New Boat

Should be getting it at the start of December.

P&H Sirius

Surf Fun

Rolling.

I joined the local Kayak club in September 2005 and completed the BCU 2 star course. During the winter the club holds pool sessions so you can work on various techniques in the warm pool waters. I think it's fair to say that most people practice or attempt rolling.
I think I managed about 5 sessions but couldn't quite get the hang of rolling despite the advice and encouragement of three different coaches.

Readers of the blog will note that before three star training began I decided to get my own river boat. I also watched EJ's rolling and bracing video ! During three star training we had two pool sessions where I managed not to roll yet again, it was beginning to bug me.

I don't think it was one particular thing, my brain was having problems multitasking the paddle the boat and the body positions.

Well we done our three star assesment and I tried a roll and failed :-( no cert for me.

From Three Star

I was told that when I could roll I should contact the assesor to get the three star signed off.

The following week I went into the firth beside my house and started practising, I think I had about ten goes, slowing down and thinking about each bit. It appeared that there were several faults to work on. Paddle not far enough up left arm not tucked in, trying to lift head too quickly. The only thing I had was the hip flick. More thought and a few more attempts later then BINGO.

I rolled. Thinking it was a fluke I rolled again, then again. Six times in a row. I then came down to the water the very next day and did six more ! It wasn't a fluke I was rolling !

From In The Firth

I phoned Dave the assesor and arranged to meet him in Inverness, Dave didn't even have to get in his boat I went in and rolled no problem. Yee Ha.



Well now I'm trying to roll on the opposite side, but computer says no. My brain only want's to roll on my strong side.
Back to the pool sessions !!

LongPaddle

Extra Support By Holding The Paddle 'Long'

Been And Done It

Well kids, I've done it. The other day I picked up a whitewater kayak. I got a second hand Pyranha I 3. Sorted out the footrest settings by adding some old sleeping mat foam and went paddling yesterday. A.T. stood on the beach as I attempted some of the moves I learn't in two star.
A.T. shouted out encouragement and corrections with a yeah or nay for various moves and strokes. He missed out though by not bringing his camera as I ended up tipping the thing.
I was attempting to carve then switched sides, I got hit by a small wave and over I went.
No brace and no attempt to roll were made, I was just shocked at going over !
Well now I know I can get out of the thing, LOL.
Need to find the nearest flat water for more practice, not the bouncy salty stuff.

Digitising Slides

OK, todays lesson is digitising slides, or is it digitizing with a 'Z' ??

I just bought a wee digital camera so I went out a week later and got a light box. Set the camera up on the tripod place the slide on the lightbox. I had to cut a piece of black card as the light was reflecting off the 'silver' camera and showing up on the slide when photgraphed.

Click on photos for a slightly better view.















So here are two of my slides as photographed by the camera.
















Now nip into Picasa 2, straighten up the photos, crop them and voila.



Note to self, make it a two person job. One to remove slides and CLEAN them and another to photograph.

Balintore Trip

Date of Trip 21-4-06. Weather Sunny. Wind 0 - 5 kph.


Set off from Balintore today. Headed south along the cliffs and saw a lot of sea birds, Gulls , Guillemots, Shags and Fulmars.


Perhaps the most unusual sight of the day though, was the remains of the 1940's gun emplacements and in particular the bridge between them.


See all the pics here:

From Balty

Hail Stones

Got caught in a shower whilst paddling today !!

Gone Fishing

Well kids, I recently decided to have a go at fishing from my kayak. At first I tried using a basic line that I bought for the kids, when I had no luck I bought a cheapo telescopic rod which came with a wee box of tackle and a mackerel jig.

Well I loaded up the kayak, take a look at my minimalist setup.

Well to tell you the truth, it was easier with the kids fishing line. Whenever the hooks started dragging seaweed it was a real hassle getting it off. There's just no space for manouvering when you are stuck in the seat of the kayak in the middle of the water.

Oh, by the way the weather was lovely the day I went out, apart form the 90 minutes I was out when we got wind and showers. When I took the boat in the sun came out ! Oh well I did get some pics.

Short Paddle With Club

I got an email the other day to say the Inverness Canoe Club were planning a Hogmonay paddle. I haven't done any sea paddling with the club so the organiser was only going to let me go if the forecast was for low speed winds. I was in luck, I phoned Rhona just after 07:00 and she confirmed that I was 'On'.

The trip started from the tip of the lower 'Point' in the picture, called Chanonry point. This place is a well known spotting point for the Moray Firth dolphins. We paddled east then north to the shoreline ( up a bit then left in the picture). We reached the cliff-faced shoreline and I was asked if I wanted to try some rock hopping. I didn't know what it was but after watching some of the others dodging through the rocks near the shore I had to have a go. Mike managed to ground himself on one of the rocks which caused great amusement and invoked a 'knock you off' rescue.

We paddled east to find a landing spot and had lunch. I produced my sandwich bag containing an apple and a banana and was treated to mince pies, fruit cake, tablet, nore mince pies and mulled wine ! Now I know what went into all those bags people were packing into their holds. I will be better prepared next time.

We set off south heading for Fort George. There were fourteen of us in the group and, although I am not the chatty type, I found myself alongside a few different people and managed to get some good info from those who have been paddling longer than I. The first was that I need to get a rudder. My boat has no skeg and it's rather difficult to keep in a straight line when the wind is following. I was advised by two different people that I could have my enjoyment very much impaired if I had to spend several hours trying to keep the boat straight.

We reached Fort George where the HW spring tide was crashing all along the walls then rebounding back out. I was once again invited to take part in an impromtu activity, surfing. I backed in near to the wall and waited. Paddle paddle paddle paddle, great fun. I had another go before we made our way back to the start point.

Although the area is famous for dolphins I did not see any, only plenty of seals. It was a good day out.

Return To Victory !

Image by Chris Bowles

Well yesterday saw me return to a hill that had me beat last year.

Previously myself and AT had climbed a hill called A' Chralaig in heavy snow, icy sections and very poor visibility. We were heading north to the next hill on the list Mullach Fraoch-coire along a narrow ridge with several pinnacles. The visibilty by this time was so that you could see where your next step was going but that was about all. We ended up on a pinnacle looking down into nothing. Now and againg the next pinnacle would appear out of the gloom but there was no way of getting to it. we gave up and went home.

Yesterday was better, forecast was for temps arounf 0 degC, low wind and no cloud. I set off up the glen, ignoring A' Chralaig and making a direct accent to the nasty ridge. It was icy and I was on my arse in five minutes! I made my way along what was an enjoyable fairly exciting ridge with some good exposure and a couple of 'hands on' sections. I found the bit that had stumped us last time. It was a pinnacle which was easily passable via a path to the side, this was not visible last time. Trying to find such a path could easily have resulted in a fall. Thinking about this has re-assured me that we made a good decision last time.

I easily gained the summit and scanned around 360 to take in the amazing views, I could see for a million miles !

Success

Cold Windy And Scary, but Great Fun.

Todays paddle was another one in the Cromarty Firth, are you seeing a pattern here ?
I started near the Burial Ground at Kiltearn near Evanton (615,653). It was still only 1 degC from the night before but due to warm up a bit. The plan was to observe the seals which hang about on the sand near both sides of the Cromarty Bridge. I was not supposed to be paddling alone but the other person pulled out at the last minute.

Despite the very singular nature of the party I decided to go ahead with the plan and cross SW into the 11knot ( 20kph ) wind and head for the south side causeway of the bridge. Near the middle it was very lively, the tide was on it's third hour of coming in and in the middle of the channel it was arguing with the wind coming in the other direction I was caught in the crossfire with waves breaking over the bow and big spray hitting me in the face, great fun.

On reaching the causeway I took shelter for a wee while as I could see that the next part of my journey was going to be more difficult. I planned to head to the north side of the bridge but the waves would be coming at me from a bad angle on my left, and they were getting big with plenty of white tops now visible. Ach what the hell, I paddles out.

This part of the trip had me sneaking my way north whilst also 'surfing' the bigger waves NNE, laughing with excitement but also crapping myself when there were nasty sideways hits. I have never seen so many different wave conditions in such a short space of time. There were sets of big ones that looked like rapids on a river but they were moving, these were a great help and good fun when caught right. I dared to look at my GPS a few times and I was getting 7.7 kph from them. I continued sneaking my way north when the waves weren't looking and going with them when they were.

I reached the north causeway without having a fishes view of the firth, I remember saying " I can't believe I just did that ". This time last year I was someone who didn't like water, disliked swimming and didn't do any water sports.
I had arranged to meet the wife and kids at the Foulis Point restaurant at midday and had to burn up time as the old adrenaline had been like nitro in the engine and I was way too early.

The worst part of the day was waiting in the cold for the nice warm car and change of clothes to arrive, but a big turkey dinner made up for it.

Oh I only saw one seal near the start of the trip, Berty the Gull must have told them I was coming :-)

More Paddling In The Firth

The picture shows the view down the Cromarty Firth. In the distance you can see the sutors where the Cromarty Firth runs into the Moray firth. Closer is the crossing point point between Invergordon on the left and Newhall Point on the Black Isle on the right.

Ref. OS Landranger 21


Got out paddling again on Sunday 5th December. I started checking the weather report on Wednesday as I had already established that the tide was suitable for the trip.
The weather was rather less predictable. On Wednesday we were expecting Sunday to bring a 10mph easterly with heavy rain showers. After several predicted wind direction and speed changes the forecast on the day was light showers and a 5mph north westerly !

Andy and I put in at Nigg ( 796,687 ) which is on the North sutor of the Cromarty firth. There was a swell coming into the firth and real waves landing on the beach. We got our gear sorted and broke through the surf into the swell and started toward the pier at Cromarty. It was a great experience, a few weeks ago I did my first crossing further west but this crossing was very close to the real sea and the incoming tide and swell was funneling in through the sutors pushing us sideways and helping us on our way. Andy seemed to be loving it too.

The exciting bit over we neared the coast of the Black Isle and slogged along westward through constant heavy showers, the sun just managed to make an appearance for about 8 minutes and that was it. We beached about half way along ( 744,655 ) and had a flask of hot coffee each and a bit to eat.



The rest of the trip from Cromarty to Newhall Point ( 709,672 ) near Balblair was rather dull and damp, mostly into the wind. We were both glad to reach the crossing point and had a good rest before we did.

We crossed from Newhall Point back over to the north side of the firth and along to our individual take out points. The trip had taken 3 hours.

I tested most of my new kit on the trip. The paddle leash was, well a paddle leash, I didn't lose my paddle so I guess it worked :-) I was also wearing my new Yak Kalyx cag. I opened the under arm zips quite quickly as the early excitement caused a sweat, later I zipped them back up again, I have a Mountain Equipment jacket I use for winter hillwalking which has underarm zips and I have NEVER used them. The hood also came in handy in the frequent wintery downpours a very useful comfy piece of kit, nice touch having a piece of soft fleece on the inside of the collar.

The other piece of kit deserving a mention are the pogies. These were the Suzy 40 Below ones which are nylon with some foil like heat reflecting material on the inside. They did a great job at keeping the old handys warm even on the odd occasion when water dripped in my hands were warm throughout the day. The only time they got cold was when we stopped for a snack !

Now I'm off to plan the next trip, maybe the Dornoch Firth ?

Kind of Open Water

So far I have been hugging the coast as much as possible in my trips about the Cromarty Firth. Today I crossed at the narrowest point just 1.5Km between Invergordon and Balblair Pier on the Black Isle.( 702,685 ) to ( 703,672 ) OS map 21.

I headed east for 800 metres before heading straight back to the slip at Saltburn ( 728,701 ).

The crossing took me 20 mins and was a bit scary. I found it strange not being able to look left or right and see the land passing by. The sea was dead calm and I had timed my trip to get in a t high water and come back when the tide was starting to go out.

I never noticed the tide until I got to Newhall point, the thinnest part of the firth and I could see the water flowing east. I stopped paddling and was carried along. I put the nose of the boat ashore and had a quick slug of coffee out of the flask before pushing off towards home. The last bit was more or less straight to the take out point.

I saw ducks and comorants but no swimming creatures.

Now where can I go next ?

Paddling Latest

I have recently been arsing about when it's windy. The boat seems stable enough, the only difficult bit is turning. The wind has it's own ideas as to how you should be pointing.

First Wee Trip

If you want a better idea of whats going on then get out OS Landranger 21 or see google maps and look at the Cromarty Firth from Invergordon up west to the bridge at Ardullie.

Tuesday 18th October, first wee trip in boat. Started out at Ardullie bridge parking car next to roundabout (grid 587,623). I was joined by T in a P&H Quest and S in a P&H Capella, both proper sea Kayaks and T and S are both really fit people. I knew I could easily fall behind in my very stable but slower Contour.

The weather was nice and sunny with a slight breeze, lovely paddling. We progressed nicely looking out for Seals and other such fauna. We hit a choppy bit or two and assumed it was just the tide turning, thing were going great and I was keeping up nicely although the others may have going slow for me :-)

We passed the Yankee pier ( in grid 66,67 ) and things changed, there was a strong wind blowing from the east south east and things were getting choppy. T and S were getting further and further ahead, I did notice S turning around to check I was OK. The fact is that although I was making slow progress in the wind I was really enjoying it ! The front of the boat was bouncing up and down and spray was hitting me in the face, I felt like I was on a whale catcher somewhere in the South Atlantic ! I had a couple of scares when I thought I had a wave sussed but it collapsed and the boat fell off the side of it, pardon my lack of sea dog parlance.

T&S were quite far ahead and I noticed they were heading for land at Invergordon ( grid 699,687 ). T landed but S came back to make sure I was OK. "T doesn't like it like that " said S. It appears T was having visions of being tipped freaked a bit and made a dash for land, that's why they got so far ahead of me.

Me and S had a look around the corner and tried to convince T that it was OK, there were in fact quite large waves bouncing along by the harbour and T decided to go back to land and wait for S to pick him up in the car.

Me and S continued on our journey and reached the take out point at ( grid 728,700 ). I worked it out as 17 Km and it took 3hrs 20 minutes.

Lessons learned:
Force 4's are good fun for some but not all paddlers.
Your group of three can become a group of 2 and 1 quite easily.
Don't stop, you get cold quick !

My New Boat

This is the Perception Contour that I bought on 7th October from Highland Canoes in Aviemore. Pretty hairy getting it home as the wind was bad on Friday and I only had some old rope to tie it onto the car !
Despite the high winds on Friday I attempted a paddle and got beached twice :-)
Saturday was less windy so I managed over an hours paddling up and down in front of the house.
Sunday was my two star assesment day which was done on the Ness with 12 others and a load of coaches. Several rapids were negotiated and there was also a few break in and outs, what a great day. Oh and I passed, think I'll pay the 2 quid for a shiny certificate :-)

No Walk But A Cycle

Well I went out for a cycle today as I had no car to go hillwalking. The route I took heads up north on the A9 from Invergordon and goes over the Dornoch Firth bridge. One heads then to Spinningdale and Bonar Bridge.

The leg breaking climb up the Struie hill follows then descend into Alness and back along to Invergordon, Phew.

My cycle comp measured it at 83 Km and it took me a whoppinf 4 hours.

Checking the database I see I done it eight years ago in only three hours !

Spike and Me On Wyvis

No Walking Today

CRAP No walking today. I was due to take a beginner but the strong north winds and constant showers mean't it wasn't possible. I'll have to wait for the next window of opportunity to open in the next few weeks. Went shopping in Inverness instead. Bought a wee mic for using with Skype, just a wee round thing made by Hama. Picks up the voice at a short distence but there is a bit of background hum.
I'm off to muck about with it.