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

Memories of warmer days

As the rain beats down on the windows and the wind starts to increase towards its predicted 55 knots is not too hard for thoughts to start to drift back towards the warmer days of summer.  Good memories and its only 4 days until the evenings to start to pull out.

 Agnes heading along the west coast of Ile de Brehat.  Waterproofs still on but it was the first weekend in May so still plenty of time to warm up.

 The west coast of Comino.  Mediterranean paddling is always a treat.

 Dawn in Baja.  The classic Mexican campsite.  The start of another great day in the Sea of Cortez

 Fascinating geology

 Always a favourite, the Ecrehous never fail to impress but it wasn't quite as pleasant a couple of weeks ago.

 Passing Gorselands on the south coast of Jersey.  A slightly different view of the cliffs to that a couple of winters ago

 The Hanois, off south west Guernsey, I don't think I had ever paddled out there when it was this calm.

 Approaching Jethou, off the east coast of Guernsey.  I think this day was probably my favourite Channel Island paddle of the year.

Sark never fails to deliver.  A pleasant way to spend a weekend in July.

Channel Island Sea Kayaking

A few pictures of sea kayaking around the Channel Islands, mostly from about 30 years ago or slightly older.  The difference in shape of the images is because the earlier ones were taken with a Kodak Instamatic camera (remember those?) before I had a job which paid enough money to be able to buy a 35mm camera.

In all the time that we spent paddling around the Channel Islands in the 1970's and 80's I don't think we ever bumped into any other sea kayakers, it really did feel like an era of exploration.

 This is returning to Jersey (visible behind the paddlers) from Sark in June 1979.  Note the old style hatches.

 Another image from the Sark paddle in 1979, in those days the only sea kayak which we considered having was a Nordkapp HM.  If you could afford it you had Lendal Nordkapp paddles with wooden blades, if not you just used your standard Wild Water paddles.

 Heading north from Jersey, the island is Sark, which was our original destination but we changed part of the way across and decided to go to Guernsey instead.  The paddler is Derek Hairon who now runs Jersey Kayak Adventures.

 Arrival at Bordeaux in Guernsey on our day trip from Jersey.  What had planned to be a gentle paddle turned into a 40 nautical mile day trip.  In the distance can be seen Herm (left), Jethou (right) and Sark just visible between the two.  On the return journey we stopped off at Herm to phone through to our parents to let them know that we were going to be late home and the telephone box still had buttons A and B to press.

The summer of 1982, I was getting married and so distant holidays were out of the question but we had a great two weeks paddling around the Channel Islands.  This is Port au Moulin on the west coast of Sark in August 1982.

Havre Gosselin, on the west coast of Sark  This was on an Advanced Sea Assessment in May 1983.  The Nordkapp HM still dominated the kayaks in use in the Channel Islands.  This photograph was used on the front cover of Canoeist Magazine.

 Leaving Creux Harbour, Sark in December 1983.  We left Greve de Lecq, on the north coast of Jersey,  in the dark and crossed the 12 nautical miles to Sark.  The idea was to purchase duty free drink for Christmas and we had a significant number of orders.  Unfortunately the shops were shut so that part of the paddle failed.  We did managed to find a toasted cheese sandwich before returning to Jersey and landing back at Greve in the dark.

 In the 1980's I was busy running lots of training and assessment courses for the BCU Senior Instructor Award.  This was December 1983 on the south coast of Guernsey.  The paddler in blue is Ron Moore, a superb coach and legendary speaker who was based in Plymouth, who is sadly no longer with us.

Another BCU training course in October 1984.  This is at Havelet, just south of St Peter Port.  Plastic kayaks had made an appearance, although Brian Aplin is still paddling what looks like a fibre glass KW7.  It was Brian who I accompanied on his swim a couple of months ago, from Lihou to the Hanois.

The Minquiers in September 1985.  We visited this reef to the south of Jersey as a day trip whilst training for the Canoe Club paddle we were planning for the following summer when we kayaked from Tromso to Honnigsvag, around Nordkapp.

In the 1980's I ran a canoeing (kayaking) school in Jersey but we used to do lots of trips away.  This is crossing from Guernsey to Herm in perfect conditions in July 1989.

 1989 saw the arrival of the Aleut II, designed a built by Howard Jeffs.  I still have this kayak.  It opened up a number of possibilities.  Pete Scott and myself attempted to paddle around the Channel Islands but it also meant that some people could undertake paddles that they might not have done on their own.  This is two of the younger Club members heading down the east coast of Sark in June 1990.

 I think this was still a Senior Instructor course, we hadn't quite become Level 3 coaches.  This is launching down the steep slipway in Saints Bay Guernsey in October 1990.  I was amazed that we survived all these courses because nobody had heard of risk assessments etc.  What I do remember was that there was always a huge element of fun.

Some more aerial photographs

Looking out of the aircraft window is one of the real pleasures of traveling.  I can never understand people who sit by the window and then close the blinds.   Passing over some great sea kayaking waters and providing inspiration for future paddling trips.

 The east coast of Baja, Mexico.  Heading home after 10 days of great sea kayaking

 Take off from Ilulissat, on the west coast of Greenland.  This is one of the most spectacular views from an aircraft window anywhere.

 Threading our way through some large cumulonimbus clouds over the northern French Alps.

 The tip of the Cherbourg Peninsula.  This is a common view when sitting on the right hand side of the aircraft on the flight from Jersey to Gatwick.

 If sitting on the left hand side of the aircraft from Jersey to London, instead of France you are likely to see Alderney and the smaller islands.  The small island is Burhou, which operates as a bird reserve.

 Flying over southern Sark, on a day with a significant swell running.  It would have been an entertaining day to paddle through the reefs.

Final descent into Hong Kong.  We didn't manage any sea kayaking but had a great day stand up paddleboarding.

A Paternoster Sunday

The Paternoster's is a wild reef nearly 3 miles off the north coast of Jersey which is always an interesting place to visit.  Sunday morning's forecast couldn't have been more co-operative with a light southerly breeze to blow us out and then dropping off, with the sun coming out.

It was a slightly longer Sunday morning paddle for the Jersey Canoe Club than usual and it did involve taking sandwiches but it was well worth the effort.  It is strange that we were only out for 5 hours in total but after a visit to the Paternoster's you always feel as if you have had a break from the island.

 The Paternosters are just visible, with Sark on the horizon beyond

 Nicky and Kate leaving the north coast.  Sorel lighthouse is just visible on the headland behind the kayaks.

 Just approaching Great Rock from the north, landing would probably have been impossible an hour earlier due to the swell but the ebbing tide had produced some relatively sheltered areas in the reef.

 Looking south west from the summit of Great Rock.  Grosnez is the obvious headland behind

 The view north.  Sark is visible on the horizon.  What a delightful paddle we had back from Sark earlier in the summer.

Paul crossing one of the tidal flows, which contribute to making paddling in this area so entertaining.

Sark to Jersey

After a superb day and evening on Sark it was time to head home.  A memorable meal on the terrace of Stock's Hotel followed by an evening in the Mermaid Disco is something not to be missed.
It was a relatively early start as The Tower Hamlets Canoe Club members had flights to catch back to London and most of the Jersey paddlers had work on the Monday morning.
We chose an earlier departure time than normal and what a good decision.  The first two hours were relatively straight forward as we headed towards the Paternosters, although Brittany Ferries did pass a bit closer than I was happy with, paranoia from earlier crossings in my kayaking career.  Just to the north of the Paternosters we switched to a more south westerly track to take advantage of the tide, which helped push us along at over 6 knots.
Landfall in Jersey was just under 3 hours for the 12 mile open crossing and then we spent a bit of time was dawdling along one of the most spectacular sections of the Jersey coastline before landing at Stinky Bay.

A quick beer at the Watersplash was followed by a dash to the airport for our London paddling friends.  A delightful weekend.

 There are some things which make you realize that you are in Sark, including the size of the bank.

 The Avenue.  This is the main shopping centre in Sark.

 The Tower Hamlets Canoe Club members prior to departure.  What a great weekend to choose to come over from England.  Channel Island sea kayaking at its best.

 Just leaving Dixcart Bay looking along the east coast of Sark.

 

 Sark gradually starts to fall away.  We had left from Dixcart Bay, on the left of the photograph where the boats are anchored.

 Brittany Ferries from St Malo to Portsmouth did pass fairly close by, but its appearance out of the haze did help with our forward paddling speed!

 Landfall was between Grosnez Castle and Les Landes bunkers.  When we turned near the Paternosters, to take advantage of the tide, our speed increased to over 6 knots.

 Although we had been aware that there was a slight swell running as we crossed from Sark, it wasn't until we started to head through some of the reefs that we became aware of its impact.

 Just heading south past the Pinacle, one of Jersey's most distinctive physical features.

 Toby coming into Stinky Bay, a well named landing spot.  The decomposing sea weed, clung to our legs, clothes and kayaks with amazing tenacity.  Not the best place to land but a memorable arrival after a memorable few days.