SAR helicopter training at the Needles, Isle of Wight. He was dangled right down between the Needles to water level and then winched up again. Rather him than me; funny, what some folk will do as a day job…
Archive for the ‘Isle of Wight’ Category
Dangling around Leave a comment
Lighthouses of the Isle of Wight 1 comment
There are only two on the Island; the Needles (above) and St Catherine’s Point (below). Both are spectacular to paddle past, in exposed locations and overlooking significant tide races.
The Tennyson Trail 1 comment
Today I needed to get out and clear my head from a tough week, but the weather wasn’t playing ball – too windy for sea kayaking, too dry for white water. A decent Plan #B was needed. The Isle of Wight never disappoints, so I hopped onto a train and then a ferry, to do [...]
Mutually Assured Destruction Leave a comment
Post-WWII, the development of atomic weapons made coastal fortifications obsolete. The ‘strategy’ of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) reduced the concept of defence to, surviving a Soviet nuclear onslaught just enough to be able to retaliate in kind. This ‘Cold War’ left its imprint on our coastal landscape. Enormous radar domes were constructed to detect incoming [...]
Pure Wight Leave a comment
This month’s Canoe Kayak UK magazine includes a ‘sea kayaking’ supplement, with various trip articles within. Actually there are several sea kayaking articles in the main magazine every month, but don’t knock it, the more the merrier! The supplement contains an entertaining article by Lizzie Garnett about our icy trip around the Isle of Wight [...]
Camp fire Leave a comment
This photo shows us camped under a full moon at Bembridge on the Isle of Wight, last week. We were relaxing after a very long day paddling along the south coast, which finished long after dark. The camera was rested on a convenient post and a long exposure was used to cut through the darkness. [...]
Coastal Defences Leave a comment
These photos show just some of the numerous defensive works guarding the Western entrance to the Solent, the kilometre-wide Needles Channel. The various fortifications span from the C16 (Henry VIII) through the C19 (‘Palmerston Follies’) to the Second World War. The site was even of importance in the Cold War, being used to test rocket [...]
Vernal Equinox 3 comments
This past weekend was the vernal equinox, when spring supposedly begins. We took advantage of the big spring tidal range to paddle around the Isle of Wight, a journey of around 65 miles. I’ve paddled around Wight numerous times now, and it’s never a dull experience. Indeed, this weekend reminded me repeatedly that it is [...]
Epic Fail 5 comments
‘Failure is just nature’s way of telling you that you’re crap.’ A friend and I had planned to make the long open crossing to the Isle of Wight, early this morning. However, we fell short of our target by about twenty miles. We planned to launch from Kimmeridge Bay yesterday afternoon for the straightforward paddle [...]
Dry Run Leave a comment
Apologies for the underexposed image…but when I took this picture at around 7 am this morning, I was less preoccupied with photographic perfection, and rather more preoccupied with the tide race I was in, a rather cold NE wind, an encroaching container ship and the fact that I was just setting out on a 21 [...]
Winter Wight 6 comments
Note: Dog lovers are best advised to skip this post… I’ve just returned from a very enjoyable and very exhausting jaunt around the Isle of Wight, 85 miles in just over 60 hours. I had a few days spare (school half term, and no water in the rivers) and the forecast looked good. My boat [...]
Outlook 3 comments
When I moved to the south-west in 1993, I thought I knew it all – the only attractive parts of Britain were West Scotland, the Lakes, North Wales, and maybe the Pennines if you were desperate. Swyre Head is 664 feet above sea level, the highest point of Dorset’s Purbeck Hills. It overlooks the finest [...]
Preview Leave a comment
The above photo was taken around dawn on a chilly morning last October, during my last visit to the Isle of Wight. It was taken from Grange Chine campsite, which is right beside the water’s edge. I didn’t need to walk three steps from the tent to take it. The only other living thing in [...]
Long to Reign Over Us 1 comment
Tomorrow is a truly auspicious day; the 60th Wedding Anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen and HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh. Congratulations, good for them! No, I’m serious, our Monarchy is a Good Thing. If we get rid of our Head of State, then what’s the point of being British? We may as well all put [...]
Imperfection Leave a comment
The lens of St Catherine’s Point Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight is around 100 years old. Close up, numerous chips, flaws and imperfections can be seen in the lens. These date from 1st June 1943, when the site was bombed with incendiaries, blasting the glass out of the lighthouse windows. The three lighthouse keepers were trapped [...]
Isle of Plight 3 comments
We just returned from a pleasant and productive few days on the Isle of Wight. Got some writing done, had some good paddles, did some geocaching, saw Queen Victoria’s deathbed, took some photos. Unfortunately, our visit was characterised by incompetence and misfortune. Last Saturday we set off early, drove to Lymington, caught the ferry, arrived [...]
Back to Square One 2 comments
Although I’m within sight of the end, I’ve achieved virtually nothing in recent weeks. The problem is the day job, which is all getting rather full-on these days. I’m so busy that I no longer stop for break or lunch (but it’s never boring!) and so coming home and then finding the brainpower to bang [...]
Taking a Liberty 7 comments
Earlier this week we passed Cowes on the Isle of Wight after sunset, and needed to find a camping spot pretty quickly. Luckily, we came across a long crumbling old sea wall, the top of which proved ideal for pitching the tents. This was a great location, enabling us to watch some truly massive container [...]
The Trap 3 comments
In the Hurst Narrows, the kilometre-wide gap between Hurst Spit and the Isle of Wight, the tide squeezes through at speeds of 5 knots and beyond. A number of tide races form, the race nearest to Hurst Spit being known as ‘The Trap’. On the ebb flow, ‘The Trap’ can be an entertaining roller coaster propelling paddlers out towards the [...]
Night Watch Leave a comment
On a warm summer night last year, John Gilmour and I made the crossing of Bournemouth Bay from Swanage to the Needles Lighthouse on the Isle of Wight, about 18 miles. It was too dark to read our compasses (we only found this out after setting off, oops) but some guesstimated navigation saw us through [...]
