Adventuring Through France

Its not often that I come across a canoeing or kayaking book that I haven't already got so it was with some excitement that I found this little treasure in Canterbury, just before Christmas.  What attracted my attention was the author, Gabriel Seal, I had read one of his other books "Canoe Touring Abroad". 

A quick perusal of the sleeve notes showed that it was about canoeing in France, so that was good enough for me to make a purchase, so in the bag it went.  It wasn't until the other night that I had time to sit down and start to read the little volume.

What the book described was not just France of 50 years ago, but what is possibly a nations perception of what teenage boys should be doing in their spare time.  This is rip roaring yarn of two 15 year old boys convincing their woodwork teacher to help them build a two man canoe and their parents allowing them to head off to France in search of adventure.  No sitting at home staring at computer screens for them or heading off on a family trip for the sanitised adventure of a theme park.

This is a description of the school Easter holidays spent hitching a lift on a barge, being able to paddle through Paris, some underage drinking, breaking into an ancient chateau, discovering prehistoric cave paintings, hunting rabbits etc
It is a description of an earlier age, whether it is a true description on not is virtually irrelevant.  It is a work of fiction, although the description of the paddling is fairly accurate as the author had canoed extensively in France.  It was written for a teenage audience in the early 1960's, when expectations were different.  It was still the Watch with Mother generation as opposed to the Sesame Street one.  Things took longer to develop, instant gratification wasn't necessarily the order of the day.
I cannot think of any teenagers I know today who would enjoy this book even though it was written for their age range.   What I do know is, that as a young person from the 60's and an active paddler today, I thoroughly enjoyed the couple of hours I spent reading the book.  So if you come across a copy and are a male over 50 who goes kayaking then don't hesitate, buy it, everybody else would probably better off saving their hard earned cash.

Jersey Guide Book

After a disastrous paddling trip to Sweden at the beginning of August, when our luggage didn't arrive and therefore we missed the opportunity to get on the river, I was able to spend some time in Jersey putting the finishing touches to my latest book.  
Jersey: A Visitors Guide is available for Kindle, written with the general visitor in mind, although it does have some information on sea kayaking and other outdoor activities.  Available from Amazon, for less that a pint of beer, I think it would be useful for anybody considering a visit to the Island.

Thoughts of better days

So our bags never made it to Karlstad, we returned to Stockholm Airport on Monday morning and found them within 30 seconds of entering the baggage hall.  Joining the others on the river was not easy, it was going to take nearly 36 hours, so we decided to fly home. Gutted that we missed out on the opportunity to spend 7 days on a Swedish river with other members of the Jersey Canoe Club.

After a day of sitting around moping about missed paddling opportunities there are a couple of bright spots.  Firstly, my first attempt at producing a book about a sea kayaking trip arrived from Blurb.  It was an easy process to go through and the result is a special reminder of a lovely week away.  So much better than having thousands of digital images sitting on a hard drive, which are rarely looked at.  I am certainly going to produce a few more books of some of the paddling trips we have been on over the last couple of years.

The second highlight is a trip to the Ecrehous tomorrow, one of the great sea kayaking destinations, half way between Jersey and France.

The Gozo book cover. 

Les Ecrehous.  Tomorrows destination.

Rock Lighthouses

The site of lighthouses stirs the soul of many sea kayakers, when Chris and myself ran the original Sea Paddler site the pages with pictures of Breton and Scottish lighthouses are consistently amongst the most popular.  Their popularity means that there are numerous books available about lighthouses but very few in English, which are of the quality of this book by Christopher Nicolson.

Nicholson has selected 14 rock lighthouses, of which 13 are possible to visit by sea kayak, Rockall would be pushing the boundaries, for what is feasible for most paddlers.  From Bishop Rock on the edge of the Scilly Isles to Muckle Flugga to the north of the Shetlands they have helped to protect generations of sea farers from the hazards of these isolated rocks.  It is interesting to note the enormous impact of the Stephenson family. Members of this famous family built Bell Rock, Skerryvore, Flannan Isles, Dubh Artach and Muckle Flugga.
There are a large number of fascinating photographs, many of a historical nature but others, which depict the sheer power of the ocean, and the challenges, which faced the builders of these lights.  The photograph of Longships Lighthouse on page 75 proves that Brittany does not have the monopoly when it comes to huge waves crashing over isolated lighthouses.  It is difficult to comprehend the feelings of the keepers in such situations.  It is also interesting to observe the use of semaphore in a number of the pictures, a skill that is rapidly fading into the memory.
Each light is allocated a chapter and the development of the lighthouse is covered in some depth with a wide range of supporting photographs.  What is clear though is that the lights are representative of a particular era in the maritime history of these islands.  The advent of solar power, GPS and remote control have meant that the job of lighthouse keeper is now obsolete.  Therefore, there will no longer be the need to build such graceful structures.  The events of December 1900 on the Flannan Isles are covered in some detail but very little new light is shed on the mysteries of that occurred in this remote corner of north west Scotland.
Over the last few days the drone of Corbiere lighthouse has been a fixture in my house, its signal warning mariners of the treacherous south west corner of Jersey but with the advent of more sophisticated navigational aids and enclosed bridges on ships the need for audible warnings has declined and the fog horns of many of these lights has become a distant memory.  The last Scottish lighthouse to lose its signal was Skerryvore in October 2005
Generations of sea kayakers have responded to the challenge of visiting offshore lights.  Hundreds of paddlers probably experienced their first offshore tidal race as they approached the Skerries off the north coast of Anglesey.  The Longstone is one of the most famous of British lights and it has attracted numerous paddlers to the north east hoping to visit this outer part of the Farnes.  Many of us still have a tick list of places we want to visit and I know that in common with lots of other paddlers a trip past Muckle Flugga is high on the agenda as is a visit to the Smalls, which is the most isolated of all the Trinity House Lights.
Christopher Nicolson has produced a book, which should attract all those people who are interested in the maritime traditions of the British Isles.  From the armchair historian to the active sea kayaker there is something to interest everybody.  It contains a wide selection of photographs and an endless supply of information about Britain’s Rock Lighthouses.  This is just the sort of book to flick through on those dark winter evenings as you look for inspiration for future kayaking adventures but as summer approaches it is time to plan your journeys to some of the most dramatic locations in the British Isles.

Rock Lighthouses of Britain by Christopher Nicolson

Published 2006 by Whittles Publishing

Hardback

ISBN 1-904445-27-6

Price £25.00

Passage to Alaska

The Pacific North West is a justifiably popular sea kayaking destination, with numerous paddlers from all over the world heading to this region each year.  Most are just able to scratch the surface of what this vast region has to offer.  Each year some kayakers are fortunate enough to be able to undertake a much longer journey and thereby gain a greater insight into the history, culture and environmental considerations of the area.

Tim Lydon is one such paddler and his 1996 journey with Bill Bastian is the subject of this entertaining book.  They left from Port Hardy at the northern end of Vancouver Island and finished in Juneau after paddling nearly 1,000 miles in approximately two months.   This is more than a mere paddling book it is also a description of an evolving landscape, as glaciers retreat, set against a historical background of exploration by such influential men as George Vancouver and John Muir.

One unusual aspect of the book are the narrow panels of information, which are to be found on some of the pages.  They cover such topics as “Low Impact Camping”, “Whitewater in a Sea Kayak”, “Protecting Bears from our Food” etc.  The panels cover in much greater detail a range of subjects, which would be normally dismissed in the course of a sentence.

The Inside Passage provides a relatively sheltered route along the coast of the Pacific Northwest but their journey reached a crisis within the first 24 hours, although they were fortunate to receive shelter at Pine Island lighthouse.  The weather clearly impacted on their paddle, day after day of torrential rain and a low cloud base dominating their voyage.  Clearly any paddlers venturing into this region has to be prepared for a somewhat damp climate!

Although this a sea kayaking book, the most interesting parts for me were the environmental and historical sections.  Tim Lydon clearly has an understanding of and empathy for the region.  Starting with the early explorations of Vancouver it leads to the 19th century gold rushes and the 20th century logging operations  this is a book, which will not only appeal to the sea kayakers amongst us but also the historians.

So whether you are planning to return to the area, visit for the first time or are an armchair explorer this is a volume, which will appeal to you.

By Tim Lydon

Published 2003 by Hancock House

Paperback 336 pages

ISBN 0-88839-523-X

Price £12.50 although there are a number of second hand copies around

Don Starkell

As many people know I am an avid collector of books related to canoeing and kayaking and two of the most memorable paddling books were written by Don Starkell.  I remember reading "Paddle to the Amazon" in the early 1990's and inspired by what he had achieved with his sons, it encouraged me in my own small way to take my children canoeing on North American rivers.

Sadly Don died on Saturday at his home in Winnipeg, aged 79.  He probably traveled further than any other paddler, with his journeys recorded in journals.  To read more about his life see the full article at "Canoe and Kayak".

A truly inspirational paddler.

Another Project

 

I have spent over 40 years sea kayaking in Channel Island waters, mainly around Jersey but I have visited all of the other islands on numerous occasions and this book contains much of the information that I have gained over the years.

It is more that a paddling guide it includes plenty of historical and geographical information.

It has been published for the Kindle and is available as a download from Amazon.  It contains well over one hundred photographs and 45,000 words for not much more than the cost of a magazine.  That is one advantage of ebooks, in that it is possible to keep the costs down.

It is possible to download Kindle apps for PC's, Mac's, iPads, iPhones, Androids etc with the added advantage that the photographs will appear in colour.

So if you are a local paddler or thinking about heading towards the Channel Islands then it could prove a useful companion.