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
Monday, 22 March 2010
Club Paddle on the Pocklington Canal
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
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
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.
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.
Monday, 8 March 2010
Eventful Anglesey
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.
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.
Sunday, 28 February 2010
A Quick Paddle around Bridlington Bay
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.
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.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
A Bit of Coaching Experience
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.
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.
Sunday, 14 February 2010
Fishing from a Canadian Canoe
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.
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.
Friday, 5 February 2010
First Step onto the Coaching Ladder
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.
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.
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