Zrmanja

 One of the highlights from a month spent kayaking and holidaying in Croatia has to be the paddle through the Zrmanja Gorges just outside Zadar

It proved to be simply stunning

Our start point was the beautiful town of Novigrad, a small fishing port.

From here, it is a short (4km) paddle across the ‘Novigrad Sea’ to the mouth of the Zrmanja river. Leaving at dawn almost guarantees you mirror calm waters

And the gorge, itself – well, the pictures tell it all

After the town of Obrovac the scenery quietens

We paddled on, finally reaching a waterfall – we camped by the old mill buildings here

A lazy end to the day, swimming below the falls and watching several ‘Dice Snakes’ that shared the waters with us

And arrived back at our campervan the following day, to enjoy another stunning Croatian sunset

There were loads of other ‘Croatian Highlights’, beautiful island camps, crystal clear waters, wonderful old towns, secret tunnels, magnificent forts etc. etc.

Wild camping on the islands did not prove a problem and, while we saw some hideously crowded campsites we managed to avoid these and found some great alternatives

Loads more images here

A little escape from the office

Mid July and summer put in a fleeting appearance. Just enough to grab kayak and hammock and slip away from the office a little early

It is nice to know that you don’t have to venture far for a bit of tranquil hammock swinging

Arne, in Dorset, proved perfect for a mid week sojourn - and I was able to get back to the office by 9am the following morning

A rowdy family of foxes insisted on playing under the hammock for long periods of the night though, so perhaps not quite as peaceful as it could have been

Rumour has it that IT have fixed the issue and good weather might be on the horizon now

Perhaps more ‘Over nighters’ are on the cards 

Floating on Eire

It is said that the only way to tell the seasons apart in Ireland is by the temperature of the rain. And how true that proved. But the images here lie - they tell a story of sunshine, calm seas and settled highs. In reality, these were in short supply but who cares! We enjoyed our tour of the west, taking in Donegal, Mayo, Gallway, Kerry and Cork

Small Craft warnings invariable blasted out of the VHF every day and there was certainly no shortage of wind. But the fact that we were 'camper van kayaking' and not doing any multi-days meant that it was simple enough to load up the boats and find sheltered venues. Whatever the wind direction, the indented coastline of the West Coast, coupled with the skerries and islands always provide alternatives a short distance away. We managed to bike or boat almost every day and were rewarded with some stunning locations and great craic, all washed down, of course, with copious amounts of the other national drink.

A flavour of what Ireland has to offer  camper vanning sea kayakers

Seals, of course

Stunning 'wild camps' - this one in Donegal gave us over a week of paddling and biking on our door/camper step

Now - that has to beat finishing a days paddling in a bivvy :)

Beautiful deserted beaches

Calm sheltered waters

A little bit or Irish Caribbean

Chilly morning swims

Misty mountain biking

Long shadows

Plenty of history

Who says the sun doesn't shine in Ireland!

Right round Wight

It’s about time I made a trip around the Isle of Wight. It’s on the doorstep and it has been on the agenda for a long time, but, somehow I had always found an excuse to enjoy some of the more scenic paddles along the local coast instead.

And so I joined Rich H, Chas and Ross one glorious June weekend – setting off on a Friday afternoon for a ‘circumnavigation’.

Unfortunately the weekend fell closer to neaps than springs and we were facing Force 3/4 Northerlies. We had also chosen the weekend of the JP Morgan Round the Island sailing race which boasted more than 1,700 entries!

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which taken at the flood, leads on to fortune. Omitted, all the voyage of their life is bound in shallows and in miseries. On such a full sea are we now afloat. And we must take the current when it serves, or lose our ventures (William Shakespeare, of course)

Well, because of one thing and another, we left Keyhaven shortly before slack water and, with an anti-clockwise plan, paddled into the evening up to Grange Farm, against the ebb. We had just managed to pitch the bivvies and walk to the pub before they stopped serving food.

The morning gave us one of those crystal clear sparkling skies that you only get when the clouds clear after a night of rain. And there was a true spectacle on the horizon – a long string of hundreds of yachts as far as the eye could see. 

With 25 kms under our belt – we faced an easy day on Saturday, riding the flood 35kms to Foreland – time for coffee and Carrot Cake at Ventnor too. It was a long camp at Long Ledge (either that, or turn the corner into stiff Northerlies for an alternative exposed site) – we chilled. The VHF blurted “Northerly Force 4/5, occasionally 6, veering West”

Time and tide wait for no man (Geoffrey Chaucer)

True enough – that’s why we had to get up at 3am, to ensure that we were away in time to catch the ebb back to Keyhaven. No worries though – we were in for a ride on the renowned Solent tidal conveyor belt. Rubbish, the conveyor belt was broken for most of the day and we paddled 8 hours non-stop through sloppy seas and annoying wind to cover the 45kms. Getting to Hurst just in time (before the flood through the narrows kicked in)

Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn. Harriet Beecher Stowe

Good fun, hard work, great company – not to be repeated!

Exploring Gokova

On the flight home, Frances turned to me and asked "can we do this again next May?" - this was the result I was looking for, I have found a formula for sharing paddlesport with my better half - sun, gentle paddling, deserted beaches and chilled days in foreign waters.

There were a few moments during the week when I thought the plan might not work. The time when she called out to me "there's a bloke up there with a gun calling us" (we had wandered into a military zone) and the afternoon when a force 5 had picked up a 2 metre swell (but we were camped on a sheltered island)

But, exploring the Gulf of Gokova, in South West Turkey, with a couple of rented sea kayaks proved an excellent week

The Region

Turkeys South West Coast where the Aegean Sea meets the Mediterranean Sea is often referred to as the Turquoise Coast on account of its azure seas – tempted!. A quick browse of Google Earth will reveal a rugged, pine forested coastline with lots of inlets, bays and islands.

We explored the Gulf of Gokova, which lies 40 minutes North of Marmaris (and a couple of hours drive from Dalaman Airport). This area offered a comparatively wild and remote coastline with many small beaches in sheltered bays - with little or no road access or settlement within the expanse of pine forest

The region is very quiet – no one around except the odd fisherman and passing yachts and Gulets (the latter, are beautiful yachts carrying tourists from the Turkish resorts on day or week excursions)
The paddling – conditions and climate/weatherIn late May we enjoyed cloudless skies and temperatures in the low 30’s. The prevailing winds are North West and normally pick up in the afternoons to force 3/4. On a few days these generated a significant swell (to 2 metres) – but can easily be avoided in the sheltered bays
We were on holiday, not on ‘an expedition’, and enjoyed a leisurely paddling routine. Up with the dawn, packed up and away between 07:00 and 08:00, paddling (with stops) through to 13:00 and then lounging around the chosen beach camp for the rest of the day. Take a tarp for shade

Camping

There is no shortage of beaches suitable for camping. All are of similar character, narrow and pebbly (don’t forget sleeping mats), often with some shade afforded by scattered pine trees and vegetation. The nature of the thick scrub behind the beach makes it difficult to explore beyond the fringe

Unexpectedly we found rubbish a big issue. Almost all beaches are cluttered with washed up debris. Vast quantities of plastic line the shore. At first we found this disturbing, but quickly became accustomed to executing a quick tidy-up and ‘litter pick’ before establishing each camp. A word of warning, however, the debris may include a fair share of fishing tackle and a barbed hook in a foot on this remote coastline would (and almost did, in our case) bring your holiday to a swift endThe pine tree forests of this region are plagued by fires throughout the summer. While, for this reason, I believe fires are forbidden in the area, we built small contained fires on the pebbles each night – but well away from any vegetation

Wildlife

This area of South West turkey is reputed to be teeming with birdlife, but the particular stretch of coast that we explored had surprisingly little (only gulls and cormorants) The insect life proved much more interesting with many species of arachnids (some beautiful some looking decidedly mean).

There were a few mosquitoes and horse flies about but too few to cause a problem. Snorkelling proved a pleasant way of passing the hot afternoons. Lots of urchins and fish but no colourful reefs

Equipment
An outfit called “Alternatif Outdoor” established in 1991 will, in addition to running guided tours, rent sea kayaks and gear out to ‘independents’. We took our own paddles, PFDs and camping equipment and hired boats (Prijon Seayaks) and decks from Alternatif. If we hadn’t been so fussy we could have hired everything we needed. But, take your own maps and charts (we laminated Google Earth maps) – the charts that Alternatif can supply are very limited. Surprisingly we had good mobile reception everywhere we went. We took a VHF but never used it.

Alternatif Outdoor Kenan Evren Bulvar, Camlik Sok. 10/1, Marmaris, Mugla, Turkey Tel 00 90 252 417 2720 Email: info@alternatifoutdoor.com Web: http://www.alternatifoutdoor.com/

Provisions
Everything you are likely to need can be purchased in Marmaris before you leave. Shops are open 7 days a week and bread, pasta, tuna, fruit, vegetables, snacks etc. can all be purchased from the small supermarkets. We had to carry sufficient water for 5 days 30 litres (6 x 5 litre bottles) proved just right. Theoretically, we might have been able to acquire water at ‘Ali’s place’ (tucked away down the deep inlet of Kargili Koyu) on the 4th day, or scrounge some from one of the yachts

Marmaris

Ahmet, who was driving us and our boats to the get in, laughed at our smiles as we left Marmaris in the rear view mirror. He remembered, just 20 or so years ago, when Marmaris was a sleepy fishing harbour. Now, there’s only a tiny scrap of the original character remaining, the rest has been swallowed up by the ever growing tourist resort development. Restaurants and clubs vie for your custom, a ‘Full English’ breakfast available at every corner to aid your recovery after a night of Karaoke and foam parties. While 24 hours at either end of our trip was more than enough time here, Marmaris is not entirely devoid of charm, set within a beautiful bay and kept remarkably clean and tidy

Getting There
Flights from the UK to Dalaman Airport are frequent – and shuttle buses from the airport to Marmaris are cheap and easy

Costs
Sadly the ‘bucket airlines’ don’t fly to Dalaman and we couldn’t find flights cheaper than £300 (indeed, the cheapest we found came with apartment rooms in Marmaris thrown in!). Alternatif charge 30 Euros a day for each sea kayak (including paddles, deck, PFD, bilge pump). This, together with the 75 Euros for transfers at the beginning and end of the trip means that the whole holiday doesn’t come particularly cheap – but we would still recommend it!

More Photos here http://www.flickr.com/photos/rollalot/sets/72157619051956918/show/

Published in "Canoe & Kayak UK" Magazine September 2009