Alps

3 Ringwood members (Tim, Ross & I) joined 7 from Southbourne CC (Chas, Richard, Graham D, Martin, Gareth, Luther and Mark) for a packed week in the Alps.

Travelling overnight we arrived in Briancon at around 1pm on the Saturday - and even managed a paddle that afternoon.

We paddled 7 days straight and took in some classic runs (Guil, Durance, Ubaye, Guisane, Clarree, Onde, Gyronde, and the Dora Riparia across the border in Italy) There were lots of minor epics, mishaps and problems to make the trip amusing but that is for others to recount. An excellent paddling week.

“Gone with the Wind” Sea Kayaking Scotland

An Idea is hatched
I was seduced by photos and tales of sea kayaking amongst the Scottish Islands – sun-kissed white sand beaches, isolated idyllic camps, frolicking seals and otters. An ideal location for a first sea-kayak holiday. I voiced my intention at the annual RCC video night in January and a group of 10 was established within minutes. It seems I was amongst others that shared the ideal.

Plan A is achieved
Over the following months, poring over maps, charts and trip reports, I settled on the Knoydart / Moidart region. I even went so far as to plan the routes. A base camp at Back of Keppock (near Arisaig), a 3 day circle tour of the Sound of Arisaig / Moidart, a re-supply at base camp, and then a 3 day circle tour of the remote Knoydart area to the Sandaig Islands. All this planning was, of course, to prove a complete waste of time!

Plan A is thwarted
Despite having lived in Scotland (many years ago) I was convinced that the end of May should provide ideal sunny still sea kayaking conditions.

By the 14th May we had 14-day forecasts for the weather – but these were rubbish, they were suggesting inclement weather

18th May (10 days to go) “Have you seen the forecast Graham? It doesn’t look good”
20th May (8 days to go) “Have you seen the forecast Graham? Should we change our plans?”
21st May (7 Days to go) “Have you seen the forecast Graham? Perhaps we should go up later and all throw ‘sickeys’”
24th May (4 days to go) “Have you seen the forecast Graham?” “I don’t believe it – we will go anyway”

And we did – some, however, against their better judgement!

The Gathering
We had all found the campsite by Saturday evening – there was Dot and Mike, Dave and Annie, Georgia, Richard, Elliott, Ross and myself – with Frances, Hannah and Finny joining us for a non-paddling week. All agreed that the location was breathtaking. All agreed that the weather was c**p. We adjourned to a pub in Mallaig and talked alternatives over sea-weed beer and fish and chips.

“Force 4 or 5 Northerly, 6 later. Sea state moderate to rough, Heavy
Showers”

And so began the pattern of the week. Each morning and evening we would huddle around the VHF (normally in the rain) and listen to the forecast. Then, maps would be brought out, sheltered waters sought and endless plans and alternatives hatched and discussed.

Crack of Noon was the norm

It was difficult to raise enthusiasm in the mornings – lying in the tent (after a sleepless night listening to Elliott and Ross’s snoring) listening to the rain and wind lashing the fly. The renowned RCC ‘get-up-and-go’ attitude !! vanished and ‘Crack of noon’ starts were quickly established as the norm.

Despite all that Neptune hurled at us we managed to paddle every day – and we were rewarded for our efforts with some truly beautiful locations and idyllic camps.

Sunday saw us retreat to the inland Loch Morar for a 16k paddle – finding some sheltered lagoon-like and midge infested bays for lunch before a battle with headwind on the return leg
Monday we ventured into Loch Nan Uamh, paddling amongst seals and finding a great island lunch-stop

Tuesday and Wednesday was the highlight. The winds had dropped and the sun was out. We managed to escape the base camp and make our first ‘journey’ from the head of Loch Ailort almost 40k back to Arisaig.

We camped overnight at one of those isolated pristine sandy bays that I had dreamt of. After a camp fire meal we sat on the beach and watched seals, otters and Red Throated divers put on a show for us. The return through the Skerries of Loch Non Ceall proved a beautiful paddle.

Thursday and the wind had again picked up and veered to the West. We found sheltered water and our final camp in Moidart before the long drive home on Friday.

We never reached Knoydart and the Sandaig Islands (that’s saved for another time) – but we had a good week and our battles against the elements were rewarded by glimpses of what sea kayaking in Scotland can be. I fully intend to make an annual pilgrimage to the Scottish Islands. But next time I won’t make any plans – just go with the wind, so to speak.

Lundy - What could go wrong?

Bank Holiday weekend and I joined 10 others for a paddle to Lundy. A trip put together by Mark Rainsley (UKRiversguidebook). In Mark’s words the plan …

Friday night...we will journey to North Devon and camp …. presumably we'll arrive late and leave at the crack of dawn.

On Saturday morning, (29th April) if all looks good to go, we have to all be on the water and set off no later than 10 am. Lee Bay is a tiny launch point, so it'll take a while to get us all on the water (we'll have to carry each loaded boat across the road and launch them one at a time)...so actually, you need to be ready, packed and changed by 9.30 am. … There is good parking at Lee Bay.

The crossing...if it is good to go, I'll call the Coastguard and let them know what we're up to. If we launch and then decide that we don't like the conditions, we can still pull out and turn back in the first hour or so if need be. However, if the conditions are good, then the actual paddle should be no big deal...just a mellow four hours of slow plodding.
Landing on Lundy... …. If we are lucky, the island manager will send a Landrover to transport all our gear the 4-500 vertical feet up onto the top of the island. If we're not lucky, then we've got a grim slog up the road carrying all our gear…

The campsite is up on top of the island, as is the pub, shop, etc. In theory you can buy all the food and drink you need at these places. Sunday. The ideal scenario would see us doing a paddle around the island. Obviously, if it looks like the weather will turn bad on Monday, we'll have to come back on this day.

Monday...the crossing back will need to either be done late in the afternoon (arriving back at Lee Bay at nightfall), or before the crack of dawn. We'll see how it all goes depending on weather, inclination, etc.

Disclaimer...obviously we'll look at the weather and plan as best we can, but be aware that there is a small but notable probability that we'll end up stuck on the island due to the weather. In this instance, you have the option of either dumping your boat (back another weekend for it?) and taking the ferry back...expensive and entirely dependent on the captain's good grace...or of calling your work on Tuesday morning to explain why you are in the middle of the Bristol Channel. So...don't say I didn't warn you....

What can go wrong? Mark Rainsley

What did go wrong then?

1. Chas drove over to pick me up at 6:30 pm Friday evening, anxious to get away. But he had forgotten his paddles and had to return to Barton on Sea

2. On arrival at Lee Bay for the launch we discovered that the car park was closed. The consequent delay in departure would cost us a lot of energy later that day

3. Having enjoyed some interesting conditions through the races off Morte Point, followed by a relatively relaxed paddle ¾ of the way, the final hour of the 21 mile crossing turned to two as we lost all tide advantage and paddled into a freshening headwind. It took us close to 5 ½ hrs to make the crossing.

4. In various states of weariness we unloaded our kayaks on the beach. Chas had just enough energy to utter some well chosen expletives when he found his sleeping bag was afloat in his leaking rear hatch

5. The island Landrover was conspicuous by its absence and we spent the rest of the afternoon lugging kit up 182M to the camp ground at the top of the island.

6. Chas still had enough energy to issue even more expletives when he discovered his tent was busted.

7. Huddled around the VHF the following morning we listened to the forecast Force 5 or 6 winds due that afternoon or evening, with more lousy weather into the next day. It meant a return by Ferry on Sunday or Monday evening

8. I was with three others that, not relishing the prospect of getting home at 2am Tuesday morning, negotiated passage on a chartered ferry on Sunday, sacrificing a paddle around the island for a poorly considered work ethic!
What went right?
1. At least the conditions proved ‘good to go’ (if not come back) – it could easily have been otherwise

2. With the exception of the last couple of hours, the crossing was fun – both the races and the subsequent leisurely paddle assisted by the spring tide, with the sun up were great

3. The camping ground on Lundy is excellent – and only 50M from the Pub

4. The pub serves a good local brew ‘Lundy Experience’ and has an excellent menu

5. Lundy is a beautiful island – 3 1/2 miles long by 1/2mile wide and rising 400 foot out of the sea where the Bristol Channel meets the Atlantic. A rugged coastline, steep cliffs and windswept grassland, steeped in history. There’s a lot to see – everything from lighthouses and quarry buildings to the remains of a wrecked WW2 German bomber.

6. Most of the Island is a Site of Special Interest and the seas surrounding it are England's only statutory Marine Nature Reserve.There’s no shortage of wildlife – Soay Sheep, Seals, Peregrine, Gannets, Auks, Fulmars, Shearwaters etc.

7. The Island Manager and port crew were more than helpful – only too glad to assist us in arranging passage for kayaks and paddlers on the private charter ferry

8. Great company – it seems that whenever you throw a group of kayakers together for a weekend this is always the case.

9. I arrived home fresh, sun burnt and satisfied!
The ‘ayes’ have it then – a great trip. I can’t wait to return – hopefully at a weekend of settled weather when I can squeeze in all the three legs of the journey that were intended.

While it is not a trip to be taken lightly, if the conditions are ‘good to go’ – GO

Thanks to Mark R for conceiving, planning and leading the trip, Chas for the lifts and everyone else for the craic.

Another Moor Season

The Autumn of 2005 proved one of the best seasons for ages. I was on Dartmoor almost every Sunday for 3 months – it was shocking to find that, at this time of year, I visit Dartmoor far more often than Fordingbridge or Ringwood and I dread to think what it has cost me in petrol.

But then, in January, it all dried up

A "serious drought" may strike the South East, Environment Minister Elliot Morley has warned. England and Wales have had the driest January since 1997, with many areas getting less than a third of their average rainfall.

The Met Office said England and Wales had 33.2mm of rain throughout last month, making it the sixth driest on record.

We managed a last low run on the Upper mid-January, joined by Georgia and Chris D And then the Moors became seriously dry – and I began planning the summers Sea Kayaking trips!

Indeed – I had the Sea Kayak out of moth balls and on the Dorset Coast early February when, ordinarily, the moors should be stonking

Going Deep on the East Lyn

Andy and I joined Dave, Cheryl and Ron for an entertaining run down the East Lyn in December

Another World - Dorset Coast

My introduction to Sea Kayaking I’ve no idea why I began to experience a growing interest in long pointy Sea Kayaks – it could have been accounts from others on club sea trips (but these were few and far between), perhaps the photos that Douglas Wilcox posts to UKriversguidebook, maybe the long summers with no surf and no rivers or the number of paddling friends that have recently acquired ‘the knowledge’ or a latent desire not to shave. Who knows, but I already had the Tilly hat – all I needed was a boat.

As luck would have it, just as this growing interest was becoming an itch, I heard that Liz Sambell was selling Steve’s old Nordkapp HS. Elliott brought it down for me to try out at Mudeford one Tuesday. He had already discounted purchasing it himself – explaining that his manly physique prevented a comfortable ride. It was this Tuesday evening that I began to acquire ‘the knowledge’ (you can’t flat spin a sea kayak, bow rudders are less than useful, and the turning circle is more akin to that of a Boeing 747 than a Wavesport EZ) – what amazed me, however, is that I loved it – fast, comfortable and a brand new set of attainable skills to learn. Needless to say, I had bought the boat within 24 hours – just in time for Paul T’s Dorset Coast Camping trip the coming weekend

I spent the next couple of evenings trying to acquire more of the knowledge – I started delving into a book on Sea Kayak Navigation – but put it down after 5 minutes. Far too much to learn there, tides and tidal streams, charts and bouyage etc – it was clearly not a question of pointing the boat downhill and enjoying the ride. Anyway, I figured that for a paddle along the coast West of Swanage I should be OK keeping the land on my right.

I turned then to thinking about the kit list – but, hell, the boat had these cavernous holds so no thought was necessary it could hold anything I could think of. Aware that my knowledge remained weak, and I was paddling with the elite of RCC’s sea kayakers!, I had a plan to ensure that my inexperience wouldn’t stand out - I invited a friend (Richard) who, despite having his own Sea Kayak, had only paddled a few times before. If anyone was going to be the butt of the Jokes, let it be Richard rather than myself

7 of us met at Swanage on a glorious morning - Paul T and Elliott, Dot and Mike, Tim B, Richard and I. The normal chaos of an RCC river trip was outstripped by this Sea Kayak business. We took over the beach by the pier – boats, drybags, stoves, tents, bowls, gallons of water – the mountain of ‘stuff’ that we were taking was awesome.

I watched the others pack their boats, trying to establish if there was a recognised protocol – but having seen Paul picking up handfuls randomly and slinging them into holds I felt confident that there was no established system and that I wouldn’t make a complete fool of myself. What was a little worrying was that Richard seemed to know what he was doing. Perhaps even more worrying was all the strange stuff Elliott (Mears) was packing

We set off at around 11:00 - the plan being to paddle 15 miles to Warbarrow Bay, against the tide and a light prevailing wind. This seemed at odds with common sense but who was I to argue. We glided off into an azure sea – the long sleek boats shifting along with so little effort. The Nordkapp has a reputation for being very ‘tippy’ but I had quickly become accustomed to this on the previous Tuesday, and found the secondary stability excellent - now, fully laden, it proved very comfortable. Hugging the Coast to avoid the tidal stream we made good progress. Kittiwakes and Guilimots were around, but no Puffins and no ‘Durlston Dolphins’.

After a short stop at Dancing Ledge we approached Aldhelm’s head. Despite the tides there seemed to be white horses – the promise of some play at the overfalls there, but, sadly, nothing of consequence and so on to a late lunch at Chapman’s Pool.

Mid afternoon and the tide had turned, but any advantage that this might have offered was wiped out by a quickening South Westerly, eventually picking up to F6, stirring up a nice chop. While progress became a little more laboured, the sun still shone and the sea became playful. By the time we reached Kimmeridge (5’ish) some were feeling weary and by the time we hit Warbarrow (6:30’ish) we were all keen to find a camp spot out of the wind. Having gamely paddled the whole length of Warbarrow bay (twice!) we settled on a mid-point spot for bivying amongst the rocks.
It seemed idyllic and the wind had dropped but a few problems then arose.

• Paul’s hatch covers were found to have perished – the toilet roll was amongst the sopping casualty list, and to cap this Tim found un-exploded shells sharing the paperless facilities
• No one had any ‘real’ coffee – ‘Instant’ would prove a first for Paul
• And Elliott, keen to practice his newly acquired ‘bushcraft’ skills discovered the beach was almost entirely devoid of timber, yet alone bushes. A thousand plastic bottles was no substitute

Still, we set up camp, managed to find a few timber spars and Elliott opened up his box of tricks to light a fire (insisting that the gas lighter, offered, was not ‘playing the game’). Meals were cooked, beer and wine opened and the conversation was so entertaining that Tim managed to stay up until gone 10pm!

I could hear Paul, of course, rattling pots and stoking the fire before 6:00 the following morning. An early start was clearly on the cards so a quick swim and I joined him for ‘instant’. 3 hours later Dot and Mike surfaced – it was close to 10:00 before we were all ready to leave. I guess this was an early start by RCC standards.

The air was still, the sea glassy and the tide with us. An easy 15 mile drift back to Swanage lay ahead. At Kimmeridge the previous day there was a notice on the dive board exclaiming 20M visibility!! And we found ourselves in another world – drifting across an aquarium. Our boats were now ‘flying’ over clear waters, the sea bed, fish, anemones and other sea life clearly visible below us. It was hard to lift our eyes up to the cliffs to watch the Peregrines!

We were at Swanage by 3pm, having hardly noticed the distance paddled – quick Ice creams and we were offSo this is what Sea Kayaking is all about – OK, certainly in the conditions we had, it does not provide an adrenaline fix, but it does open a whole new and changing world to explore while getting some needed exercise. I’m looking forward to the next time I can get out in my sea boat.

Coruh - Dads and Lads in Turkey

Andy was now 17 – an age when his keenness to travel and his growing abilities as a paddler were only matched by his inadequacy of funds and far too many exams. I was looking for a suitable venue for a short ‘Dad and Lad’ trip – a taster of foreign lands and big water. The Coruh (pronounced “Choroo”) in Turkey seemed to fit the bill.

The Coruh is set in the remote rugged north east corner of Turkey – far away from the tourist hot-spots of the South. The river flows east, along the Kacgar mountains, and into Georgia before breaking its way North through to the Black Sea.

I knew that the river offered some fairly continuous and high-volume class 3-4+ rapids in June - just after Andy’s exams were due to finish. I also knew a few paddlers that had been out there and asked them what the likelihood was of the two of us finding other paddlers to hook up with. They were doubtful, but Water By Nature ran trips out there with everything laid on. More £’s of course, but who cares – we are off paddling.

Chas and his son Richard also elected to join us – deposits were paid and we settled back to a few months more work/exams. There were a few preparations to make too – Andrew needed a ratchet back-rest retro-fitted to his King pin and Richard found he could no longer get into his booster and had to purchase a new boat. The £’s were already flowing.

Water By Nature (WBN) warned us shortly before departure that Turkish Airlines can refuse to carry kayaks. Despite having successfully flown kayaks to different parts of the globe before, this put the wind up us on the way to the airport. We had packed and re-packed to get everything (including kayaks etc) below the 23kg weight allowance.

We arrived well before the check-in desks opened - better to leave plenty of time and catch the check-in staff in good unrushed moods when travelling with kayaks.

"I'm sorry Sir, but there will be a small handling charge of £11 per 'surf board'.

That was it, no hassle, no worries and 3 hours to kill before departure (more £s). We arrived at the Sultan’s Inn, Istanbul at mid-night. - time only for quick minerals on the roof terrace before turning in.

The following morning it was a flight to Erzurum, where we were met by WBN guides. We loaded up the battered Morris for a 3 hour road trip through the mountains – snow still on the peaks.

Late afternoon saw us at the banks of the Coruh, near Maden, some 30km’s upstream of Ispir. We (the four of us together with 6 other ‘punters’) gathered around for the normal pre-trip briefing – tent maintenance, camp hygiene and dunny protocol. Most of Clive’s words were drowned out by the gurgling chatter of a thousand frogs and the incessant whine of a million mossies. I did pick up a bit of good news, though – the Coruh was running much higher than normal for this time of year – a 10-year high that should provide for plenty of fun.

After 2 days travelling, listening to the sounds of the river (and frogs and mossies) and anticipating some fine paddling in the days ahead we drifted off to a sound sleep. We were blissfully unaware of the Brown Bear and large Snake that visited 100m from camp during the night.

Clear blue skies and growing temperatures joined us for a mellow grade 2 warm-up in the morning – a chance for getting accustomed or re-accustomed to big-volume paddling. After a couple of hours clouds brewed up - then thunder, lightening and hail as we hit the lunch stop. We sheltered under an old steel football stand at a long-forgotten and abandoned football field - shivering.

The afternoon run (another 15K down to the steps of Ispir) was great. The river soon entering a narrow gorge to provide fairly continuous grade 3 with loads of nice wave trains and surf waves - all read and run. A few paddlers pulled out and joined the Landrover but Andrew was totally pumped - a huge grin on his face as he discovered the fun in volume.

Cold and knackered after a long days paddle, we pulled out just before the Joan Collins set of rapids and wandered down to take a look at the first 3 Ispir Steps (Joan/Alexis/Bitch). Easy to choose lines down these class 5 falls when sipping beer from the bank but, at these levels, no one was to run them - the Landrover shuttled us around to a camp a few hundred metres downstream (just above Dynasty and Stud).

The clouds had disappeared, and the evening sun was sufficient to dry out the kit and warm up our bones. Beers and nibbles were out, a fire lit and the conversation lively. We had left the mossies far behind (they were only ever a problem that first night).

The second days paddle was a reasonably mellow 30 km grade 3 run. The sun was shining and there were endless waves to play on. It should have been an uneventful day but there were 5 swims in the morning. We soon appreciated the advantages of having a road running alongside the river. We had a Cat raft but this was purely for rescues (picking bodies up and getting them back in their boats) and not for passengers. With the Landrover running along side us – paddlers who found it all too much could hop out, sit on the roof and take the photos. With the numbers whittled down we enjoyed a fast and playful afternoon. We must have spent over an hour at a single dream wave.

After a good day on the water, moonlight, Moussaka and a good Islay Malt around a camp fire - followed by Turkish Delight - what more could you ask for.

The following day saw more of the continuous grade 3’s – floating through beautiful scenery, looking out for Rollers, Bee-eaters, Hoopoes and red Kites, drifting past many Byzantine castles perched high on the hills. We hiked up to one of these at Tekkale (“single-Castle”) for lunch – trekking across the rice paddies and picking mulberries and cherries off the trees on the way.

There were a few long 4+ rapids to run in the afternoon and scouting the first of these (‘Perfect Portage’) I knew that this would prove the biggest test for Andrew yet. It is one thing to run a long hard rapid yourself, but watching your son take on the challenge is much much more difficult!! I needn’t have worried – hearing his adrenaline-fired whoops all the way down.

After another long days paddle we clambered with our boats for a few hundred yards up to Cemile’s paddlers pad. This is a small pension in the tiny village of Tikali that has existed since the days when Dave Mamby first opened up this river for paddlers back in 1982. Indeed Dave still frequents the place, and joined us for dinner and the following days paddle. Photos of paddlers from all over the world are pinned to the walls. Sleeping arrangements are on simple wooden platforms. We took over Cemile’s gardens, drying kit and setting up the kitchen etc. The big farm house table was set and, despite being Wednesday, we declared it ‘Red Wine Thursday’ and enjoyed a civilised dinner.

A long paddling day followed – in the morning we headed up to Sarigol to paddle the river Bahal down to Yusufeli. The Bahal made for a pleasant change – very continuous lower volume alpine style grade 3 – with clear icy cold snow melt, running through a beautiful valley with plenty of entertaining drops. We pulled out in the middle of Yusufeli town and enjoyed hot soup and kebabs at a restaurant – still donning wet kit.

After the late lunch around half of us elected to run the Coruhs best ‘Yusufeli Gorge’ – a 1 hour continuous roller-coaster grade 4+ ride with 5 or more major rapids. We spent almost as long scouting the rapids from the Landrover first before returning to Yusufeli, paddling down the Bahal to its confluence with the Coruh and running the gorge. The falls proved significantly larger than they appeared from the road – but we enjoyed an incident free and fun filled end to the day.

It was gone 6:30 pm when we pulled in, loaded and returned to Tikali

Sadly sickness hit the camp that night – and Andrew and I were amongst others that missed a repeat run of the gorge the following morning before the road trip back to Erzurum. A Hamam (Turkish Bath) and massage, followed by a gourmet meal that evening finished off the trip nicely and prepared us for the flight home the following day and a return to work/school