Midlifekayak

Following up our Slapton Sands exploits last month, Geoff and I headed off to Anglesey for some expert tuition from James Stevenson at Adventure Elements in how to deal with moving water, tide races and overfalls.

As I packed up the car ready to leave, Tanya did point out that I have a habit of spending more time in the car than on the water on these kayak trips.  With a 400 miles journey ahead of me she had a fair point.

There were three of us on the course with James, Geoff, myself and Ben Clayton-Jolly, a really interesting guy from Inspiring Leadership who do some amazing things with their clients.

The first day we spent in the Menai Straits where the tidal waters from the Irish Sea squeeze through the 25 mile channel.   Life gets particularly interesting between Telford’s Suspension Bridge and Stephenson’s Brittania Tubular Bridge – a narrow 1 mile section known as the Swellies.  Reeds Nautical Almanac entry for the Straits makes for interesting reading (if not a little scary for a first time kayaker in the area) – “A dangerous sea can build even in a moderate breeze against tide……an understanding of the tidal streams is essential for safe passage”.

Under James’ expert guidance we learnt how to break into fast moving water safely and punch out again into the eddy (areas of calm water).  Speed and commitment to punch the bow over the eddy line, lean confidently away from the stream and look in the direction you want to go, is all there is to it.  Not enough speed and you literally bounce off the eddy line and back into the stream or eddy, depending on where you start.  Not enough commitment in the lean and the stream builds up on your deck and quickly tugs you over into a capsize.

Next we learnt how to ferry glide across the stream from eddy to eddy – trying to look like you know what you are doing, which I didn’t quite pull off every time.  We were getting a little more confident now and clearly James thought we needed a harder test.  So next he had us turning 360 degrees on the eddy line, eyes closed.  My first capsize of the day.  Bugger!

Next day we headed off to play in the infamous tidal streams off Penrhyn Mawr where we put into practice what we had learned the day before in some faster races.  The pictures are all taken from the eddy, but hopefully you get the idea of what it was like.

Mind you, we probably saw Penryhn Mawr on a quiet day – it was a Neap tide afterall.  Geoff took the last three pictures the day after the course when the weather took a turn for the worse – wouldn’t have wanted to been out in that!

A fabulous couple of days with stunning backdrop and a great confidence boost – rounded off nicely by a Royal Fly past….the rescue helicopter wasn’t for us by the way.