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!

Monday 30 June 2014

Jacksons Bay Quickie...

With no work today & some lovely weather it seemed a good time to meet up with some friends for a bit of messing about in sea kayaks :)
Stuarts recently got into gimp'ism! To the uninitiated thats 'Greenland rolling' where it seems compulsory to wear rubber fetish gear?
Rather worryingly the fetish gear was on loan from moi!
We all met up At the old harbour at Barry with the intention to mess about with rolling & rescues.
Left to right we got Simon Ford, John Petty, Steve Pearce, Stuart Yendle & Chris Kitch :)
I'd brought my 1970's Valley Nordkapp project boat.
Simon brought his brand new Valley Nordkapp for its initiation to Poseidon.
As well as rubber gear Stuart also likes to paddle with a plank of wood, a pretty nice one admittedly :)
Conditions were perfect, could it be summer?
We soon round the two headlands to reach Jacksons Bay where our shenanigans commence.
Stu seems to want to add stick throwing to the list?
Its a fab spot to chill out here so we did.
I get in the water for some low camerawork.
A fab couple of hours & now just a gentle paddle back to the vans remaining :)




Sunday 1 June 2014

Project Nordkapp, First Strokes...

So i'm finally getting my arse into gear & sorting this boat out after a very slow restoration!
 Here she is as I bought her, a Valley Nordkapp Racing L model, no hatches, no bulkheads, no foot pegs & no seat. A bare shell in fact with a huge cockpit thats designed for paddling with your knees together & sticking out, that would never do so I set about cutting out the cockpit & making a new one so she could be paddled like a traditional sea kayak. And what a sea kayak! The Valley Nordkapp is an icon of the sport & my boat dates back to the seventies when the Nordkapp was created & making its iconic status.
I'm really looking forward to paddling a legend!
 As I was driving to the beach I realised that she'd been stuck in the garage for three years so it was good just to have her on the roof rack.
 I wasn't taking her for a road trip though, we were going paddling & I wondered how long its been since she's been on the water?

She's not really finished yet as I haven't done much to the bottom hull other than fill some holes. There still no foot pegs or backrest & The seat is in but its not fixed but what the heck, I'm going for a play!
 And we're off, wooohoooo!
 I find her hard to control a little as I'm not locked into the kayak but at least I can get a feel for the kayak & a feel for where to put the seat & other fittings. She edges lovely! Who said these boats were tippy???
 I find a little tide race action to play in, only small but interesting when your not locked in!
 Smugness :)
 I refuse to be precious about my boat so its through the rocks I go!
 One of several stops on Sully Island as I experiment with seat adjustments.
 Really starting to get a feel for her now & I cant wait to get her fitted! Then I'll really see what she can do.
 I'm loving the clean bare deck. I only put a hatch on the rear.
 Looking Retro :)

 Time for a walk on the island in the lovely sunshine. Thats Steep Holm & Brean Down in the distance where I paddled to last weekend.
 Looking towards Lavernock.
 Lots of these critters about!
 I have to watch where I put my feet!
That was a really short paddle for me but it did the job & gave me the motivation to get her finished. 
As soon as the seat, pegs & backrest are fitted I'll be able to give her a proper introduction to the tides of the Severn Sea :)