South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2011 - Day 2

You have to laugh really.

Partaking, whole heartedly, in the socialising facilities at the Greyhound ale house amongst like minded paddling folk, Richard and I have the intention fixed in your mind of doing a very sedate paddle the next morning, probably after second breakfast.

We wake up in the morning to the reality of being asked to paddle most of the Purbeck coastline.

How could we refuse?, it's after all what we came down here for. We all assemble for the morning briefing, ours is a trip from Swanage Bay heading west along the coast to Durdle Door to return and end up at Kimmeridge Bay.

After the briefing no one seems keen to sign up (not sure why), but at the last minute Huw, from Pembrokeshire steps up. Our very own Welsh armada rapidly assembles gear and heads off to Swanage tout de suite to take on the South West.

Swanage Bay

One slip and there's venison for tea

Approaching Durlston Head we catch a glimpse of deer grazing on the very steep slopes of Durlston Country Park.  As we head around the coastline takes on a more rugged character.

Huw passes by the diving fisher birds - shags at a punt

I can never remember the difference between a shag and a cormorant (queue crude joke), but there were plenty of them about. Along the coast between Durlson Head and Anvil Point we were treated to puffins and roosting guillemots.

Small floatiila of Puffins

Huw is dwarfed by the cliffs

Anvil Point lighthouse

Grand scape - sure feel quite small

The cliffs take on a remarkable brick like patterning. Rock was quarried extensively around these parts in the 18th and 19th centuries and as far back as Roman times.

Weird troglodyte homes appear to be left behind from some distant history.

Approaching Kimmeridge Ledges we hear over the VHF that the Little Spirit - 37 foot yacht - had run aground. Some lat and long co-ordinates were spouted off. I didn't take much notice of it . Then Kimmeridge Ledges was mentioned and my ears pricked up and we all started to look around. We could see a yacht a few 100 yards away with people waving their arms at a fairly large speed boat that was making it's way towards them. We responded to the coast guard that we may be able to help and made our way over.

As we approached the yacht could be heard bouncing up and down on a rock ledge and a line had been thrown from the yacht to the motor cruiser, and missed. A swimmer had been dropped in to pick up the line for it to be passed to the cruiser. The towline failed and as the cruiser went to collect the swimmer I retrieved the tow line and prepared to pass it back to cruiser while the yacht crew joined the other end to a longer line attached to the top of their mast.

By this time the coastguard helicopter had started to hover over us and was standing by.

Coastguard keeping a watchful eye on proceedings

The cruiser then pulled the yacht over almost to 45 degrees, quite impressive, while the helm motored the yacht off the rocks with much noise.
That sorted out the problem and the drama was over. The boat hadn't suffered any damage and all 6 crew were fine - we packed our supermen T-shirts back in the hatches and went back to the paddling.

We headed into Kimmerage Bay for a quick lunch stop. Kimmerage has an oil field below it, and in the bay there is a "nodding donkey" oil pump similar to those that you might associate with in Texas. It's been pumping oil continually since 1961, and as such is the oldest working pump in the UK. Oil production has now dropped from 350 to only 65 barrels a day.

By now the wind had picked up quite a bit and we are in for an exciting and hard paddle as the sea gets quite confused by Warbarrow and towards Lulworth.

Durdle Door

Finaly we make it to Durdle Door and hang around for a few pictures before turning tail back to Kimmeridge.

Spectacular Glad Cliff near Worbarrow

We head out away from the cliff bases to pick up some of the fair tide and get a different perspective of the magnificent cliffs. We arrive again at Kimmeridge to end a very satisfactory days paddling.

This is a trip to make you feel small and insignificant.

Quenching our thirst overlooking Corfe Castle before the retreat home to Wales

We return to have some grub and drinks overlooking Corfe Castle, and raise a glass to sadly the last SWSKM.

Richard does the trip far more justice with his photos of the trip and some of the yacht being hauled over.

Our "relaxed morning" trip. Well worth the effort!

South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2011 - Day 1

The informal South West Sea Kayaking Meet (SWSKM) that spawned from the original launch of Mark Rainsley’s South West Sea Kayaking Guide Book back in 2008 has become a very good annual excuse to come and meet like minded paddlers and explore some of the great coastline that the south west coastline has to offer.

It has been held, up 'till now, over in Dorset, at it’s southern most tip at Prawle Point. Evening entertainment in the form of talks by kayakers has been hosted in The Pigs Nose fueled allegedly by jars of ale. It's always been a great weekend.

This year it’s been centered at Corfe Castle on the Isle of Purbeck. A bit misleading to call it an island, as it is surrounded  by water only on three sides. You get the impression though, when you get down here, that it may as well be completely cut off as it is so wonderfully unspoilt. A real hidden gem.

Mark’s book has been hugely successful (now in it’s second edition) and no doubt has inspired many a trip to the sticky out bit of the southern west of the British Isles. Flicking through the latest version I realise that bit by bit over the last few years I seem to have covered quite a portion of it by now. The Purbeck coastline has some of the finest, dramatic, day paddling coastline with the opportunity to put in a few wild camps, making it a fine long weekend destination for the discerning paddler

Richard and I arrive on a Friday evening and set up camp early with the intention of finding a flat cow pat free area before going out for an early evening paddle. 

Looking out from the Purbeck Hills down on to Saint Alben's Head overfalls

  With the winds blowing fairly high the paddling option open to us is probably the same paddle on the agenda for tomorrow with the promise of less wind, so we unanimously decided to visit the Greyhound Public House situated by the historic walls of Corfe Castle, to test it’s suitability as a venue for our weekend’s patronage. Hard decision I know.

After a few swift pints of Doom Bar on tap, we decided it would only be fair to venture into another hostelry for comparison. The Fox – a nice cwtchy kind of place, similar to front-room shebeens found in Wales that sprung up after the Sunday Closing (Wales) Act 1881 was passed, that banned the sale of alcohol in Welsh pubs on the Sabbath. These shebeens were literally someone’s front room where one could purchase a tankard of illicit ale.

My good friend Addlestones Cider was here, but I have to admit, it seems to taste much better closer to its origin on the north coast. My conclusion is, that like real Guinness, it doesn’t travel well.

We returned to the Greyhound to chase more Doom Bar.

Setting the scene

Saturday morning dawned and, under the shadow of the 1000 year old castle, we awake to a field of congregated kayakers.

Good Morning Campers - get up it's briefing time

After a short briefing we head on down to Studland Bay with the intention of paddling out towards Handfast Point to see Old Harry, and The Pinnacles.

On the beach at Studland looking accross to Handfast Point

Approaching Old Harry

Old Harry and his wife

 With the tide low, we paddle right out and around the point, and come face to face with the magnificent view of The Pinnacles. Made even more striking with the sun shining down on them.

Stunning bit of coastline! 

Sticking our noses around Ballard Point, the wind is a bit stiff, we turn tail and head back to Studland, stopping for lunch on one of the white chalk stoned beaches.

A few of the group call it a day and stop off for ice cream, tea and a lounge in the sunshine, while the rest of us head out towards a windy Poole harbor.

The chain ferry that is pulled across the harbor mouth using 2 sets of chains

Turning tail here, we go full steam back to Studland. 

The evening is topped off with a BBQ on the beach followed by a retreat to the Greyhound for "cold squash and ginger beer", not!

Richard took some cracking picks of the trip, you can see them on his blog. 

The days trip, short but very sweet

 

South West Sea Kayak Meet 2009 - day 1

Taking the day off work I share a lift with Richard to get down to East Prawle on the south coast of Devon to partake in a weekend of paddling, entertainment and scialising. Mark Rainsley, after the successful launch last year of his guide book on paddling the South West, decided to run an informal gathering of paddlers to take in some of this wonderful coastline. The only problem is that when we arrive at East Prawle in the afternoon we can't see very much at all. The fog is so thick you can hardly see 50 feet in front.

Unperturbed, Richard and I pitch our tents and head off to find an early evening paddle before the main event starts tomorrow. Launching from the pebbled Blackpool Sands beach we head east into the fog towards Dartmouth, rock hopping and exploring on the way.

Memorial near Meg Rocks 

We came across this memorial cross fixed to the rocks, but didn't get close enough to read the inscription. Neither of us have been able to find any information about it yet.

Kingswear Castle at the entrance to the Dart

Richard took some photos of the interesting little finds we made on the way.

A fairly short little paddle but none the less was a good appetite whetter - that ensured a thirst needed satisfying at The Pigs Nose . . .

Stand and deliver!

This weekend for Mark Rainsley is the culmination of 18 months hard research, hard paddling, hard organising and no doubt some hard core fun. It is the launch date of his new book South West Sea Kayaking.


Devon bound, a group of kayakers first meet up at AS Watersports in Exeter, where the book is officially unveiled, before heading down to the Pigs Nose Inn for some home cooked victuals, cider, slide show and talk.

Everyone unashamedly (self included) seemed to quickly look through to see how many times their photos were in it and if they could match Heathers picture count. Not a chance!
The book is a great resource for anyone wanting to explore the varied south west pointy out bit of the UK. 50 trips with all the local knowledge you would want to plan a safe and interesting trip for each one, and some great pics (of me) of course!

Slapton Sands

Not able to stay down for a Sunday paddle I teamed up with Andy Levick for a short paddle in the afternoon. We paddled from Strete Gate on Slapton Sands (site of disasterous Operation Tiger) through a bit of a squall to the Dartmouth estuary, had a great Devonshire Cream Tea (what else) at the old castle café before heading back.

Just before the squall passed by

Andy enjoying the sunshine

The American amphibious tank, recovered from the bay, used as a memorial to the 749 lives lost during Operation Tiger 28 April 1944 in preparation to the D-day landings in Normandy.

Quick, sharp! to the pub!

By the time we arrived at the Pigs Nose we were eager for our tucker and many a cider was swiftly sunk, being enlightened by Marks entertainment.

Start Point lighthouse

:)