Jersy Sea Kayak Symposium 2016

The Jersey Canoe Club organized its first Symposium in May 1992 and over the years has attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of kayakers to the Island.  Over the years we have also been fortunate enough to attract many of the top coaches to the event such as Frank Goodman, Derek Hutchinson, Gordon Brown, John Heath to name just a few.

People have traveled from all over Europe as well as further afield to attend, with participants from New Zealand, Hong Kong, Canada and the United States with the vast majority returning home after a real enjoyable weeks kayaking in our waters.

Bookings are now being taken for the 2016 event,  which starts on the evening of Friday 27th May.  We are going to be based in the delightful Highlands Hotel, which has superb views over the west and south coast of the Island.  There is a swimming pool, if you haven't spent enough time in or on the water plus a bar and the most amazing lounge.

The format for the week is the same as in previous years, on Saturday, Sunday and Monday there will be coaching sessions ranging from forward paddling, stand up paddle boarding, tide races, sea kayaks and cliff jumping etc, as well as coastal paddles.  Then from Tuesday the focus shifts to paddles including hopefully the opportunity to visit the offshore reefs or some of the other Channel Islands.

Every evening there is something arranged including talks, quiz night, music bbq etc.  All in all it is a full on week.

Bookings can be made online here.

If you haven't been to Jersey before we look forward to introducing you to our local waters and if you have been before you can be certain of a warm welcome.

Corbiere Lighthouse is visible from the hotel we are using.  Great paddling within a couple of hundred metres of where you will have breakfast.

 The Highlands Hotel is a perfect location for the Symposium.  There are probably 5 completely different launch spots with a few minutes drive.

A visit to the Ecrehous will be high on most sea kayakers list.  If weather permits there will paddles to this delightful reef most days.

Disko Bay - Day 17

Your final day on a long trip is always a time of conflicting emotions.  We had taken part in a really memorable paddle through some stunning scenery.  There was far more ice around than I had experienced on my 5 previous trips in Greenland, which at times had presented a significant challenge and even up until the last we weren't sure how things were going to go.  The French paddlers we had seen a few days earlier had taken 2 days to get out of Ilulissat because of the ice, if we took two days to get in then we would miss our flights home.

There was quite a special feeling, this was the conclusion of a project which had started over 2 years earlier.  At the Scottish Sea Kayak Symposium in 2013 we came under some pressure to run another event in Jersey in 2014.  It was eventually agreed that we would go ahead with the event but the aim was to raise enough funds to be able to buy a number of sea kayaks to place in Greenland, which would be available for the participants at the event to use.  Effectively we were aiming to re-invest in the sport.

2015 was the first year that the kayaks were available and they were used for 40 days, which was a successful year from the Jersey Canoe Club's perspective.  We already have bookings for 2016 as well as tentative inquiries for 2017.  A successful legacy from the Jersey Sea Kayak Symposium, which will hopefully allow more paddlers to experience the memorable kayaking off the west coast of Greenland.

The final morning.  We had lifted the kayaks up quite a distance the night before as there were a number of large bergs just offshore and we didn't want to risk losing the kayaks on the final night.

Eric heading south through the ice towards Ilulissat.

Our first glimpse of Ilulissat.  We were still concerned about whether we would be able to reach the town.  There was a significant amount of ice, the only indicator which gave us hope were the number of small boats going past.  They had clearly been able to force their way out of the harbour.

 The last few hundred metres and there was a hint of open water between the ice floes.

 The final slabs on which we pulled the kayaks.  At this point we knew that in 36 hours time we would be on the flights home.

Sea kayaking Sunday morning - St Brelade's

The last Sunday morning session with the Jersey Canoe Club saw much warmer weather than we have been experiencing over the last few days.  Launching from St Brelade's the plan was to head towards Corbiere but it was necessary to take into consideration that we still had an 11+ metre Spring Tide and there was a swell approaching from the North Atlantic.

It was a reasonable turn out for the time of the year, there were 17 of us heading along the south coast of the Island, experiencing some constantly changing conditions.  We turned back just before Corbiere, spending some time working on skills, something we probably don't do frequently enough.  The Peregrine, which flew over whilst we were looking at edging was a real bonus. 

A pint sitting outside, at the end of the session, was a treat for the end of January.

 

 Passing through the gap between St Brelade's Bay and Beauport.  In the summer months this is one of my favourite places to stop and swim.  There are some great jumps off the rocks, particularly towards high water.

 Just entering Beauport, one of the most beautiful bays on the Island.  In the summer months there would be numerous boats at anchor in the bay but we had the water to ourselves today.  

 Approaching the Grosse Tete, just to the west of Beauport.  This was the first time that we had really appreciated the swell

 The swell was certainly arriving in sets. Pete Hargreaves and Peter Wrigglesworth certainly gained some altitude as the passed through the gap.

 Trespass Point, the tide was certainly starting to flow west.  The cliffs behind are a lovely climbing location, short steep routes and sheltered from the prevailing winds.

 We pulled into the bay under the Highlands Hotel.  This is where the Jersey Sea kayak Symposium was based last May.

 Corbiere seemed isolated today.  We decided not to go all the way to the lighthouse.  The swell arriving in sets, the speed of the flow and 17 members in the group, seemed to have the potential to become just a bit too interesting.

 We, therefore, decided to turn and head east along the base of the granite cliffs.

 Some late morning sunshine catching the granite.

 St Brelade's lies ahead.  We had only been out for 2 hours but it had certainly been a morning of contrasting water conditions.

2014 highlights

There have been a number kayaking highlights over the last 12 months and it is always a pleasure to look back over the year.

Probably the best one day paddle was when we were staying on Lihou in June and paddled around Guernsey as well as managing to fit in lunch on Herm.  The weather couldn't have been better, the 12 members of the group were all pretty strong paddlers and the 25 nautical miles just flew past.

 

 Approaching the east coast of Jethou.  Herm is the land furthest away in the picture

 On the return leg to Lihou.  Heading down the west coast of Guernsey, Kim is just offshore from Cobo.

My favourite open crossing of the year was returning from Sark to Jersey at the end of July with some members of Tower Hamlets Canoe Club.  Due to flight timings we had to leave Sark a bit earlier, in the tidal sequence, than we would do normally but there seemed to be a small window of opportunity so we took it and it was ideal. Close to 13 nautical miles in 2 hours 45 minutes, I think I will probably use that departure time again.

Leaving Sark on the Sunday morning.  All of the anchored craft on the left of the picture indicate Dixcart, where we started.
 

 We did have a bit of company in the middle of the crossing which encouraged us to paddle a bit quicker.

Probably the best paddling event, and I have to admit some bias here, was the Jersey Sea Kayaking Symposium, held in May.  After a gap of 4 years I was encouraged to run another event but this time the structure was different.  It was based at the Highlands Hotel on the south west corner of the Island and attracted over 100 people to Jersey for a weeks kayaking.  Apart from the pleasure of the week the legacy is that the Canoe Club has been able to purchase 8 sea kayaks to place on the west of Greenland for paddlers to use in the coming years.

The view from the hotel lounge  There were views of both the south and west coast of the Island

These are the cliffs just underneath the hotel and they proved to be a popular with most of the participants.

My most memorable overnight paddle was the 10 days we spent in Baja.  It is difficult to describe just how special a destination the area is.  Remote beaches, stunning scenery, superb weather, incredible wildlife, the list just goes on and on.  We will miss out on not visiting the area in 2015 as we are heading north to use the Canoe Club kayaks in Greenland next summer.

Clear water, sandy beaches, hot weather - Baja

Some great scenery.  Along one stretch of coast the cliffs were over 1,000 feet high.

There have only been two paddling disappointments this year:

1.) I didn't go to the Ecrehous enough, although the visits I did do were as enjoyable as ever.

2.) I lost my luggage en route to a canoeing trip in Sweden so spent time hanging around Stockholm airport rather than canoeing through Swedish forests.

 Arriving at the Ecrehous in August.  Always a treat.

Looking north from the bench in September.

 Storm clouds over Karlstad in Sweden.  We spent 3 days in Karlstad and Stockholm looking for luggage, which meant that we missed our 7 day open canoe trip

So all in all another excellent year on the water.  Looking forward to 2015

Some more memories of Jersey sea kayaking

Another couple of hours scanning some old slides has revived some great memories of sea kayaking in Jersey.  It is clear that over the years the Jersey Canoe Club has been involved in a variety of entertaining events both in local waters and further afield.

The start of the 1979 Canoe Club race from Gorey to St Helier.  It is clear that it was important to have an orange Nordkapp HM and wear a Ricard sun hat.

John Hurley at the 1982 white water championships.  Close to St Helier the white water was revealed when the tide dropped.  The water was from the power station and so it was really warm.  An ideal place to paddle on a cold winters day.  Sadly it has disappeared under the reclamation site,

In the 1980's Jersey competed in the Home International Surfing competitions.  1986 we entered a team in the slalom event for the first time.  This was training at St Ouen's in almost perfect conditions.  Sadly the week of the event was accompanied by no surf and pretty strong easterly winds.

In the early 1990's the BCU introduced the idea of a National Canoeing Day.  In September 1992 we managed to get 120 people to turn up to St Catherine's to form a raft.

The 1990's also saw the development of Sea Kayak Symposiums.  This is 1996 and Gordon Brown is demonstrating a number of Greenland rolls and skills.  We were fortunate to have John Heath at the event who gave a running commentary to Gordon's performance. 

 

Some people expressed an interest in folding kayaks.  This is a naked Feathercraft Khatsilano.

We also developed a tidal slalom course in front of the Club House at St Catherine's.  I think this is Scottish paddler Donald Thomson taking part in the closing event of the 1996 Symposium.  All competitors had to use a VCP Skerray.

The 1998 Symposium.  This is a bird watching paddle, I ended up paddling Bill Oddie around in double Spud whilst he pointed at feathered things of interest.  There must have been at least 50 people in the group, which created quite a spectacle.

An innovation at the 1998 Symposium was the making of kayaks over the weeken with people able to assist.  Howard Jeffs produced a fibre glass BAT and Duncan Winning built the "Jersey Junior" being paddled here by my daughter Lisa.

Some more old kayaking pictures

Here is another selection of photographs, illustrating some of the places that we have been paddling over the years.  It feels like it is time to pay a visit to some of these places again, its been over 30 years since I paddled some of these trips.

 This is paddling around the Great Orme in North Wales in November 1979.  We couldn't afford specialist sea kayaks so used general purpose kayaks with home made skegs that we used to slip over the stern, when we weren't paddling the same kayaks on white water.

 I started work as a teacher in September 1980 and before my first salary check arrived I had ordered my first Nordkapp HM.  I collected it from Nottingham at October half term and this is kayak being launched for the first time off the beach in Eastbourne.

 The first summer holidays of teaching so it was time to go paddling.  This is approaching Bardsey, in perfect conditions.  The string across the hatch cover was there for a very special reason.  My Nordkapp was one of the first to be built with the new hatch covers but the mixture proved to be unstable and the rims started to collapse.  After this trip it was back to Nottingham for new hatches to be fitted by Valley.

 A rather blurred picture from the Menai Straits in October 1986.  I was on my Level 5 Coach assessment at Plas Y Brenin.  We camped at the south west entrance to the Straits and I still remember the look of horror on the face of the group when the shipping forecast for the Irish Sea was SW Force 12.

 Paddling out of Porth Daffarch at the 1993 Angelsey Symposium.  The paddlers are Andy Stamp and Graham Wardle.

 The bay at the western end of Rathlin Island, of Northern Ireland  It was a Coach Assessment in 1996.  We were looking forward to a night of traditional Irish music in the bar, but it turned out to be a karaoke evening with Japanese divers, rather disappointing.

 The Scottish Sea Kayak Symposiums used to be great family affairs.  The five children on the right are my two girls, Howard Jeffs daughters and Gordon Brown's oldest daughter.  As you can see we used appropriately sized kit.

 

The BCU Sea Touring Committee used to run Symposiums every autumn.  Initially at Calshot and later on in North Wales.  This is some paddlers from the 1998 event off Cricceth Castle.

Some paddles in the United States

Some further images of kayaking in the 1990's which, I have scanned in from some of the numerous slides I accumulated over about 30 years.  These are a selection taken in the United States in the mid 1990's.  Sea kayaking on the west coast and canoeing in the north east.  Some great memories.

 One of the real highlights was a couple of visits to the Port Townsend Symposium in Washington.  At the time I had organized a couple of Symposiums in Jersey and was just stunned by the scale of the event.  This was the view of the waterfront in 1996

 In contrast to the events in Europe where there were numerous small classes with paddlers being coached on the water things were different at Port Townsend.  Here Nigel Foster is running a skills session, what is shown is the crowd of approximately 100 spectators, Nigel was the only person on the water.

 Sea kayaking legend Derek Hutchinson just completing one of his sessions.  A couple of days later we spent a memorable few hours sailing to Vancouver Island, where we were both heading.

 The classic image of Easyrider kayaks.  A similar photograph was used as the advert for a number of years in Sea Kayaker Magazine.

 There was some "interesting" developments.  The white canister on the front deck was called the "Rolling Aid".  Capsize, pull the lever and it explodes in a rather large air bag which it is possible tp push up on.  Great demo but not sure how useful, might be easier and cheaper to learn to roll with a paddle.

 As we had young children but wanted to continue with multi-day paddling trips we went canoeing.  Not really something that we could do in Jersey, so for a number of years we went to Maine and paddled some of the rivers in the northern part of the State.

 There were plenty of new techniques to learn, such as portaging.  This is the path around Allagash Falls in the north of Maine.  I have run this river several times but the last time was too long ago.

One of the camp sites on the West Branch of the Penobscot.  They were clearings cut out of the dense forest allowing easy egress from the river.  A couple of tables, fire pit, somewhere to tie the tarp etc.

 

Little did we realize what we were experiencing here.  This was our first ever paddle on a sit on top.  Nicky is on Megunticook Lake in Maine in 1995.  For many involved in kayaking this was to be the future.