There is a seal living in Poole Harbour. He has been there for years. Some say there is more than one, but everyone agrees that there is at least one. Despite having paddled through the harbour on many occasions, I had never seen him (her?) and two years back I determined to do so. I [...]
Archive for January 2007
The Inner Game of Wildlife Photography Leave a comment
972 6 comments
Hmm.
The Black Tower 1 comment
Paddlers who have launched or landed at Kimmeridge Bay in Dorset will know the Clavell Tower, a nineteenth century folly which overlooks the reef break below the cliffs. If you paddle inshore towards the tower, then you are too early and will find yourself getting surfed onto bedrock! The Bay entrance is a bit further [...]
Incoming Leave a comment
Groundswell rumbling towards the south west has an unimpeded 6000 mile fetch. I’ve never tried to land a sea kayak in big surf. Could be fun.
Exercise Tiger 2 comments
This Sherman Tank is to be found at Torcross, the launch point for the classic trip around the southernmost of Devon’s coast. It was placed here in 1984. It had previously spent forty years underwater. In April 1944, a practice beach landing was carried out in Start Bay, prior to the D-Day landings. Due to [...]
Please Disperse, There is Nothing to See Here 7 comments
Today we decided to see the MSC Napoli wreck for ourselves, and to try and get some idea of the local impact; rubbernecking with an environmental conscience. We paddled 16 miles from Sidmouth to Lyme Regis on a day which didn’t feel like January. Well, it is certainly quite a sight. Apparently the process of [...]
Are We There, Yet? 1 comment
This photo shows a paddle around Hayling Island, about a year ago. It was freezing cold, and because we didn’t bother to double-check the tides beforehand, it was a very slow paddle! Halfway through the planned trip, we were running out of daylight, not equipped for night navigation and most crucially, not getting any warmer. We [...]
Day’s End Leave a comment
‘There’s a feeling I get, when I look to the west and my spirit is crying for leaving.’ Led Zeppelin
Lot’s Wife 2 comments
Another chapter draughted tonight. If you squint closely at the photo above, you can just about make out me, obscured behind a wave. Anyway, I was writing about this very spot, the Needles. They are to be found at the western point of the Isle of Wight and they are a ridge of knife-edge chalk [...]
Blanket Coverage Leave a comment
The sea birds contaminated by oil from the MSC Napoli number in the thousands. Dead dolphins have washed up on the beaches, including one at Swanage, a few miles from my house but a 70 mile swim from the wreck site. We hope to see for ourselves and paddle near the wreck at the weekend, [...]
Scilly Heather 2 comments
The paddler in the picture is Mrs Rainsley. I quite like her, so I married her. She will be joining me for much of the paddling this year and helping with photography, proof-reading, etc. She also knows all manner of really useful things about ecology, geology and botany…no doubt she’ll be jotting down some contributions [...]
Flotsam and Jetsam 3 comments
As the operation continues to pump the 3500 tonnes of oil from the MSC Napoli before it spills, the ecology of Devon and Dorset’s coast hangs in the balance. Even though the wreck remains intact for the time being, at least a hundred sea birds have already been found contaminated by oil and there are major [...]
Heritage Industry 1 comment
Exciting chap that I am, I have spent a significant part of this evening pondering the significance of the words ‘Heritage Coast’. I was aware that they exist and also that they are administered by the Countryside Agency. I also knew that there are 20 stretches of Heritage Coast here in the south west, out of [...]
Oh Dear… 3 comments
There goes the neighbourhood. The impact that the foundering of the MSC Napoli will have on the Jurassic Coast World Heritage Site remains to be seen. However, prospects range from ‘fairly bad’ to ‘catastrophic’. Fingers crossed that we just get ‘fairly bad’.
Information Overload 5 comments
I’ve been planning and thinking about the book for months, and anyone who can’t escape from me has been bored to death on the subject. Sooner or later however, I guess I was going to have stop making excuses, stop the talking and actually get around to writing the book. I started this morning. How hard can it [...]
Focused Vision Leave a comment
May 2006. We’d made the crossing to Lundy Island on the previous day and it had been a chore. The 18 mile paddle across the Bristol Channel from North Devon had been marred by a lousy headwind and poor group communication. Worse weather was forecast. It was obvious by the next morning that if we [...]
Heightened Anticipation 2 comments
I am champing at the bit to get out sea paddling; I can’t wait to get back to the SW coast! Given that I’m also a fanatical white water paddler and the rivers are all heaving right now, something seems to be wrong with me. Even so, I suspect that I might just stay away [...]
That was the Year that was 2 comments
My last sea paddle of 2006 was right here on my local coast; I live in Corfe Castle, Dorset and conveniently enough, I am surrounded by some of the finest coastal landscapes in Britain. Don’t take my word for it, it’s a World Heritage Site! I was joined by two members of the Swanage Lifeboat [...]
Launching Out… Leave a comment
This year I am researching, writing and photographing a Sea Kayaking guide to South West England, from the Bristol Channel to the Isle of Wight. This is a pretty exciting undertaking. I have paddled all of this wonderful coast before, but I plan to revisit it all during 2007. Such a chore! I intend to [...]
