No, really.
Archive for the ‘Devon’ Category
This is England Leave a comment
Lundy from Mouth Mill Leave a comment
Lundy Island seen from Mouth Mill in Devon at sunset, back in 2007. A friend and I had just landed at the end of a great days’ paddling; whilst I fiddled with the camera, my mate got the dinner on.
Dart, more Leave a comment
Pleasant bimble today, on my favourite river, which gave a National Park its name. I will never tire of it. Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team Ashburton were out after dark yesterday searching for some overdue paddlers (whom I understand turned up safe), and they were out training river crossings today on the upper reaches. They [...]
The Dart Ledge Leave a comment
I just enjoyed a great start to the Christmas holidays with friends on my favourite river, the glorious Dart. Paddlers judge the water level at ‘The Ledge’, a bedrock slab located just upstream of Newbridge. The Ledge is the put-in for the Dart Loop section (forgiving Grade 2 and 3) and the takeout for the [...]
Loop the Loop Leave a comment
After Saturday’s race, we headed to Devon and – party animal that I am – I was fast asleep by 9.30 pm. On the Sunday, I forced my aching legs into a creek boat and had a quick blast down the upper Dart River with friends. I then joined Heather and others on the easier part [...]
The kids are all right 1 comment
A great day paddling on the Dart. In the evening, I watched a presentation by some teenagers (some of whom pictured here) who just took part in an expedition to kayak India’s Zanskar River, the incredible ‘Grand Canyon of Asia’. I was more than ten years older than these guys when I took that particular trip on. [...]
Moor fun Leave a comment
A lurvely weekend on our favourite South West moor. The girls went off to one part of the moor and (presumably) did girly things, we blokes met up on another part of the moor and did (relatively) manly things. The River Dart was rather low on Saturday, but is always fun, and I appreciated a gentle [...]
Heatwave 1 comment
Yesterday happened to be the hottest October day ever in Britain. We had all sorts of plans for things to do, which for various reasons fell to pieces (e.g. traffic jams, friends’ vans breaking down, etc) but still managed to fit in a cooling evening surf at Bantham, south Devon. We certainly missed the empty [...]
Back Pain Leave a comment
Back in December I injured my back (ironically, picking up a kayak) and have been a bit creaky ever since, on the road to recovery. The occasion of the accident was a white water kayaking event in Devon. Unable to paddle due to the pain, instead I popped a few painkillers, stuck a load of [...]
It’s all fun and games, until someone gets hurt… Leave a comment
A little excitement whilst rockhopping the South Hams coast, during the South West Sea Kayaking Meet earlier this month. The great pics were supplied by Glenn and Anne. No kayakers were harmed in the making of these pics. Much.
South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2010 – monies raised Leave a comment
After taking out the camping fees, the final total of money raised was just slightly less than £1000, but we’ve rounded it up to a neat £1000 and donated … £500 to Dartmoor Search and Rescue Team (Ashburton) – these are the guys who cover the River Dart area, much beloved of kayakers. They also [...]
South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2010 – thanks all! 3 comments
Thanks to all who came along this weekend and participated – we had around eighty paddlers on the water. Thanks most of all to the numerous volunteers who helped run trips; the event hangs together by the thread of your generous assistance. Everyone I spoke to (and I’ve spoken to a lot of people this [...]
South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2010 11 comments
Back in 2008, we held a ‘book launch weekend’ to celebrate the arrival of ‘South West Sea Kayaking’. The weekend was based at East Prawle in south Devon, and was a lot of fun. We did it again in 2009. Purely for want of a name, it became the South West Sea Kayaking Meet, and this appears to [...]
Pre-Flight Tests 1 comment
This weekend’s rain thankfully enabled me to find out whether my broken shoulder had healed enough to paddle serious whitewater; a rather pressing question, given that the next time I paddle whitewater will be in a fortnight … with a fully loaded boat on a remote Himalayan river in the far west of Nepal, with [...]
The Two Towers 2 comments
THANKING THE DARTMOOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM ASHBURTON The photo above shows my home village, Corfe Castle. I live near the foot of the castle, and several times a week since last November, I have run up the hill behind. In an obscure private joke, I call this route ‘The Two Towers’. My runs always [...]
Dart Fest Leave a comment
The Pyranha Dart Fest event was enjoyable, and it was great to catch up with friends. Water levels in the rivers were very low due to the raw cold weather today, so (after a night of camping in -4 degrees C) we went walking. Standing on top of a granite tor amid flurries of snow, we realised that [...]
Pyranha Dart Fest 30th-31st January Leave a comment
This weekend sees the first ever Pyranha Dart Fest, a big get-together of white water paddlers at the River Dart Country Park near Ashburton, Dartmoor. There is a busy schedule planned, with paddling, coaching sessions and entertainment in the evening. My good friend Kevin Francis and I are presenting one of the evening slots, with the [...]
SWSKM 2009 – Cheers All! 5 comments
The weekend was a great success, with plenty of paddlers showing up to enjoy the awesome coasts of south Devon. Many thanks to all who came along and helped, and thanks to the invited speakers, who were simply great! PH Kayaks supplied demo boats and helped out on the water, thanks as well to them. [...]
December News 2 comments
To my shame I still haven’t been near a sea kayak in the past month! Hopefully I will escape to the sea in a couple of weeks when the school term ends. We haven’t been wasting our time, however; we’ve been planning the work and travel that we’ll need to do in 2009 for Savage Shores. The [...]
Plymouth Sound 6 comments
The giant fish/lobster thing above is located beside the Mayflower Steps, on the city of Plymouth’s waterfront. It probably represents/means/signifies something, but I’m currently too tired to recall or research. I was in Plymouth for the past few days with a load of my Sixth Formers, giving them an introduction to ‘student life’ at the [...]
