Sunny Sunday Kayaking

A group of 29 sea kayakers is an impressive sight as they prepare for departure even more so when 6 of them are in the brand new orange Tiderace Vortex kayaks, which have just been unwrapped in the car park at Ouaisne.

This was the annual visit of Tower Hamlets Canoe Club to Jersey and the plan was to head east from Ouaisne, have lunch on Elizabeth Castle before taking advantage of the increasing north easterly wind to aid our progress back.  As it was the wind and tide slowed us down earlier than we anticipated with the result that it was sandwiches on St Aubin's Fort.

That really didn't matter as we had a really entertaining paddle along a lovely section of the Jersey coastline in conditions, which were quite interesting at times.  As we paddled back into the bay you could feel the warmth of the sun on your face for the first time this year, it really did feel like spring had finally arrived. 

 Its Christmas, in March!  Unwrapping the six new kayaks ready for our friends from Tower Hamlets Canoe Club to use.

 With 29 paddlers in the group, a clear pre-trip briefing is pretty essential.

 Angus just off Noirmont

 Matt paddling in front St Aubin's.  Less than 72 hours earlier we had gone in the opposite direction on our night paddle.

 Janet enter St Aubin's Harbour.  This was a pretty big tide so the water level was dropping at about 90 cm every 20 minutes, so we didn't hang around.  Within minutes it was dry.

 

 Lunch at St Aubin's Fort.  Thanks Matt for this photo.

 Approaching Noirmont, wind and tide with us.  It was a pretty quick run back to Ouaisne.

Nicky passing through one of the narrow channels off Noirmont.

Portelet Pizza

For a number of years the old beach cafe at Portelet gradually crumbled through disuse, it's decline seemingly linked to the closure of the holiday camp, which used to dominate the cliff top above and the associated drop in the number of visitors to the beach.

This year has seen the refurbishment of the building and its reopening as a pizza place and the Jersey Canoe Club decided to visit the Portelet Bay Cafe for lunch on the last day of August.  A paddle from Ouaisne allowed us to visit some of the historical sites, which exist along this section of coast.

This was followed by a very pleasant break at Portelet Bay Cafe, the pizzas are highly recommended, and the paddle back assisting with their digestion.  Considering it was a rather grey day with an increasing north westerly wind we think we made pretty good use of the time.

 Leaving from Ouaisne is always fascinating as we pass close to La Cotte de St Brelade, which is one of the most important neanderthal sites in north west Europe.  Within the ice age sediments there are thousands of stone tools in addition to the bones of their prey.

 To the south lies the small stack of La Cotte Island, which has a number of short climbs on its west face.

 The first major headland is Pt Le Fret.  It is fully exposed to the Atlantic swell but today it was all calm and we able to thread our way through the gullies.  Earlier this year the swell so large that we had to keep about 200 metres out, when rounding the point.

 Noirmont Tower was completed in 1814 to help protect the southern coast of the island from potential invasion by the French.  Today the lighthouse marks the western approach to St Helier.

 Nicky passing in front of Batterie Lothringen, part of a World War 2 coastal battery.  The first part was completed in 1941 but this tower was built April and October 1943.

 On the beach at Portelet, after our pizza's.  Today was a particularly large spring tide, when we had landed less than 2 hours before, we left our kayaks at the waters edge.

 Another Jersey round tower, it was completed 6 years earlier than the nearby one at Noirmont, in 1806.  A sergeant and 12 soldiers manned the tower, it must have been rather crowded.

Some Christmas activity

It has been a tradition for nearly 40 years to go for a swim on Christmas morning. Members of the Jersey Canoe Club have been entering the water at 11.00 on Christmas Day long before swimming increased in popularity.  Although some of the public swims on the Island now attract over 200 people the Club has never sought publicity but with word of mouth our only form of advertising we still manage to attract a good turn out.

This year the conditions were completely benevolent.  Light winds, warm sunshine, an ideal tide height and a water temperature of just above 11 degrees.  After a quick dip it was the traditional mince pies and mulled wine before heading off for a family Christmas.

Preparing for the swim at St Catherine's

A selection of the Canoe Club group just before 11.00

We didn't hang around too long!  It was 11 degrees but still felt pretty chilly.

Boxing Day has always been a paddle out of Ouaisne and this year was no different. Approximately 20 members of the Jersey Canoe Club gathered in the car park in rapidly deteriorating weather conditions.  Just after high water on a spring tide it was obvious that there would be an entertaining tidal race off Noirmont, so that's where we headed.

We were not disappointed, there were some delightful waves to surf, some interesting moving water and the deterioration in the weather conditions was delayed.  Two hours on the water followed by a pint in the warmth of The Smugglers was a perfect way to start Boxing Day celebrations.

Launching from Ouaisne

Heading along the side of Pt Le Fret in rather grey conditions.

Noirmont Tower from the east.

A bit of chop is always enjoyable.

The German Tower at Noirmont is clearly visible as we headed back towards Pt Le Fret and Ouaisne.

One of the great locations in Jersey, La Cotte de St Brelade.

By the morning of the 27th December wind had increased dramatically, gusting to 50 knots so looking down from the cliffs the sea state had deteriorated significantly since the day before, although the sun was shining down  and what had been a rather grey landscape.

 

 Ouaisne with some surf rolling into the beach, in contrast to the day before.

 The swell was starting to break against Pt Le Fret.

 Looking down in La Cotte de St Brelade.

Sunday Morning Session

Not surprisingly it was another grey morning, where has the sun gone this month?  In contrast to the last few days the wind had swung around to the north west but the temperature was still struggling to rise above 2 degrees.  In these conditions Ouaisne offered the most interesting kayaking conditions for the Jersey Canoe Club Sunday morning session.

Between Pt le Fret and Portelet the cliffs are fairly steep and some have been developed for rock climbing.  Today there were two Peregrines soaring above the headland.  Always a spectacular sight.

Portelet Bay has its small island, Ile au Guerdain, often referred to, inaccurately, as Janvrin's Tomb.  Philippe Janvrin, a St Brelade's sea captain, had been dead for ninety years when the tower was built, although it is true to say that he was initially buried here as his body was not allowed to be brought ashore.

 Les Fours Buoy with Noirmont headland behind.   It is off the south coast of Jersey and all maritime traffic heading towards St Helier passes between the buoy and the headland behind.  If you didn't know your cardinal marks you could be caught out here.

 Some of the Jersey Canoe Club group around Les Fours Buoy with the south west coast of the island behind.

 Noirmont Tower which serves as a lighthouse, with a visible range of 13 miles.  Construction was started in 1810 and finished 4 years later, part of extensive fortifications to help defend the island from French invasion.  It is rare that sea conditions, in this area, are as calm as they were today

A Sunday morning squall

What a difference an hour makes.  I was running the Sunday morning sea kayaking session for the Jersey Canoe Club, we headed south out of Ouaisne but within a few hundred metres we were running for the shelter of La Cotte Island as a significant squall was approaching fast. Visibility and temperatures were dropping whilst wind speeds and rainfall intensity was going in the opposite direction.

We sheltered for perhaps 20 minutes whilst being exposed to the full force of the rain, but eventually the conditions started to ease and we were able to continue with our paddle in far more reasonable conditions.  It was interesting to consider what action we could have taken if we had been exposed to such a squall whilst on an open crossing.  We still haven't come up with a definitive answer.

 Looking back towards La Cotte.  The dark clouds are developing to the north.

 Sheltering close to La Cotte Island.  The temperature dropped several degrees and there was a significant increase in wind speed.

 John feeling the full impact of the rain

 Looking south towards Pt Le Fret.  Amazingly just 4 miles east no rain was recorded.

 The rear edge of the squall crossing St Aubin's Bay.

 The storm heads south, seas calm off and two paddlers return to Ouaisne.

La Cotte de St Brelade

This is one of the most important archaeological sites in Europe and during the summer I was involved in helping archaeologists from University College, London look for possible other sites along the south coast of Jersey.  We used kayaks along to south coast to try and identify sites which might warrant further investigation and part of the work was filmed by the BBC for the programme "Digging for Britain" which is going to be broadcast on BBC 2 this Friday evening.

At La Cotte de St Brelade the remains of mammoth and rhinoceros, amongst other things have been discovered at this Palaeolithic site.  Every time I paddle past I am awe at the significance of this site which lies just a couple of miles from where I live but which looks out across some of the finest sea kayaking in north west Europe.  

Take a look here for further information.

 Looking down into La Cotte de St Brelade.  The reefs are a beautiful paddling area.

 Peter Wrigglesworth paddling past La Cotte.  The red and white Jersey Round Tower in the distance is on Ouaisne Common.  Ouaisne is a great place to leave from and even better place to arrive because the Smuggler's serves great beer!

 La Cotte de St Brelade is the obvious gash just to the centre of the cliff.

This short clip is part of the programme, "Digging for Britain" which looks at how kayaks have been used to help identify possible further sites of archaeological interest.