West Coast Kayak Challenge

Yesterday at 6am I woke up. Like ‘ping’ super awake. My head was swimming with ideas. I couldn’t get back to sleep so as it approached 7am I caved in and hit the shed to get my kit together. I had a bowl of cereal and a lemsip to keep the lingering cold at bay. Miriam woke up just when I was about to leave so I gave her a wee tickle and told her she was bonkers before passing Jill all parental responsibilities.

I grabbed two satsumas and mini flask of hot juice, scraped the vans windows clear and hopped in.

Well after I took this picture that is!

I got on the water and started paddling at 8.15am. The shore-front lights were still lit, maintaining the last glimmers of mid-winter festive cheer as the days light was just starting over the hills to the south-east of Largs. I set off fully expecting to be back in Largs well before lunchtime. Crazy fool.

I made great time round past Lion Rock and on to Farland Point where there was a definite disturbance in the water. The wind was light and variable, there was a gentle wave motion from the south but round the headland the water was surprisingly unsettled to the eye with a definite calm are on the western side of the rocks. I paddled through here backwards, for no other reason than conditioning the shoulders. If you click this link, watch the surface of the water as it changes.

I was still in thinking mode as I watched the sun come up over Hunterston, here we had a huge ball of fusing nuclei shining through some wind turbines next to two active and two decommissioned fission reactors.

Once I got round the back of Cumbrae, approaching Fintray Bay my phone rang. It was Jill asking whether I’d like to go to Arran to visit our pals. I was even more surprised when she suggested I paddle there. I got myself the inshore waters forecast on my phone (3G rocks), variable 3 or 4, decreasing 2 then North-East 4 or 5.

Perfect, if it does blow, it’ll blow me there. We’re off to Arran.

I hadn’t got very far from Cumbrae when a big old tanker, the ‘Euro Swan’, was heading my way. I stopped at the Portachur buoy near to a wee fishing boat to let the ‘Euro Swan’ pass.

Although by the rules man powered has right of way there are two things to remember. It was a lot bigger than I am and it probably hadn’t seen me either.

I crossed to the southern end of Bute and pulled into Glencallum Bay. It was all a bit lumpy on the approach into here as well, though no doubt stirred up by the big tanker that had come through the channel not long before.

I ate half my rations in the shelter of the bay, yes, one satsuma. Round the corner for another stop, a wee comfort break, a leg stretch and a listen to the Clyde Coastguard’s weather report on channel 86 then I was off again. This time though, just me, the sea and a stunning panorama.

I played around with the panorama function on the camera, which is quite difficult to get right when your bobbing up and down, but if you click the following links you should get a feeling for it. Arran 1 – Arran 2

The weather window worked out well, the wind did die while I was crossing but the sea was still a wee bit messy the whole way down the east of Arran from Sannox past Corrie to Brodick. When I got past Corrie my pal Calum called me up on the VHF. He’d come out on the water to meet and finish off the journey. We paddled back to Brodick to go and meet up with our families. But not without stopping to eat the rest of my lavish rations (the other satsuma) and for Calum to claim salvage on a loose mooring buoy.

The route I took is shown below, including the wee detour up the west of Cumbrae.

View Two satsumas and wee flask of juice in a larger map

There’ll be no photo posted from today’s paddle because all I’ve got to report is a missed opportunity.

I paddled round Cumbrae today. I met with some friends who were out for a jolly. We paddled as a group round the west side of Cumbrae and just as we were about to part ways we spotted 2 porpoise delicately slicing their dorsal fins out of their universe and into ours.

Unfortunately, as soon as I’d excitedly pointed them out they gave us one more brief glimpse and then sunk beneath the surface again. I paddled after them for a few minutes hoping for a glimpse with a camera at the ready, but was only left disappointed.

Other than that it was a good morning’s paddle. I left my friends to continue on their way down round wee Cumbrae and headed back to Largs to fix my kitchen chairs. I did a few wee sprints on the solo return journey to try and get the most out my time on the water today and the old wind kicked up in my face just to make it seem all the harder. I’m sure some good will come of it.

69 days till lift off.

A belated Merry Christmas one and all.

I’m not sure if I can officially call it training, but it certainly helped to relieve the Christmas Special Effect. Todays post Christmas re-intro to training was something I’ve been waiting for, a spot of rough weather.

We had a forecast for a force three out the south or south east depending on which one you paid attention to but in truth it turned out to be a notch higher, easily a four. Lovely.

Portencross can be quite a bit of fun when you get wind waves from the south forcing themselves on the rocky shore. You can get some ok fast rides in a long boat, you’ve just got to watch for the rocky shore…..it’s not so friendly to a composite boat.

I took the opportunity to try out the GoPro HD camera again, I am amazed at the quality despite it appearing to ‘flatten’ everything’s size. I just need to work out a cheap way of getting good editing software that doesn’t affect the quality of the final playback picture. So that I can cut these little movies down, don’t want to bore the audience now do I?

Its always good to practice rolling in rougher water, even if it is still freezing cold with the wind-chill. You’ve just got to prepare for it, so stick on some nice warm head gear, like a good hefty whitewater helmet, you might look a bit over dressed for the party. But you’ll be able to dance till dawn!

Oh and by the way……….71 days…in case you thought I’d forgot.

This past few weeks I’ve done a lot of paddling on my own. If there’s one thing that you learn from paddling and training on your own, it’s how to appreciate good company when you get it.

Yesterday I joined up with a select rabble of sea kayakers. I can’t remember the last time I paddled with a Nuclear Physicist, a Sport Scientist, a Doctor, a Photographer and a Professor of Veterinary Medicine with a thing for wee worms.

The group’s plan was to leave from Portencross on the mainland and head to the Isle of Arran, the largest Island in the Firth of Clyde, going via the south end of Wee Cumbrae and the south end of the Isle of Bute.

The weather was flat calm, with a very light wind from the north. We left Portencross at somewhere approaching 09.30 and cruised at a leisurely pace. Before you could say ‘fruit flies like a banana’ we were already past Gull Point on Wee Cumbrae and were getting ashore on Bute. Paddling in company definitely makes a passage go quicker.

Standing on the shore there was definite ‘nip’ in the air, but we weren’t going to be here too long.

From Garroch Head over to Sannox on Arran is a crossing of about 6 miles.

Prof. Tony Page (blue boat, son of Jimmy) and I in front of Arran’s mountains.

Despite the wind shifting to the south this was covered in no time at all and still at a relatively relaxed pace. After another short shore break, that ‘nip’ was in the air again, we were off south for the last stint to Arran’s metropolitan port town Brodick (which is reportedly of Norse origin meaning Broad Bay).

View Arran 12 Dec 2010 in a larger map

We arrived in Brodick just over 6 hours after we’d left Portencross, which for 18 miles including two wee shore breaks wasn’t bad for a sociable days paddling. I’d bring this bunch to Stornoway with me, if it weren’t for that perpetual ‘nip’ in the air.

I managed to get some test footage on the GoPro camera I’ve been kindly lent by Ed and I have to say I’m impressed by the quality. I’ll need to get some rough stuff on it now.

This morning at 10am I was afloat, at 10.03 I was paddling (after I sorted out my mp3 player). I took a map with me to pay attention to bearings and times but to be honest I didn’t really bother.

The weather was a change from the past two weeks of below freezing, it was a balmy 3 degrees Celsius and it even rained!

At 11.00am – the clouds came in and I couldn’t see much of Rothesay. I toyed with the idea of turning tail and playing it safe but a few minutes later the mist rose back up the hills a bit inviting me to continue.

By 12.00am I was past the Bogany Point port buoy, so I thought I’d call up a friend that lives round on Kames Bay then I discovered you need a phone to make a phone call. 2 hours over the water from home, with no phone….safety fifth!

12.40 – banana and hot juice. I’d barely taken a bite when a search and rescue helicopter overhead alerted me to a beautiful winter rainbow over on the Cowal peninsula.

When I was trying to photograph the rainbow I met a man named Norrie Mulholland, he’s 70 and in the last decade he has nearly walked the equivalent distance of the circumference of the earth from pole to pole and back. He’s done 22,000 miles of the 24,860 miles it would be round. Not bad at all! He also knows a fair bit about the local wildlife . Meeting interesting folk is one of the best things about getting out and doing stuff.

13.20 Ardbeg Point, heading home.

14.20 I was having words with myself about how mental it is to make yourself do this crossing twice in one day.

14.21 I moved on to the total stupidity of taking sponsorship money for a journey to Stornoway with far bigger crossings than this.

14.22 ACDC Jailbreak in my earphones and a small golden break in the clouds, everything’s peachy!

15.25 Back at the old sailing club slipway at the bottom of John Street in Largs. I need some more food.

View Bute Training in a larger map

20 Miles in under 5 and a half hours including a light lunch.

2 x 10 miles open crossings in one day, fuelled by small bowl of oaty o’s, 2 satsumas and a banana.

Good training – glad I’m taking a couple of days off though.

Some days just don’t start the way you want them to. It was freezing outside and I found that the leaky fabric feet in my old trousers was going to be exposed by the new found leak in my wellies. No fear though, we only have solutions here at the West Coast Kayak Challenge HQ!

Two old polybags recycled as boot liners.

On the water it was flat calm. The first concern I have about this winter training malarkey is layering. It’s so hard to second guess. As soon as I was paddling I was slightly too warm, but I adjusted that by removing my hat and paddle mitts (pogies to the initiated). It really was a stunning day.

Blue sky, white mountains and a lone avian.

I managed from Largs across to Millport (on Cumbrae) in about 40 mins. A few miles away behind the moors people can’t drive for the amounts of snow deposited this last week.

I stopped just past Millport to conduct my mobile IT test (previous post) which was a great success, I have confidence that I can update on the go during the trip now.

The training paddle all in was about 10 miles and took just over a couple of hours. It was neither the biggest nor the fastest paddle I’ve ever done but my aim for this project is not speed but endurance. So more paddles, not necessarily faster ones.

View Cumbrae Training Paddle 07 Dec 2010 in a larger map

It seemed like a good idea to pop into the national centre on Cumbrae for a cup of tea before having a gentle warm down, but in hindsight that wasn’t the best idea at all. Stopping in the warmth and returning to the cold left me feeling too chilly for a proper warm down paddle. It was more of a warm up paddle.

This may well be the understatement of the year, but this winter is definitely shaping up to be a memorable one. Albeit bleedin blinkin bertie baltic.