South West Sea Kayaking

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 for the book on this theme.

The photo shows Mrs R paddling in the Isles of Scilly, back in 2003. This is a group of tiny low lying islands, located 28 miles off the western tip of Cornwall. Being plonked firmly out in the Gulf Stream, the Isles have a very mild climate and all manner of semi-tropical plants flourish there. The white sandy beaches are almost Caribbean in appearance, yet the islands are surrounded by serrated rocks and reefs which are much more in tune with the north Atlantic environment.

During our holiday in 2003, we paddled to all of the main islands and took detailed notes and numerous photos. As a result, we have no real need to go back there at all for the purposes of the book. Despite this, we have scheduled a week-long return trip to the Isles of Scilly for May/June this year. This is the only paddling that we have pre-planned out of our entire year’s itinerary.

Q. Why are we going back to the Isles of Scilly, when we don’t actually need to?

A. Because we are very dedicated and conscientious.

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 concerns about the health of the reef on which the Napoli is grounded.

Meanwhile, on the beach…tacky people rummage around for free nappies and car parts, creating a huge discarded mess which is adding to the negative environmental impact. Police and Coastguard resources have had to be diverted from the salvage operation, to cope with these hordes of vultures.

Well, it’s nothing new. Lyme Bay has a long Historical tradition of this sort of behaviour. It all sounds quite romantic in theory - the poor local people benefitting from the blessings of the ocean - but the reality back in Ye Olde Days was just as sordid as today, if not more so…

‘In 1749 the Hope, a Dutch vessel, ran onto Chesil Beach. Soon the story spread that she was carrying £50,000 in gold. A mob of ten thousand people gathered on the beach to loot the remains, and finally had to be dispersed by the army. In 1795 a fleet carrying a regiment to the West Indies was wrecked on the beach opposite Fleet House, over three hundred bodies were subsequently buried in a mass grave on the beach. Most of them had been stripped naked by the local people. A hundred years later, on a freezing night in November 1872 the Royal Adelaide was wrecked at the Portland end of the beach, the cargo included brandy and rum. Some looters drank themselves insensible, and froze to death. Nearly as many people died of exposure as drowned in the shipwreck.’ (with thanks to this site)