Posted in Uncategorized on June 8, 2012| 1 Comment »
We couldn’t have timed it better. As well as missing out on the Jubilee celebrations we are of course going to miss the Olympics as we paddle our way around the coastline. So it was a lovely surprise to see the Torch Relay pass by our B&B this morning. Well from a distance anyway. The runners stopped and climbed back on the bus and onto the next village about 100 metres before it got to us. So enjoy the picture of the bus instead!
Posted in Uncategorized on June 5, 2012| 1 Comment »
Last night Geoff and I found ourselves a bivvy spot beside the tee for the 5th at Port Arthur golf club near Montreith. It was a perfect spot to launch our crossing to the Mull of Galloway. Only challenge is that it is best to go with the ebb tide (after high water) and the next day that wasn’t due until 12.30 lunch time. Around the time that the Met Office was forecasting strong variable winds.
However the advantage of it being summer and so far north is that it is light much earlier and so, (can’t quite believe we did this voluntarily) we were up at 2am, packed up and were on the water at 3am to catch the last three hours of the ebb tide. Aside from a few clouds, it was a perfect moonlit night.
The strong streams that flow through the Solway Firth carried us west at around 5kn. Around 20% faster than without stream. That’s the kind of efficient paddling we like. Although there was a head wind, it wasn’t as strong as it might have been.
By 6.15am we landed in Drunmore, made a cuppa and tried to catch up on some sleep whilst we waited for high water and the next ebbing stream.
We were back in the boats just before high water and used the eddy streams to make our way down towards the Mull of Galloway. Just about everyone we talked to over the last few days about this stage of our journey took a sharp intake of breath and then questioned our sanity. We’ve gotten used to some of these reactions at other stages like Lizard Point, Cape Cornwall, Ramsey Sound and the Menai Straits – all of which were more fun than scary. The thing is that kayaks are better suited to rough confused water that a deep keeled yacht. But for some reason we were a little apprehensive about this one. As it turned out we were right to be so.
As we rounded the headland, we were keeping close into the rocks which had been the consistent advice, what appeared to be a small race turned violent and strong rapidly and shot off towards the Isle of Man. We fought to keep our boats upright as waves seemed to hit is from all angles.
But as fast as it began we found ourselves in the eddy and making out way north again. For the next 6 hours we enjoyed the boost that the ebb stream afforded us. The strong winds forecast didn’t arrive, so to make the most of it we stopped in a cave for lunch and got back in the stream. Eventually it brought us to the tranquil harbour of Portpatrick. 40 miles in all today which helps to make up for the day off in Kirkcudbright because of the strong winds.
We carry on north tomorrow and hope to make the crossing to Aran the day after.
Need some sleep but we have the chance to wash clothes tonight so we’re doing that first!
Posted in Uncategorized on June 3, 2012| 3 Comments »
It was our first morning waking up in Scotland. It was a slow start to the day. We had left St Bees head around 10.30 the previous day, stopped briefly at Whitehaven as it had been such a slog against a F4/5 headwind all the way round the headland.
After cappuccino and carrot cake we made our way towards Workington where we planned to cross the Solway Firth. In the end we decided to cross from Harrington, a few miles earlier making the crossing just a bit longer around 22 miles.
It was nearly 16.00 and a close call as to whether we should attempt it that evening or wait till the morning. A check of the forecast made the decision for us. The wind was due to pick up to a F6/7 the next day. To wait would trap us in England and we were keen to push on.
A few weeks ago a crossing like that (the size of the Bristol Channel) would have filled us with some apprehension. But now we know we can cope with them even after having already paddled for a few hours.
The winds and tide would be against us all the way but so long as we could achieve 3Kn moving average we felt we could make it before midnight. We would have light till 22.00 and moonlight after that.
Well it was certainly a slog and the stream and wind combined to push us east further than we hoped. After 12 miles we were in a wind farm and could see how strong the stream was against the pillars. If we stopped paddling we moved south east at around 1.5kn. So no time for long stops.
We pushed on, feeling slightly apprehensive as the sun started to set, but just then, around 7 miles out, we spotted our intended landing spot and started the long slog in.
We landed, tired but elated, gave each other a big hug and before we pitched tents we had a very large dram.
So today was always going to be a slow one. The wind was up and although in our favour (easterly) it had also whipped up a lively sea.
We carried and launched over the huge round bolders that covered the beach. It would have been so easy to twist an ankle or drop and break the boats. But finally we were afloat and after mopping up the water that had managed to get into our cockpits before we got our spray decks on, we were off.
The wind, tide and following sea had us flying along at around 5-6kn. Geoff recorded 9.5 maximum as he surfed down one particular wave. The cliffs seemed to whizz by. Great progress but also quite stressful paddling. It would have been easy for either of us to capsize. Some of the sets coming in over shallower ground were around 2.5m and quite steep causing the noses of our kayaks to burry at the bottom of the waves.
So after a couple of exhilarating hours we pulled into the shelter of Kirkcudbright. We made out way up the estuary as far as the RNLI station. The lifeboat was out on a shout and we got chatting to the operations manager John Collins. Within minutes John had the kettle on for us and even lowered the launch cradle for us to lift both our kayaks up the slipway. How cool is that!
When the Lifeboat and it’s crew returned we chatted to them all before they gave us a lift into town in the RNLI Landrover. Well that made my day.
I wrote the first half of this yesterday it is now Sunday. Today the wind changed for the worse and so we stayed off the water. The RNLI team had another shout (that’s 3 this weekend) so we got to see the them again and get to hear about their day and also got some good tips on places to stay and the tides.
Such a nice bunch of people, it was a real pleasure to meet them all. Geoff and I reflected later how chatting to them gave us a really great insight into the local community. Meeting people like that is one of the privileges of an expedition like this.
Thank you John and team for your hospitality!
Posted in Uncategorized on June 3, 2012| 1 Comment »
Thursday night we stayed in a campsite in Silecroft on the Cumbrian coast. As the campsite was a few hundred yards from the beach we were a little cheeky and asked at the very first house overlooking the beach if we could store our kayaks in their garden. The owner, Julia, was so friendly and interested in what we were up to and gladly let us store them away. That was a big help in saving us a long carry.
Julia also gave us a great tip for a place to eat that evening as the local pub had unfortunately closed because of a fire. So it was there after a walk into the next village of Kirksanton, that we found ourselves in the very welcoming atmosphere of the King William IV pub. Run by Barry Van Der Vyver, a South African from Port Elizabeth and ex pro cricketer who met his wife in the area and settled down. What a great guy. He rustled us up an amazing 500gm steak with some Monkey Gland sauce (Tanya, Ivy and the Rogers will know what that is) – just what we needed for the next day.
Barry also ran us back to the campsite at the end of the evening. How about that for a special personal service from your landlord!
Thanks Barry and Julia!
Posted in Uncategorized on June 1, 2012| 8 Comments »
Posted in Uncategorized on May 30, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Continuing the theme of meeting thoroughly lovely people, Geoff and I met up with Eric Innes yesterday. Eric paddled solo around Britain in 2009 and when he found out about our expedition he got in touch to offer his experience. So it was great to meet up with him in person yesterday. We first caught up on the beach at Blackpool, Eric took our lunch order and ran off to the shops so we didn’t need to stop long in case we lost the benefit of the tide.
We then paddled down to Fleetwood to set us up nicely for crossing Morecombe Bay. Amazingly Eric was there waiting for us. He took us shopping and then joined us for a meal that we cooked at our bivvy. We shared paddling stories and a bottle of wine before getting our heads down.
Eric thanks so much. Top bloke!
Posted in Uncategorized on May 30, 2012| 2 Comments »
Ok, to start with, an apology. We forgot to put the SPOT tracker on the other day so we have the impression that we had actually booked in to a static caravan park for a few days. Actually we’d crossed Liverpool Bay (21 miles) to Formby. It was a misty day and we didn’t see land until we were around 6 miles out so relying on my map reading skills and both our abilities to keep the kayaks on a bearing.
Attached videos feature Tanya and Dawn (Tanya’s cousin). Last time I will see Tanya until we get to Newcastle.
Thank you so much to Dawn, Roger and Ivy for coming to see us in Wales. Great to see you guys!
Posted in Uncategorized on May 27, 2012| 4 Comments »
As Geoff and I enjoyed the sunshine in Llanfairfechan waiting for the wind to die down so we could get around Great Orme’s Head, we has a chance meeting with Sonja Ezergailis from Coastal Spirit. She and her partner Roger Chandler run bespoke sea kayak expeditions from their base in North Wales. Sonja was so friendly and even offered us her place to camp down in.
We were getting up at ‘sparrows’ to catch the tide this morning and get round Orme’s Head so decided to bivvy down where we were. But hope to catch up with her and Roger perhaps on one of their courses some time.
Anyway, my obsession for checking the inshore weather on the Met Office website paid off last night when I noticed at 11pm that the strong wind warning had been dropped. We were up at 4am and paddling towards Great Orme’s Head by 4.50am.
Whilst there was still a fairly stiff headwind the sea state was slight and we made reasonable progress and 2.5 hours later we were enjoying the sounds of the razor bills up on the cliffs.
We’ve just pulled into Llandudno for a decent coffee and breakfast – yummy. Aiming for Towyn or Prestatyn today depending on those winds.
And just as I write this Barry Shaw has been in touch with Mike to give us some camping tips for the next few days. Sonja had apparently asked Barry for some ideas for us. How helpful is that!! Such friendly people.
Posted in Uncategorized on May 26, 2012| 4 Comments »
Well another windy day preventing is from getting round Great Orme’s Head but should be back on the water Sunday and winds permitting across the Solway Firth by Friday. Tanya coming to see us again today as is Geoff’s daughter Liz. So lovely way to spend a day off the water.
Posted in Uncategorized on May 24, 2012| 2 Comments »
Over the last four days we’ve clocked up 133 miles and so a bit of a boost to our daily average – which now stands at 22.5 if you only count paddling days, or 18.5 if you count the bad weather days too. Yesterday we paddled into the Menai Straits, a name that conjures up scary images for sailors but for kayakers less so. Having said that we did manage to take longer to get here than anticipated and so with fading light we picked our way through the races and breaking surf over the sandbanks before being whisked up to 7 or 8mph (Jenson Button eat your heart out). The next challenge before the light left us completely was to punch our way through the stream up an inlet to our accommodation for the night at Penrhyn Bach. A beautiful house belonging to some friends, Alex and Susie, who very generously offered to us to use to recharge our batteries and wash and dry clothes and kit. Thank you so much!!
We felt a little guilty taking a day off today but after 3 weeks paddling it was time to get everything washed!!
We’ll be up early with the flood tide tomorrow and jumping on the fast conveyor belt up the Menai Straits to Great Ormes Head and on to Rhyl. Around 40 miles or so.
And really looking forward to tomorrow night as Tanya and her parents, Roger and Ivy are coming to meet up with us. And of course George will be there too.
Midlifekayak 