Posted on February 18, 2011 by Bruce

Valhalla, I am coming!

Every time I’ve thought about Vikings since I’ve known of Led Zeppelin I end up with Immigrant Song in my head.

So today I went to test my new Kokatat Expedition Dry Suit. It’s phenomenal, light, easy to zip yourself into and dry, of course. The only potential leaks were averted by not getting over excited, had I borrowed my daughters nappies I might have let go.

One thing I have noticed in this last year though is that unless its pretty rough, 70N of buoyancy in a PFD, plus air in a dry suit stops me from capsizing.

Is this a good thing or a bad thing? I don’t know, but good bracing definitely fills the gap between capsize and roll or eternally floating on one’s side.

While I was thrashing around, I also thought I’d test the tracking on the GPS spot tracker Ed Wardle lent me. The good thing about it being connected to the internet is you can see when you’ve left it on from the comfort of your own home. The down side is that you have to leave that comfort to retrieve it and switch it off. I am now confident that my ‘Where is Bruce?’ page will work for the journey. The only issue is the requirement of the user/viewer to adjust the side bar and bottom bar out of sight.

Why Vikings?

When I was getting off the water the Pencil caught my eye. It was built in 1912 to commemorate the Battle of Largs in 1263, which was allegedly the last large battle with the Vikings on Scottish soil. Locally it is seen as a victory for the Scots but as is always the case with history the facts are not so straight forward.

The journey I’m about to embark on will be through the lands of this very history. The history of the Scots, the Gaels and the Vikings. Where the sons of Olaf, the MacAuliffes became MacAuley’s and the Nicholsons the McNicols. The Norse blood runs thick through the Islands beyond Largs. Maybe I’ll meet a distant cousin without knowing it, or maybe I’ll just run up some beaches wailing ‘Great Odin’s Beard!’ like a madman.

The Norse blood coursing through my veins must have felt enlivened at the prospect.

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Posted on February 16, 2011 by Bruce

An evening with Tower Hamlets

Last night I visited Tower Hamlets Canoe Club in London. The guys and girls were gathered there to go through their plans and learn a wee bit about navigation stuff and Ailien their jovial dutch organiser-in-chief invited me along to do a short presentation on my planning for the journey so far.

I’ve been pretty busy with work and as a result when I arrived at Shadwell Basin to present ‘the project’ I was woefully unprepared (aside from my collection of laminated 1:50,000 and 1:100,000 maps of the West of Scotland).

At least that’s one way to look at it. The other point of view is that what followed was an informal session where I answered a fairly constant stream of interested questions that probably covered most of the aspects of where this proposed kayaking journey has taken me already. There is no point in me defining the Q&A session, suffice to say that it is already documented in this blog.

What I think is very much worth sharing is the general positivity that I felt from sharing a room with like-minded people who are at different stages of realising their own paddling dreams, goals and aspirations in whatever form they may take. One of them Mikael, recently did a nifty Ne’erday circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight.

They were a entertaining and varied bunch. This is why I love paddling.

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Posted on February 13, 2011 by Bruce

It’s all part of the process

Here I am sitting in the London office of BV catching up on my dissecting of burnt appliances and the paperwork associated with all this fire investigation work. I don’t think I would normally post something to do with work here but as I have come to realise it is all part of the process and for that reason alone I must record it here on the West Coast Kayak Challenge blog.

Why is it part of the process?

I can’t very well leave any work hanging over me if I am truly to remove myself from the day to day of necessity and embark upon something that is both physically and mentally challenging. I must leave my personal life at the door and take every day of this expedition as it comes with no distractions. Then I can be sure in the knowledge that all my attentions will be focussed on completing the task at hand safely.

There are now only 2 – 3 weeks till I will be leaving (depending on the weather) and that means everything needs to be addressed and checked, especially these matters of contractual obligation.

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Posted on February 8, 2011 by Bruce

Day of the Bahookie

16 miles today, not very much by recent standards. But it was one of the toughest. Sleet, chop, beam winds and seas, clapotis and I forgot my blinkin’ lunch. It doesn’t feel like it helped the sinusitis clear up either.

Ma heid was up ma bahookie at the start, I got water in the top of my wellies launching in a sleety force 4 off a beach with no shelter. . The numbers are not good, 3 cameras (tart), 2 wet feet (eejit), 1 hour with no VHF on (d’oh) and 0 edible things for lunch.

Largs to Cumbrae and I got ma man Dan to take a snap or two in the shelter of the bay showing the lovely decals in the boat on the water….nice.

After that quick pit stop I was off to the North end of Cumbrae and back into the blowy cold north-westerly. The worrying thing was when I turned my VHF on I heard Belfast Coastguard’s weather broadcast and some mention of Gale Force 8 to Storm Force 10 thankfully followed by the word ‘later’….phew.

Even when I was skirting down the back of the big Cumbrae and the sun came out the hood stayed up.

It felt colder than the runs I did back around St Andrews Day when it was legitimately sub zero for weeks.

As I crossed the Tan for Wee Cumbrae the tidal effect combined with the wind was noticeble at the Cardinal mark. The feeling of the sea and wind on my beam was starting to make it hard work. Then came the Clapotis (not a disease associated with the frisky) on the West of Wee Cumbrae underneath the cliffs.

The crappy sea conditions largely evaporated when I cleared the cliff and paddled under the lighthouse. It is a glorious wee collection of buildings on the forgotten shore of quiet, barely inhabited island. If there is one thing that is striking here; it is that these buildings need some love because dilapidation has set well in.

Round the corner all went calm, and I managed to lift the pace again. Up at the dwellings on the East shore opposite the castle I had a brief chat with a chap who’s working there (renovating I assume – I can only hope they continue on the West of Wee Cumbrae). I didn’t hang about long because his pack of mutts had a very vocal ringleader who was in danger of breaching my 87dB HSE maximum noise exposure limit and I’d left my ear protection in the van with my lunch.

Next I was back across the Tan heading North for Great Cumbrae with the wind whipping me side on. For the Scots out there, my feelings on this rhyme with Fish. I was really hungry and I’d been in the saddle for god knows how long (my watch broke two days ago and I was telling the time by my compass and the sun). That was it for me, I pottered on, with my pace right down and a feeling that this had become an incessant slog today.

Then as always something happened to lift my spirits. Crossing the Fairlie Roads back over to Largs the heavens gave me a a beautiful display.

Then as I approached the Largs shore I saw my pal Neil, walking back from his work at the Marina, who kindly helped me lift my boat to the van.

Positives from the day; I can paddle 16 miles on a rough day with no food intake in approximately 4.5 hours, not ideal, but good to know. I can tell the time pretty well using my compass and the sun. I can go to bed tonight safe in the knowledge that on the expedition I can’t leave lunch (or my ear protection) in my van!

Here’s a wee map of the route for you all;

View Cumbraes Circuit in a larger map

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Posted on February 6, 2011 by Bruce

An open question?

Does a day of coaching one of your long term students on a high River Orchy in a completely different type of kayak really count as training?

I felt I’d had a work out on my abs and back surfing the edges off my boat. We got boofing and ran some rapids several times for the practise. Some of it fairly meaty white water, it was a great level.

But if I didn’t cover lots of miles or taste salt on my lips, did it count as training for the expedition?

Your thoughts are all welcome.

Bruce

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Posted on February 2, 2011 by Bruce

Back to reality

I’ve just returned from a week near Aviemore. No paddling done, but there was some much needed family time (before I paddle away for a month) and two days up Cairngorm ‘for the exercise’ of course 😉

On my return I have discovered;

The West Coast Kayak Challenge got a full page (p17 to be exact) in the Largs & Millport weekly news.

The nice folks at Vango delivered a lovely Nitro 200+ tent, this puppy is super light and compact and a cracking Venom 300 down sleeping bag, which may be sufficient on its own but might yet be combined with the 225 I already own for extra ‘cosiness’.

Stay tuned for the trial runs with kit…..it’s getting worryingly close to launch date.

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Posted on January 25, 2011 by Bruce

Press & Journal

The Press & Journal office in Inverness called me before the weekend. I had a couple of friends notify me that I’d made it into the national press. It’s odd to see your name in a paper, even odder to see the names of Andy and his family all in there.

Here it is:

Thanks to Ken for sending me the scanned article and Mags for popping an original in an envelope.

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Posted on January 23, 2011 by Bruce

Lovely Lora

It’s taken me a couple of days to get this footage trimmed and sorted out online. I guess I’m still learning the tech thing.

It was the 23rd January, with a 3.3m tidal difference at the Falls of Lora, under Connel Bridge, nr Oban.

I went with one of my whitewater students who’s always game for a soaking. Here’s Dan about to get one of his first ever rides on the main wave.

It’s hard to predict how good the wave will be but I’d always intended paddling my sea kayak. I got a few good rides and runs on the wave train.

I also took a couple of proper rinsings and the camera even got knocked down (which is no mean feat). Watch the world at 19secs in this one (below), see if you can spot what’s happening.

By the time we got about half-way through the session the main wave was forming very nicely. I’ll hold my hands up here, I ditched the sea kayak, grabbed my flat hulled piece of plastic and got me some nice surfs and a couple of wee blunts.

Yes we went playboating with a VHF radio – now that is not normal!

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Posted on January 22, 2011 by Bruce

Cosmetic Surgery & Silicone Implants

Thanks to Harvey of Fresh Fish for preparing some boat decals for me. I think they look good. What do you think?

I also addressed the leaky skeg box problem with some lovely silicone sealant, hopefully it’ll set enough before tomorrows test at the Falls of Lora.

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Posted on January 21, 2011 by Bruce

Get well soon Mum.

Rather than the larger paddle I’d planned for training I just took a take a wee blast to West Kilbride to visit my mum. She’s just had her toes wired in hospital. I assume the operation went wrong because if I was the doctor I’d have wired her jaws shut 😉 Sorry Mum I know’ll you read this, I hope the feet are better soon x x.

It’s not long from Largs to WK, only about 8 miles, so I put it in enough to work up a sweat. I left Largs at 1330.

This tanker was being offloaded at Clydeport Hunterston. Love it or loathe it,  the size of the machinery involved is just impressive. A heavy metal mother alright.

Then I skipped over the Hunterston Sands at high tide, the best thing here is your probably about a quarter of a mile from shore and the water is not at all deep.

Next up there’s is the bubble, its the warm cooling water outflow from the power station. I’ve never in all my years paddling the Ayrshire coast wanted to get any closer to this thing, it is unearthly.

Finally I got to West Kilbride, the town I grew up in. It took me 1 hr 30 mins to cover the 8 miles south from Largs. I’m quite happy with this sort of pace now. I think if I can maintain a balance between short blasts like this and longer endurance paddles it should set me up nicely for the whole west coast in March.

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