large dark figure fell from the Bridge dropping 100 ft into the water with a huge splash - it took a split second to realise what had just happened. I called Humber Coastguard straight away on the VHF and reported someone falling from the bridge. We were closer to the shore than to the casualty and so I took the decision to turn around hastily and summon a small motorised inflatable rib that was just launching. Within seconds of informing the rib of what had just happened he was on the scene, closely followed by the Humber Rescue boat and the police helicopter - no one was found.




After much time of giving statements to the police and coastguard we made the group decision to go for a little paddle, we were informed a bicycle had been left on the bridge. I think we all agreed, as sea paddles, being out on the water was probably the best place for us to be.  We could be together, yet if necessary, alone with our thoughts and feelings. We had missed the tide to circumnavigate Reeds Island so agreed on a short paddle along the north bank to Brough Haven and back.







A sad and humbling day, its taken me couple of weeks to write this blog post, the poor chap was eventually recovered a week or so later, further down the river.

I have always known that one day, while paddling these busy, industrial and urban waterways I may come across a body in the water and had given it thought of what I would do and how I would deal with it. What I hadn't prepared myself for was to see someone take their own life in front of me. It does change your own outlook and I hope I don't witness this kind of thing again. I will carry on paddling the Humber, and hopefully soon, its a complex, dark and foreboding river but its my home water.

Of course our heartfelt feelings go out to this poor persons family and friends, such a tragedy, rest in peace poor soul..

Leon's First Tripon the Humber

Leon, a very keen and enthusiastic chap, came to the club a few months ago with one wish, to paddle the River Humber. With his brilliant attitude and a bit of training I now felt he was capable of the trip. I was chuffed to bits to be the one to guide him across then around Reeds Island, then finally back to the bridge using the tides. We even had to stop and have a pint at the the South Ferriby pub just to wait for the optimum moment to carry on our journey.