Welcome To Go Sea Kayak

Welcome To The Go Sea Kayak Blog...
This Blog is A Record Of My Personal Adventures And Wonderful Kayaking Lifestyle. It Is Also A Taster Of What You Can Expect If You're Adventurous Enough To Tag Along. Why Not Get In Touch And Join One Of Go Sea Kayaks Guided Trips On The Beautiful Mediterranean Island Of Sardinia, You Won't Regret it!

Sunday 26 December 2010

Poseidon's Blanket...



  
I awoke in plenty off time to set off for sunrise, opening the door of my van I was greeted by the beautiful site of a pre dawn glow in the sky & momentary thick drifting fog. The fog had coated everything in thick hoar frost that turned every little detail into a photographic opportunity. I had no big ambitions for this trip, only a desire to get my paddles wet & see where they take me...





 I spent a happy 10 minutes ambling round photographing the ice & hoar frost before setting off...


 A quick lap of Bendricks rock before following the tide upstream towards Sully Island...

The fog had mostly cleared by now but remnants of fog held on to the wooded area's near Sully reminding me that it could return at any time...

                                    
                                      
The tide was high at Sully island & I enjoyed hugging the shore as the small waves crashed onto the cliffs...
 I decided to go to Ball Rock that the fog was threatening to envelope at any moment...
 The fog was creating unusual lighting more reminiscent of Sunrise...

I made a quick lap of Ball Rock, something you can only do on the spring tides when the sea envelopes the rock. On the highest spring tide it all but submerges...


 I travelled blind part of the way back to Sully Island as the fog came down thick. A few more hoarfrost images & I was back underway before I too, froze...
Midway in Sully bay I completely lost sight of land for a happy few minutes. I felt very relaxed & at peace in this glorious empty landscape of sky & sea...
Back in my van with a smile on my face & cup of coffee in my hand, (bliss)...

Saturday 25 December 2010

Snow Place Like Holm...

Having lived near the coast all my life I know how infrequently snow settles along the coastline but when it does a new world of wonder is there for us to explore. When I saw that the recent snow was not only settling on the coast but also on Flat Holm & Steep Holm, then I knew I had to get out there & experience this rare wonder first hand.
I tried clicking my heels repeating "There's snow place like Holm','There's snow place like Holm' but had to settle for a cold paddle with Stuart again, to get there instead...

Leaving in the dark an hour before sunrise so as to catch the tide, I saw little point in taking pictures till we were half way there (& being -4 when we set off I wanted to keep my gloves on as much as possible)...








I ambled for some time reveling in these new found views from old viewpoints & exploring the war bunkers scattered around the Island...
 One of the Islanders...




Don't look like in the video, (does it ever?) but the tide was really ripping through this gap on Flat Holm & was bloody good fun
Heading back at an average of 5 knots until we started a steeper ferry-glide to try & get back to Sully Island having totally overshot the Wolves navigation Buoy...

I managed to drift quite wide of Sully Island in the spring tide & decided to head for the West side as I was obviously not going the make the East side unlike Stuart who was still on course before turning west to catch me up...

Before heading back to the van we did a final lap of the Island & a spot of rock hopping, or may be that should be 'hull scraping'. The conditions were perfect & we were quite happy just to chill out & reflect on a another fab morning...

Check out Stuarts blog at http://seakayaking-stuart.blogspot.com/

Tuesday 14 December 2010

Lonely Island


A perfect start to a long overdue trip. Since I got into Kayaking over five years ago I've wanted to paddle to Flat Holm & Steep Holm Solo. I did Flat Holm In my first year & hit increasingly choppy water as I approached the Island. This made me rather nervous about the Steep Holm trip due to the commitment involved. When you live with the second highest tidal range in the world you also live with the currents that go with it. If it gets a bit rough there's no turning around until the tide turns so you can see why paddling seven miles into the channel makes me a bit nervous. Nervous enough to put it off for five years. I have however been to Steep holm twice before, both on the high & low tide. The high tide trip was just two day's ago so fresh from the excitement of that trip I decided to give it a go solo...

Unlike Sundays trip to Steep Holm which launched from Sully Island today I decided to Launch from Bendricks in Barry as I thought I might carry more speed due to the shallower angle of attack in relation to the flow of the tide...
 Sully Island in the far distance to my left, how different from Sundays trip...
 Still a long way to go but I'm holding a steady 4.5 - 5 knots in the tidal flow...

I really, really wanted to paddle through the rudder as I was arriving near high water but it needed a couple of feet more depth to get me through, instead I enjoyed paddling through this arch at the entrance to the rudder. Happy day's...







I spent a happy half an hour strolling around the Island in blissful solitude, this really is a very special place...

Leaving the Island it became clear that I ambled for a bit too long & would have to get a move on to reach Flat Holm before the tide turned...
Approaching Flat holm I was only managing about 3.5 knots dropping to 2.5 as I got closer, I could feel the effects of the tide but as it was only a neap tide the effects weren't too bad...
Arriving at Flat Holm I could see evidence of the tide ebbing as the water had dropped about a metre...
The Wolves navigation buoy, I marked it as a waypoint on my GPS for future use. I loved the way the buoy groaned in the still water as the tide flowed around it...
Time for another rest at Sully Island...
Back underway & with just under two nautical miles to go & I'm really needing a coffee...
Back at Bendricks & with just over 15 Nautical Miles (17.5 statute) under my belt I dwell on what was a bloody fantastic day...