welshkate

A few years ago I was one of those whitewater  kayakers crowing “Seakayaking? Why on earth would I want to do that when there are so many creeks to paddle and rivers  to play on and waves to surf ?” But ever since I sat in a Valley Aquanaught Club and I paddled with a Werner Shuna, I totally reversed my narrow minded view. Shuna paddles are the most comfortable I’ve ever used. In fact, its almost worth seakayaking just for the pleasure of using those paddles. Although I never went on a single seakayaking trip I set myself a good goal. And mid August saw me fulfill a 2 year ambition to paddle around the Isle of Wight- and it would be my second seakayaking trip. The “Island” as its known to the Southcoast locals is an out-cropping just a few miles off shore of the mainland. Shaped a bit like a diamond, its coastline is about 65 miles and its waters are rich withrecreational, commercial and shipping vessels. Coupled with strong tides, large eddies and tidal races, circumnavigating the Island is no mean feat.

Photo:  Seakayaking on the south coast.

Planning began back in July when Maria, who is currently doing her 5 *T Sea asked me if I’d like to join her and a very experienced UHCC seakayaking group on a trip around the island. Although a relative  novice sea kayaker, but having done all the basic training on the Hamble estuary (paddle strokes, rescue techniques etc) I jumped at the chance to realise one of my conquests and tick it off the list.

A training trip from Kimmeridge Bay to Swanage was organised, taking in a tidal race on the way. I took to seakayaking like a duck to water; stamina built up from creeking and playboating and skills from surf kayaking surely helped. The only issue for me was that I didn’t like the skeg and didn’t really know when to use it. After incessantly asking my fellow paddlers ” are you using your skeg right now?”, I figured it out after about 15 miles. The training trip successfully under my belt, I was (self and peer) assessed in terms of my ability to handle the craft and stamina. I was a go-er…woohoo. So my second ever seakayaking trip would be around the Isle of wight. Thank goodness I would be going with 4* and 5*T seakayakers.

Photo by Chris: On the training trip

Maria and Nigel planned the round the island weekend according to good  tide times. Now we would have to wait until the day to see if the swell and weather could collaborate with our plans. 15th August arrived and we had a forecast for little swell and no wind; in other words, perfect for our first round the Island attempt.

Photo: Base camp on Hirst Spit

Photo: At the needles

Photo: Pit stop at the needles.

The night before departure day we set up camp on HirstSpit and packed the boats ready for a 6 am start to coincide with the tides. We set off from Hirst Spit headed for the needles on the west point of the island. The needles are a pretty amazing sight. Spiky white rocks protrude upwards from the sea and produce some interesting coastal vistas; it is quite a surreal and emotive place. After a brief stop, it was straight to the southern point of the island, St Catherine’s. We were due at 1 mile southof St Catherine’s at 12:00 midday, to be on target with the tides, but with the aid of a tail wind and a little swell we made it to St Cats by 11:00 am, an hour ahead of schedule. Although it was good to be ahead of schedule it meant we didn’t catch the full tidal race at St Cats, but we still got some bumpy fun. We pulled in for lunch close to Ventnor on the way to east point of the Island at about 13:00. We must have been far off shore because it took nearly 45 minutes to reach the beach. After replenishing many used up calories, we headed east and to the next headland.

Photo: Tidal push at St Cats

This headland was to prove the a bit of a slog. The tide was turning just as we got to Whitecliff Bay and I remember being a little scared for the first time on the trip. We seemed to be paddling for some time but moving only a few feet per minute.  Steve and Nigel suggested pulling right into shore to get around into the bay, which was very effective. As we turned the corner, the Lifeboat and Coastguard Rescue helicopter were retrieving a casualty and we were reminded of the tempestuous nature of the sea. Just a few miles to go and civilisation again.

Photo: On the beach at Whitecliff; helicopper patroling

The Isle of Wight had a dichotomous nature in terms of scenery. The west and south side of the island was quite sparsely populated and had a true wilderness feeling, whereas the east and north side of the island was bustling with holiday makers enjoying the beaches and small seaside towns. As we headed around our final headland before pulling in Bembridge, the many hours away from poeple and buildings led to quite the culture shock when suddenly enveloped in so much eye candy.

Photo: The calmness of the north side

We set up camp in Bembridge, ate a giant meal and sunk a few bevvies to re-hydrate. After a great nights sleep, we headed up to the campsite restuarant for full english breakfast fuel for the second day of paddling. The tides were good to go at 11 am and we launched, basking in warm sunlight.

Photo: Elaine in amongst some pretty boats

Paddling was easy going and we reached Seaside in good time. However it was from here on in that we began our day-long dance with the ferries and hovercraft that go between the Island the mainland. The first dance was like a tango; quick and fast and firey to avoid the hovercraft. The next dance was more like improvisation; slow, quick, random, scary. I’ve paddled  several class 5 rivers, surfed 16 foot face waves, hucked 30 ft off a waterfall. But nothing I’ve paddled before could prepare me for what I felt as I was positioned between two ferries (one entering and one leaving port) in a narrow channel. Nigel had to shout at me to tell me what to do. When we exited the ferry channel the sense of relief was amazing to me. Just at that moment the Red Arrows display team flew past. It was as if they were saying “Congrats Kate, you survived”.

Photo: Pulling into Cowes

We stopped for a brief bite to eat on the water. As we neared Cowes, the water became a bit choppy and provided 1 hour of lumpy fun. We landed on the beach at Cowes for yet more calorific intake (including a yummy ice-cream). We launched for the last part of our journey; the north west section. The tide between Cowes and Hirst is strong- about 4 knots. We whizzed down the straight toward Hirst spit, culminateing in navigation of  the  Hirst tidal race. We were fighting the tide and Nigel directed us out to sea, away from the castle. In fact, we caught a conveyor belt current back the point we’d left 18 hours earlier. Tired, excited, relieved and surfing our euphoric, adrenalin high we posed for one last team photo before packing up and heading off for dinner at a local pub to celebrate.

Photo: On the home straight- pulling into Hirst

Photo: Our team!

Thanks to all the team (Dan, Elaine, Maria, Nigel, Steve) for looking after me. Next time, I’d love to do it in less than 24 hours…or less; bring it on!