How to not miss your flight
1 month ago
Saturday, 31 October 2009
Bollington Pool - 29th October 2009
1/2 hour pool session with Macc Canoe Club. Practicing rolls - mainly RH, but LH rolls were OK too. Using the wing paddles. Also completed a RH hand roll with the aid of a small float. The boa I was in was a bit big in the cockpit area, would be nice to use a closer fitting boat. Competing with the kids though!
Sunday, 18 October 2009
St. Bees to Whitehaven - 17th October 2009
Forecast looked good for Saturday, so I arranged for a paddle with some other members of the North West Sea Kayakers. Jean Brown was already planning to be in the lakes, so she proposed the venue of St. Bees and the rest of us (Jim Krawiecki, Terry Hailwood and myself) tagged along.
Jim decides what to wear
Conditions were very clam and sunny. Jean and Jim decided to paddle in just t-shirts with no cags, I on the other hand had a dry suit! In the end I didn't get that hot but mainly because we took a very leisurely pace on the way north to Whitehaven - rock hopping, talking amongst ourselves and chatting to climbers.
Jim and Jean rock hopping
Jim reverses into a small cave
Climbers abseil to the bottom ledges
We paddled under stunning cliffs that in the spring and early summer would be covered in Guillemots, all lined up military style on their ledges. But today everything was peaceful and quiet - no swell, no wind and only the odd call from the birds that were still around.
We started off at about high water, but still encountered a southerly flow as we headed up to St. Bees head. We rounded North Head and were out of the sunshine for a little while as we hugged the coast making our way towards Whitehaven.
Terry approaching North Head
We entered the outer harbour and stopped on the beach on the southern side, near the Beacon. I guarded the boats while the others went to look for a chippy in town (Jim was short of a photo of happy kayakers eating chips for his book). Replenished (OK, stuffed...) we headed back at a fairly brisk pace, this time straight across Saltom Bay.
Right... where's the chippy?
The water visibility was great and we could see starfish on the rocks below us as we neared St. Bees again. A quick inspection of a wreck that lies off the beach, a practice roll for Jean and myself and then we landed for the long carry back up the beach to the car park. A lovely sunset with the Isle of Man in the distance capped off a very pleasant day's paddle. Estimated distance about 20km.
St. Bees sunset
Conditions were very clam and sunny. Jean and Jim decided to paddle in just t-shirts with no cags, I on the other hand had a dry suit! In the end I didn't get that hot but mainly because we took a very leisurely pace on the way north to Whitehaven - rock hopping, talking amongst ourselves and chatting to climbers.
We paddled under stunning cliffs that in the spring and early summer would be covered in Guillemots, all lined up military style on their ledges. But today everything was peaceful and quiet - no swell, no wind and only the odd call from the birds that were still around.
We started off at about high water, but still encountered a southerly flow as we headed up to St. Bees head. We rounded North Head and were out of the sunshine for a little while as we hugged the coast making our way towards Whitehaven.
We entered the outer harbour and stopped on the beach on the southern side, near the Beacon. I guarded the boats while the others went to look for a chippy in town (Jim was short of a photo of happy kayakers eating chips for his book). Replenished (OK, stuffed...) we headed back at a fairly brisk pace, this time straight across Saltom Bay.
The water visibility was great and we could see starfish on the rocks below us as we neared St. Bees again. A quick inspection of a wreck that lies off the beach, a practice roll for Jean and myself and then we landed for the long carry back up the beach to the car park. A lovely sunset with the Isle of Man in the distance capped off a very pleasant day's paddle. Estimated distance about 20km.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Sunday, 4 October 2009
Macclesfield Canal - 4th October 2009
Back to the training paddles...
Clarke Lane <=> Higher Poynton Marina
Out in 53.50, back in 55.10. Couple of slight boat delays on the return.
Need to work out a way of paddling in the dark on the canal...
Clarke Lane <=> Higher Poynton Marina
Out in 53.50, back in 55.10. Couple of slight boat delays on the return.
Need to work out a way of paddling in the dark on the canal...
Saturday, 19 September 2009
Fleetwood Seaquest - 19th September 2009
Another week, another race!... no more for a while now I think.
The Fleetwood Seaquest is a kayak orienteering event that starts on Fleetwood's main beach, then turns and goes up the Wyre Estuary. Total distance for the longer "seaquest" is 22kms, while the shorter "seatour" is 15kms.
About 50 paddlers lined up for the "Le Mans" style start and after a brief holdup when another kayak put in beside me and sunk my paddle, I was off. Fairly quickly Glen Parry in his surf ski, Ned (Nick Price) from Macclesfield CC and I were jostling for the lead as we crossed the mouth of the estuary to go to the first checkpoint. Glen made the shortest work of it (no spraydeck!) and took a lead that he maintained through the next few checkpoints as we headed to the turning point at Shard Bridge. I was second with Ned not far behind. At the bridge I clipped the control quickly and left the control ahead of Glen and then managed to keep the lead on the return leg to finish just ahead of Glen with Ned a little behind us. My time was 2hr 14min.
It was nice to win a race outright, but shows the difference in standard between the races down south (see Eddystone and Poole race articles). Glen and I were also in the best boats - if Ned was in my Epic he would have been well ahead.
I won a £30 Brookbank gift voucher, a small shield to keep, plus I get my name engraved on the perpetual trophy shield that stays with the club. So not a bad day out. Thanks to the Outdoor Adventure Group for organising the event. Next year's race is on September 11th 2010.
The Fleetwood Seaquest is a kayak orienteering event that starts on Fleetwood's main beach, then turns and goes up the Wyre Estuary. Total distance for the longer "seaquest" is 22kms, while the shorter "seatour" is 15kms.
About 50 paddlers lined up for the "Le Mans" style start and after a brief holdup when another kayak put in beside me and sunk my paddle, I was off. Fairly quickly Glen Parry in his surf ski, Ned (Nick Price) from Macclesfield CC and I were jostling for the lead as we crossed the mouth of the estuary to go to the first checkpoint. Glen made the shortest work of it (no spraydeck!) and took a lead that he maintained through the next few checkpoints as we headed to the turning point at Shard Bridge. I was second with Ned not far behind. At the bridge I clipped the control quickly and left the control ahead of Glen and then managed to keep the lead on the return leg to finish just ahead of Glen with Ned a little behind us. My time was 2hr 14min.
It was nice to win a race outright, but shows the difference in standard between the races down south (see Eddystone and Poole race articles). Glen and I were also in the best boats - if Ned was in my Epic he would have been well ahead.
I won a £30 Brookbank gift voucher, a small shield to keep, plus I get my name engraved on the perpetual trophy shield that stays with the club. So not a bad day out. Thanks to the Outdoor Adventure Group for organising the event. Next year's race is on September 11th 2010.
Sunday, 13 September 2009
Poole Harbour Canoe Race - 13th September 2009
Paddled the 15 mile "sea kayak" class, but this was mainly dominated by skis. There seems to be quite a popular surf ski racing scene down south and there must have been around a dozen in the field.
My time was 2 hours and 24 minutes, pretty much what I was expecting, although this was about 40 minutes behind the winner (Ian Lawler).
Conditions were quite choppy in places with quite a strong F4-5 NE wind.
There must have been about 50-60 paddlers across the various classes. Great cake and burger at the end and a friendly atmosphere with numerous supporters on the beach at the finish.
Had a short paddle with Allen then Gavin after the race. Long drive home though...
Tuesday, 8 September 2009
Macclesfield Canal - 7th September 2009
Usual training paddle, Clarke Lane <=> Higher Poynton Marina.
Out in 54.00, but one significant boat delay that meant the likely time would have been around 53. Bit more leisurely on the way back on reaching the massed flotilla of the MADCC at Bollington.
Pretty dark around 8.20pm, will need to use lights in the evening now.
Out in 54.00, but one significant boat delay that meant the likely time would have been around 53. Bit more leisurely on the way back on reaching the massed flotilla of the MADCC at Bollington.
Pretty dark around 8.20pm, will need to use lights in the evening now.
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