Jersey Activity Guide

I was hoping to get some time in on the water but with winds forecast to gust up to 70 mph a day on land was probably more sensible.  A quick drive around the south west corner of the Island revealed some interesting conditions.

 Getting photographs proved to be a challenge.  The tide was out when I visited the slip to the north of Corbiere but the wave recording buoy a few miles to the south of Jersey was recording a wave height of 8 metres at this time.

A number of roads were blocked around the Island, either by fallen trees or roof's deciding to part company with the rest of the building.  This toilet was clearly not designed to withstand winds that were peaking at over 60 mph.

I spent some time putting the finishing touches to a new book on the activities, which it is possible to experience on Jersey.  The plan is pretty simple, take a range of activities, plan 5 suggestions for each activity at a range of different levels and finish your visit to Jersey with a final day experiencing some of the Islands history.

Activities, which are covered include sea kayaking, surfing, coasteering, rock climbing, fishing, SUPing etc.  Some of the suggestions are suitable for beginners whilst others require more experience.  So just decide whether you want 5 days of one particularly activity or 5 different activities for one day each.

The plan is to have the book completed in the next couple of months, ready for the summer season, a few more days of appalling weather can only help to speed the process up.

 There are plenty of opportunities for coasteering around the coast.  Either with or without a guide.  In the summer it is a great way to spend a few hours.

 I suppose I might be biased but the sea kayaking in Jersey is as good as anywhere.

  Cycling along part of Route 1, just above Greve de Lecq.  The Island has a great network of cycling routes.

The final suggestion is to spend a day visiting some of Jersey's dolmens, either by car or cycle, finishing your weeks visit sipping a pint and watching the sun set over the west coast.

Some more aerial shots

I can never understand why people would ever request an aisle seat on an aircraft as the best entertainment is generally from looking out of the window.  These are a selection of the photographs taken on some recent flights, they certainly provide inspiration for some future kayak trips.

A rather bumpy departure from Jersey, we were quickly into the cloud, re-appearing just before landing at Gatwick.

 My first flight into London City, with the descent taking us close to Dungeness.  A superb example of a cuspate foreland.

 Approaching London from the east, passing over the River Medway, close to Rochester.  One day I must try to visit this area to go sea kayaking.

 Flying over the deserts of the Middle East.  This was on a Qatar Airways A380, which is a great aircraft but not the best for taking photographs from.

 Sunrise over the Loire.  I have paddled on the white water of the Upper Loire but never on this section which is more famous for its Chateaux.  This was an interesting flight as we climbed to 34,000 feet after take off from Toulouse and then dropped down to 24,000 feet just north of Bordeaux and stayed at that height all the way back to Heathrow.  There was no announcement as to why we were flying back at such a low level.

 Late afternoon approach into Warsaw.  The River Vistula is the longest river in Poland.  In the early 1980's I visited one the Canoe Exhibitions at Crystal Palace and came across the International Long River Canoeists Club, an organization run by Peter Salisbury.  He used to produce numerous expedition reports, the first one I bought was his report of paddling down the River Vistula in the 1970's.  I still have it somewhere and must dig out for a read.

Some seats just aren't great for photographs, descending in Jersey we passed over Guernsey with Lihou just visible off the west coast.  I am looking forward to another weekend of paddling off this delightful island in June.

Cowes, on the Isle of Wight.  There were great views as the plane banked as it turned south towards the Channel Islands.

First Paddle of the Year

Today was one of those days when it would have been so easy to stay in bed or to go to the gym, but it was well worth making the effort to head out in to the rain.  With strong winds from the south blowing the north coast was the only really viable option.  Bouley Bay to Rozel and back.  A good run out for my first paddle of the year.

 Kate inside Rozel Harbour.   Just about to head back.

 Kate trying to get a bit of help from the following wind.

 The north side of the harbour wall provided some shelter from the strong offshore wind.

 Relaxing paddle back, not rushing as the thought of getting changed in the rain wasn't too appealing

 At times the rain was so heavy that it obscured the finer details of Bouley Bay.

 Water was running down the road with some considerable force and then amazingly after we had tied the kayaks on the cars the rain stopped and we were able to get changed in the dry!

 Water pouring down the steps and onto the beach had discoloured the sea.

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.

December Days

The last few months seem to have been mainly occupied with courses so it was a real pleasure at the weekend to just get out on the water for a paddle.  The wind, which had been such a significant feature of the last few weeks had died down to a southerly force 4 so Bonne Nuit on the north of the island was the chosen venue.

We headed east, hoping to find some interesting water off Belle Hougue, but we were a bit late to have any real fun so we carried on to small bay underneath the Club's cottage at Egypt.  A small part of the island with a rich history.  After a paddling a bit further into Bouley Bay it was time to head back. west

 Steff, Janet and Jim underneath the Canoe Club cottage at Egypt.  I wrote about the history of this area in an earlier post.

 Returning west.  The main headland is Belle Hougue, the tallest headland in Jersey.  In the distance is Ronez, the site of a large quarry, where chough's bred in Jersey for the first time in 100 years this summer.

 Rachel and Dean paddling around Belle Hougue.  It was one of those winter days when the light seemed particularly flat.

 Close to Wolf's Caves there was a pretty spectacular blow hole,  Angus was the first to paddle in close but John caught the larger swells.

 My last photo of the day.  There was no cleaning the lens after the soaking it received from this amount of spray.

South West Delights

Although this is the closest stretch of coast to where I live, it seems to have been quite some time since I last spent a day exploring this area of Jersey so it was a real pleasure to be on the water on Saturday.

This is a section of the Jersey coast, which I have paddled hundreds of times but there is always something to discover whatever the season.

Paddling into a feature which we known as Junkyard Gully.  At the rear of the inlet there is a large blow hole into which was thrown a lot of scrap metal and cars in the 1930's and 40's.

Laurie passing to the south of Corbiere Lighthouse, which marks the south west corner of the island.  There was a bit of swell around and some tidal movement but it was a relatively calm day.

 Heading south past Corbiere after stopping for lunch in the reefs to the west of La Pulente.  A bit chilly but it is October.

 Louis looking as if he is having a good time.

Louis and Rachel playing in the small race which was developing to the west of Corbiere.

Along this section of coast there are some many great jumping spots.  This flat topped rock is at Gorselands.  Laurie is in mid air whilst Simone is considering his options.

Just before Beauport we were able to take a short cut through the reef at the Grosse Tete.   This is known as Conger Gully, mainly because of the stories we tell younger people when out coasteering along this section of coast.

A few aerial shots

I can never understand people who actually select a non window seat when flying because, without doubt, the best onboard entertainment is found from looking out of the window.  Frequently the flights pass over some of the more classic paddling destinations, so the advice would be to always keep your camera at the ready.  You are unlikely to be disappointed.

 An early morning departure from Heathrow gave superb views of London.   The Isle of Dogs is clearly visible and the more eagle eyed will be able to find the location of Shadwell Basin, where we were paddling last weekend. 

 Lihou is a small island off the west coast of Guernsey, where we have passed many a happy weekend.  This was taken in the aftermath of a February storm, hence the swell breaking on the north and west coasts.  We are there this weekend but the forecast is for much calmer conditions.

 Brecqhou, off the west coast of Sark.  The narrow channel is the Gouliot Passage, where the tidal streams can reach 7 knots on springs.  A very entertaining location.

 Just after take off from Ilulissat in Greenland and before the plane turns to the west and the south.  These waters had been much more ice choked when we had paddled south a couple of days earlier.

 Approaching the Isle of Wight.  The entrance to the River Medina at Cowes is clearly visible.  Calshot is largely obscured by the bank of cloud.  This picture was taken when heading south towards Jersey

 Heading north from Jersey you have a different perspective from the Isle of Wight.  We are just to the east of the island looking down Southampton Water.  Portsmouth Harbour is visible in the middle of the picture, whilst Langstone Harbour is to the right.

 Alderney is the most northerly of the Channel Islands and the closest to France.  The harbour at Braye is clearly visible, whilst the small island is Burhou, a fascinating bird colony.  Between Alderney and Burhou is the Swinge, with tidal streams of 7 knots, whilst on the other side of the island is the famous Alderney Race, where speeds can reach 8-9 knots in places.

 Bonne Nuit bay on the north coast of Jersey, a popular place for the start of kayaking trips.  In the middle of the bay Cheval Rock is clearly visible.

 Departing from Jersey in a westerly direction, the cliffs at L'Etacq are exposed to the Atlantic swell.

Flying out of Milos in Greece, after what would have been another great weeks sea kayaking.  We are looking across to the summit of Mount Profitis Elias 748 metres (2,454 feet) high.  On one particularly windy day we did walk to the summit, from which we were able to see some of the finest sea kayaking destinations anywhere.