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Sunday 31 January 2010

Enthusiasm Failure...31/01/2010

Well, due to lack of fish around I couldn't be arsed to fish this morning so me and Steve went for a paddle. Then we couldn’t be arsed to paddle so went ashore to chat to some beach anglers. Then we couldn't be arsed to chat any more and came back again. Then we could be arsed to have an hour plus in good surf and really confused sea (6-8ft clapotis etc) around Gorleston harbour - I love scuppers ;D

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It started out so well...my alarm went at 6:30 and I hit snooze...2 minutes later and a text arrived – Tim wasn’t coming and sent his apologies. Of course I figured this was Steve so decided to change my plans, sling some (more) rods in the van, grab some bait and head for Gorleston to meet up with Jason and Tim once they arrived on the water. First though, I had to defrost my windscreen...yep, it was a snowy weekend again.

I’d got a couple of miles when my phone went – I couldn’t answer as I was all tangled with camera, aquapack etc so pulled in a short while later to see what it was...Steve had left a message as he’d passed me and wondered why I’d changed the plan (he was coming to mine so we could drive the 8 miles back to the start point once we arrived back in Lowestoft). Bugger - Tim’s text had thrown me out.

Belatedly we met up...then went back to Steve’s for hat, PFD etc. Originally the plan had been to launch around 7am...it was about 8:15 when I got on the water, planning to surf a bit while waiting fro Steve to get sorted (back to the plan of paddling south) but although there were some good waves I could never get in the right position to pick them up. By 8:30 Steve was on the water and we paddled down towards Lowestoft, having crossed the frozen and snow-covered sandy beach.

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So much for the expected strong spring tide – we’d missed it. Stopping paddling we were drifting so slowly we figured Lowestoft was out – the tide would turn before then. So, Hopton? Seemed good enough plan, Steve’s wife’s car was there...

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...by the wreck of the White Swan we decided, bored now, to head in and chat to some beach anglers to see how they were getting on. One of them landed a mighty 4 inch whiting in the half hour we were there but that was it. Nice chaps. The tide slackened off now so we headed back for Gorleston. It was a lovely clear, bright, crisp morning to be out but neither of us could get much enthusiasm together.

...Until, of course, we saw what fun we could have surfing the Scuppers ;D

There were some decent waves here, rebounding all over the place from the pier and breakwater and creating big peaks of water when they crashed into each other, flattening each other out and sneaking the odd good wave through at various angles...I took one at a 45 degree angle to the beach from a couple of hundred yards out, zoomed along the beach and then in towards it, close into the shore and then around, up and over...fantastic! One of my top 3 rides to date and I didn’t fall off ;D It was a fast one and was kind to me.

Steve followed me in and then we played some more. Going out was great and we were leaping over waves like Hawaii-5-0...3ft drops on the other side! It was tricky surfing in though as we kept getting caught in low areas as the waves went through either side of us but we had a good few waves each. I headed right over to the clapotis for a while and tried to surf a couple of peaks in deeper water – these were fun and gave immense acceleration but then disappeared after a short run. I took another rebound parallel to the beach that had some real power behind it – it was a fast run that one. Another memorable run was taking one of these peaks, having it disappear only to be followed a second later by a wave that took me a bit further in before leaving me to yet another that took me straight into the beach...riding three different waves in over a couple of hundred yards.

A fun morning after all.

Thursday 21 January 2010

Post-Supper Scupper...21/01/2010

Mid-week paddle fellas? Oh it’s alright for some! Three of us in fact as Onmas, Steve111 and myself decided that a night-time coastal trip was in order. The flood-tide would be starting around 8ish so we figured we could have a good paddle down from Gorleston beach to Dogger with the current to clear the cobwebs and get a bit of paddle fitness. It was a pleasant enough evening; a bit cold but not too bad and a reasonable easterly with a bit of swell running which would make it a bit of fun.

We arrived at Gorleston, got kitted up (Steve with his new paddle) and launched at around 8:30 or so. There was a small bit of surf to get through then a couple of feet of swell all the way down to Hopton...it was quite interesting around the wreck of the White Swan as it was low water and due to the wreckage and uneven ground etc there the water was a bit random. We considered going to chat to the beach angler (sneak up then say hello) but decided not to bother. Down to Hopton there are a couple more interesting patches where some wrecks/debris lie and we went through both of these – we had no GPS with us but I knew the moment we reached them ;D

Once clear of Hopton the sea wall reflects the swell (you can hear the crash of the waves) and it's a really confused sea - 1/4 mile out you have waves coming the wrong way, ie FROM the beach; we could have surfed some of them last night. We were having a natter and drifted into it which gave us the heads up to pay attention and stop chilling out ;D It stayed quite lumpy down to Corton where the sea wall ends and then it was pretty much ok (back to a couple of feet) until we got just past Gunton, where Onmas had left his car as we’d planned to stop there originally). Then it was short paddle before we got close to Ness Point (most easterly point of the UK) and the rig constuction site / harbour where we got some strong currents, eddies, some rough patches over wrecks / rocks and some really stinking patches (ie confused 3-4ft sea) that bounced the kayaks about a bit.

Almost at the end now, it was around the harbour before we came in between the two piers on the beach down from my house. We landed, then after dumping phones etc went back out and played in some fun surf for an hour. We just strolled down the coast and it took us maybe an hour and a half to cover the 8.5 miles, followed by an hour surfing - a perfect after-work paddle, a good workout and a fun time. We got plenty of confidence building moments and had no scares at all – Onmas was out in a Scupper for his first proper paddle in one and where he’d been reluctant to get into one on the Waveney not so long ago he loved it last night. Definitely to be repeated...

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Sunday 17 January 2010

Slimjim Earns His Wings...17/01/2010

As with villages full of mudhuts, windows have been a bit rare around here the last couple of weeks but lo and behold one appeared today. With strong westerlies arriving for a day amongst the easterlies and southerlies the promise of reasonable seas presented itself to us and so I made the call for a session off Hopton again. The fishing has been sh!t lately but I figured that if we weren’t out there we’d not know if they’d turned around again.

Up for an early start were myself, Hungryfisherman (Amos) and Slimjim (Ben) whose first launch it would be. Perhaps some others would join us later. Billnorfolk (Bill, funnily enough) came down as well to meet us and see us off – with video camera in hand which was great.

It was pretty mild and apart from the shore break the sea looked good. There was no beach left so we’d have to launch off the slip but it wasn’t going to be an issue today. With big tides and fishing the flood we’d need to put some effort in to get to our mark and so once we’d all got kitted up it was down the ramp in time to see the sunrise.

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Ben, originally from Alabama, had made the drive up from Mildenhall to sea-test his Wilderness Systems Equator and hopefully christen it with a fish...

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I got him launched and dragged my own yak into the water, jumping in and paddling out to him before heading a few hundred yards to the northeast. The current was ripping through quite fast so it took us a while to get in position and then it was time to drop anchor. In these currents (and we were mid-tide) it is often exciting, to put it bluntly and I remember the first time I did it I nearly shat myself when the warp had finished stretching and I seemed to shoot off backwards ;D Ben, however, took it in his stride and delighted me with a yell of ‘YeeHaa!’. ;D that nearly had me in, I can tell you!

Seeing him secure and comfortable I headed back uptide and dropped my own, ending up close enough to have a conversation, and we both settled down to fish...

...Amos eventually joined us having taken his time as usual (!) and the three of us sat there enjoying the warmth of a morning sun on our faces (not enjoying it so much in our eyes though), the fresh breeze on our cheeks and the gentle sound of water rushing along the side of the yaks. In some ways it was pleasing not to have been disturbed by fish taking our baits.

Three hours of relaxation was enough and so we up-anchored and headed in, gloriously blanking in triplicate! I’ve not known it so bad as it has been lately. Anyway, no matter, we had more fun in store. There was virtually no beach to land on so the slip was the target and I headed in first, comforted to see Norfolkboy waiting to give a hand if needed. I had a few small waves but came up nicely, dragged the yak out of the way and got ready to film and/or help the others as they also came in. Both chose smooth water to come in and, back on the beach, we unloaded our gear and chatted. Steve turned up too with his wife (but no bacon butties or coffee) and after a bit of time on our feet to get the circulation back it was time to head into the sea again. First things first, surfing in! The waves were small but rideable when a decent one came in and having seen Ben come off I promptly did the same ;D then it was out into deeper water. Once out, re-entry practice was the order of the day. Now, if doing a re-entry it pays to do a full capsize at the same time. Easy enough, but why capsize without testing the limits of your kayak? Time to stand up...and then time to start rocking it side to side until it flipped me out. In the water, submerged, up, to the kayak, righted and in. easy. Ben’s turn...now Ben hadn’t used his kayak until that morning...and it was tandem...and apart from seeing me scramble back in had never been taught re-entries. So he stood up, stayed up long enough to count and then fell in. He flipped the yak back over and got back in...Easy! Amos did the same and Norfolkboy had a swim too...

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Wet and with an unrigged kayak the ideal opportunity presents itself to play. We swapped kayaks on the water without falling in, walked across kayaks into others, paddled (and surfed!) while seated in the tankwell and paddled seated on the bow hatch. Finding the tipping point and slapping the paddle blades to right the yak, leaning, rocking etc...All of it great fun and excellent for building confidence in the capabilities of both the kayak and the paddler. We must have been at it for an hour and a half! I even tried propelling myself through the water with the paddle only (it’s useless trying to swim in drysuit and PFD). Try it – it works.

All of us well rinsed off it was time to go in. As we paddled back I looked around and there was a seal, eyeballing Ben...apart from the lack of fish sessions don’t get much better than that!



No-one remained dry!

Friday 15 January 2010

In Cod We Trust...15/01/10

15th January...halfway through the first month of the new decade...6 launches into the year and for all my efforts a solitary, undersized Whiting...could this be my lucky day?

The forecast for the morning was fairly promising – 10mph southerlies - and a quick visual check following the school run showed a lovely, calm sea. Mind you, I couldn’t launch just yet as my dad was coming around for breakfast via the smokehouse and brought with him a bag of four traditionally smoked fresh Lowestoft kippers. Fantastic they were, plump and tasty and they kept me going all day.

Low water was around 3pm at Hopton so I figured a launch around 12:30 would be ideal giving me the two hours up to low water and the time after before it turned – say four hours on the water. This is usually the best time for us here. I’d recently removed the Side Imaging unit from my Scupper Pro but with the news coming this week that the Down Imaging software update had been released it seemed the perfect time to trial it so I wired it all in with my Heath Robinson Multi-Function Survival Toolbox and so, with an overcast afternoon and the wind now up to 15mph (a tad choppier now and with a little bit of swell) I launched my trusty Prowler 15 and paddled out for Steve’s mark.

Down went my 2.5kg anchor and I settled down and waited fro it to pull me tight in the perfect position to fish his mark. Not a hope! As usual when getting positioned perfectly the anchor dragged. Deciding that it wasn’t too fast I left it down and started to fish. I had a 1/0 15lb wishbone on one rod in the hope of picking up some dabs and a 4/0 20lb pennel on the other in the hope of getting a cod. The former had a small single frozen black lugworm on each hook tipped with a small strip of squid while the latter had two worms and a squid head initially. Going by these the last batch of worms I’d received were not of the size I’m used to so I was a bit pissed off to be quite honest. Anyway, they might bring a fish in...

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Did they hell.

I kept drifting slowly past some of my stored marks without so much as a nibble. One of these is of a reasonable size and features a spectacular hump a few hundred yards out that I keep meaning to fish. As it turned out I passed straight over the bow this time:

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After maybe an hour of this I decided to up-anchor and head north towards the wreckage that had swallowed my rod and reel the other week (a charted wreck with little to show for it). The reason for my drift became apparent – the cable tie had snapped in the current. I put another on and dropped down when nearing my mark. This time it held but put me slightly short of where I wanted to be. Oh well, it’d do.

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After a while I got my first little nibble. And I mean little. Nothing developed so I reeled in and replaced the whole squid body that had been neatly stolen off the bottom hook! That was about it and after a while I got bored again so decided to head for the wreck of the White Swan again, give it a couple of passes with the side/down imager and then fish it.

As I got near I could see the ribs and boiler sticking up out of the water. I haven’t seen it so exposed in a long time; it was a big tide today mind you. The swell here was at least a couple of feet, the waves fairly close together and the water quite fast.

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It really wasn’t ideal for scanning but I was curious and ran the gauntlet, heading down the starboard side of the wreck before coming back along the port side and anchoring off around 50 metres uptide of the stern (a few pics of this because I know Dizzyfish will enjoy them!).

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I rebaited, putting a whole squid and nothing else on the pennel and cast both lines as far as I could towards the wreck. Both were in the vicinity but not quite on the wreck itself as I didn’t fancy being snagged and wasn’t in the mood for belting the baits out in the bouncy water I was now in. I sat and waited. There were a few guys on the beach here who clearly hadn’t heard how poor the fishing was right now (or were as foolishly optimistic as I). It took abut half an hour before finally I got a bite on m y pennel...I grabbed the rod and waited for the bite to develop...I felt the fish then began to wind and hit into it...COD!

As I brought it up I knew it was a cod but either the tide was easing off and it was coming my way a bit or it wasn’t very big...the latter was the case as I brought in my first cod of the year. Between 1.5 and 2lb, beautifully marked and proportioned and my first fish off this wreck I took some photographs and let it swim off home. It was sizeable but not of the size to which I’ve become accustomed so I decided to let it live for another day.

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I carried on a bit longer and then decided to head home as the sun was setting.

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I had a mile and a half to go but the tide was still refusing to turn so it was with only a little enthusiasm that I set off for Hopton. It took a while as I did some more scanning of marks on the way back (this is the same wreckage as seen earlier).

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I had wind, swell and current against me but with only a slight wrist-ache and only moderately sweaty I paddled in through the shore dump and up to my van. My last ‘day off’ used up effectively with the target species in the bag...and to round off my day I got another Charter Special off eBay for less than £50 ;D

Thursday 7 January 2010

Broadly Buggered...07/01/2010

It wasn’t as windy as I expected today. That kind of got me thinking, strangely enough, about going paddling. That said I was thinking to go anyway. This kayaking lark is a slippery slope...

...of which there were quite a few this morning. In fact, a quick look outside pointed to the fact that there were slippery slopes, roads, pavements, pathways...it had snowed a bit more in the night!

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First things first, it was off on the school run. I was disgusted with the fact that my children’s school wasn’t closed on a sledging day and did inform the headmaster that I expected it to be closed the following day. I kid you not. He remarked favourably about my Ushanka you see, which opened the conversation. Such is life on the Norfolk / Suffolk border.

Next was a coffee at a mate’s studio before returning home via the supermarket, where I filled my stomach with paddling essentials (sausage sandwiches). It’s funny really, all normal routine goes out of the window when released on parole ;D Anyway, figuring I’d had enough presence at home for the day I got suited and booted, went outside and headed for Oulton Broad. I figured I’d have a nice warming paddle and try and pick up a pike or two as strong currents, weed, wind in the wrong direction and a buggered VHF were more than I could be bothered to deal with. And so I set course for the other side of town, spotting wildlife as soon as I arrived at the car park by the Broad...

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Enough Attenborough parodies, it was time to get down to the slipway and onto the water.

Bugger.

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What the hell was this all about? I wanted to go piking, dammit! The sea has conspired against me since the year began and now this!

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I wasn’t getting through that. I wandered about, went for a walk on the ice to test thickness (it was 1-2 inches thick at the slipway, which is where I stayed). I drove around to the quay to take a look there...

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To coin a cliché, even the birds were walking. Gulls and ducks were standing around on the ice, made redundant by the weather as was the builder I’d spoken to on the beach a day or two before. I took a couple of quick snaps before putting Plan B into effect.

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Plan B was a spur of the moment plan B brought on by desperation. It would become a paddle only, having not brought bait for fishing saltwater. I went the other side of the lock gates and launched into Lake Lothing.

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A saltwater ‘estuary’ running up from the harbour mouth I fish this in the summer for bass and gobies. There is plenty to look at as it used to be a hive of industry and although this is long gone there are wrecks, relics and historic boats to be found all around. A fine example of this is LT472, Excelsior. Excelsior is a 1921-built Lowestoft fishing smack and the last sailing trawler that can trawl with traditional equipment. It is dear to many in town and I was happy to get up close to the boat that had nearly run us down at Hopton on my Eastern Meet back in October! As you can see, she looks different without her sails up...

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Next up was the wrecks further up towards Mutford Lock. The one on the left I am unsure to the identity of but the right hand one is the MFV yellowtail. This used to be sunk next to the roadbridge and I remember it as a child. I am always struck by the colours, shapes and decay of these wrecks and end up taking plenty of snaps of them...well, if I’m not fishing I may as well do something!

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I paddled a round a bit more, snow flurries coming through now and again. Slushy ice had formed around the fringes of the lake and it was quite an interesting paddle. At one point I saw a couple of fish topping although I don’t know what...surely the mullet are not active now? I paddled up to the road bridge, got photographed by a passer-by who questioned my sanity before turning around and heading back, playing a bit by dodging through obstacles. Then I came to another favourite, another historic vessel...MTB 102.

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Isn’t she a beauty? I was on the water one night when she came past us, a fantastic sound coming from her engines. I first saw this boat as a child, coming through the New Cut at Haddiscoe around the time of my first airshow at RAF Mildenhall...say around 1982. It belonged to a scout group then.

A very historic boat this. Designed in 1936 by the MD of Vosper and launched in 1937 she was bought by the Admiralty, becoming MTB102, the first of the modern MTB’s. Crewed by 2 Officers and 8 Men, she saw service throughout the war, being the third from last boat off the beaches at Dunkerque (having crossed the Channel 8 times and becoming the flagship for Operation Dynamo as it was called). Interestingly, she was involved in the return of Allied Forces to France some four years later too, in a roundabout way. It was MTB 102 that carried Churchill and Eisenhower as they reviewed the ships for the D-Day invasions. Refurbished for ‘The Eagle Has Landed’, she is thought to be the last remaining Royal Navy ship still afloat that was present at Dunkerque. I think she looks nice too.

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I paddled around some more and came across a bored bird.

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I got bored too and on arrival back at the launch point decided to mess around under jetties before heading home to grab my Yakboard...

Wednesday 6 January 2010

White Wednesday...06/01/2009

There was a window this morning. From school run until lunchtime the sea would not be very bumpy as the wind wasn’t too strong. Of course it was cold, that goes without saying (-4 when I left on the school run but a sub-tropical -2 when I left to go to the beach!) but I didn’t need to drive so de-icing the car wasn’t necessary. Instead I just rigged up my scupper pro in the road outside my house and wandered down to the beach.

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There was that pesky frozen sand again! The sea has washed quite a lot of it away lately and there are more stones about than usual but as predicted the sea was alright so I stowed the C-Tug in the front hatch, wired up the finder and set course for a mark half a mile offshore in the Lowestoft South Road. It was a beautiful morning!

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As I launched I took a reasonable wave over the bow and this soaked my BeardHead which was tucked into my PFD for the paddle -unfortunate really as I could do with it today in this temperature. Never mind, the wind wasn’t blowing yet.

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Getting near the mark I got ready to drop anchor as soon as the depth changed. I wasn’t far from the banks and I could see some rather interesting lumps and crests as the swell beat against them...I wasn’t that far and changed course so I was inside of them by about 100 yards. I found my spot and dropped my anchor down. Boy was that current running hard again! As the anchor caught and the stretch came out of the warp I seemed to move backwards at a decent lick! This wouldn’t have been a problem if it hadn’t been for the fact I was suddenly yawing all over the place. Quite why I don’t know but it was rather disconcerting, especially as it was rather pronounced. As I swung the warp around to the front to up-anchor, however, the wind started to pick up as did the sea...and then came the snow!

I pulled my line in (tangling it into a nest in the footwells) and ran for shore. There was no telling how long this would last and the visibility was dropping as rapidly as the sea was getting up. I’ve not been caught on open sea by a blizzard before but have been caught in a rain storm and it is not fun. Were I already fishing and running straight at anchor it might have been different but I needed to untangle the warp now anyway.

I came into a dumping bit of beach almost sideways – the current was ripping through, the swell was up and the wind had picked up quite dramatically. It was all rather exciting. I landed easily and hopped out, dragging the yak up the beach. I was below Steve’s office and phoned through an order for a coffee – he answered with ‘What’s it like out there?’...someone had phoned through to ask ‘is there a nutter called Steve on the water? I’d have laughed even more if it had been over a freshly poured hot cuppa but alas he didn’t take the hint!

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The snow was really coming down now and about half an inch fell in the quarter of an hour I was on the beach.

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As it moved through the wind and sea eased off a bit and I decided to paddle back home (against the current) and call it a day. There were a few nice sets coming through here and there, not big but surfable, and I made a mental note of where they were forming the best waves in order to come and play next time the sea came up.

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Back at the launch point I unloaded the kayak and went back out to play in the waves for a while before slithering my way back home...perhaps at some point this year I may catch a second fish!



Just been down the beach for a look and the surf is UP! Hmmm...

Tuesday 5 January 2010

Dogging With Pinkfoot...05/01/2010

With neither of us having anything better to do this week it seemed like a good idea to go fishing and so Pinkfoot (Carl) suggested giving Dogger a whirl, having never fished it before. Having failed to do anything worthwhile at either Pakefield of Hopton this week I was willing to have a crack there too and so it was that the two of us rolled up just after 9am for a daytime session.

Half an hour later and we’d got past the shore dump and began paddling out to the mark. Pointing the nose uptide I managed to hit the northerly hole where I dropped my anchor with the intention of ending up between that and the middle hole. I timed it beautifully and was in the perfect position, right where I wanted to be...

...for all of a minute as I continued to drift south at 2mph. I decided to wait for the anchor to grab and continued through the southern hole and on...and on...and on...Pinkfoot managed to get his anchor to hold after untangling it initially but mine wouldn’t catch so I hauled it up. The bloody cable tie had given way. I replaced it then paddled back the 500 yards to Pinkfoot and past him (this took 20 minutes) before trying again...this time my anchor warp got tangled, the locking collar came loose and the tines didn’t lock and I drifted south again at the same speed. Bugger.

I decided to paddle into shore and skirt the coastline back to the beach where I could grab my spare anchor set-up and a 2.5kg instead of the 1.5kg with chain. I paddled in at 45 degrees to the coastline and went in straight, making no headway at all uptide. By the time I’d made it into the groynes and started to head back north I was starting to feel some muscle burn and some sweat! A good work out even if it wasn’t intentional. Now here was another problem – loads of people fishing on the beach where I wanted to land so I had to land before I reached them...however, this beach consists of lots of broken concrete sea defences which the waves were hitting with a hell of a smack as each set came through – I’d need to pick my spot and watch the sea...

...I found a spot. I had around 6-8 feet to aim at but could see there was still something submerged there, just deeper and smaller than the other broken lumps ;D I kept an eye out and came in nice and slow, searching in case I needed to abort and reverse back out. Luckily nothing was cresting until it got right in to the beach, where it would rear up quite dramatically. I chose my break and went in, riding in on the top and back of a wave...brilliant! A glance behind saw the next one coming in so I hopped out...

...onto soft shingle that gave way underfoot and put me on my arse in the water as the wave came over. I pushed the yak in with it then tried to stand, went on my arse again and had the yak swing towards me. This was getting farcical! I pushed it in further, got up and walked out, dragging the yak up the beach. This is why paddle leashes should be removed when launching and beaching as it could have easily tangled me when I jumped out.

I wandered back to the van and swapped anchors. The metal of the anchor on my hands was pretty damned cold – there were frozen puddles in the car park – and by the time I was back at the yak I’d had enough of carrying it! Now I just had to get back out again...nicely done as I got another gap between sets. Past the groynes and setting out I noticed that Carl was on his way back in so I dropped anchor and sat 100 yard offshore in 28ft of water. No anchor trouble this time! I slung down a bait knowing he’d be a while and sat and waited.

As he got close I reeled in...first snag of the year and first in months (since Guernsey I think) where I lost tackle, having to cut the rig off. Bugger. I figured that may be why the anchor had held too, but no it came free and in we went.

I went in first, the next bit of beach north which looked clearer than that I’d used last time. The swell was rolling in to a decent dump here so again care was needed but at least it wasn’t as critical as to where we landed. I made it in nice and easy, dragged the yak up the beach and got ready to film Carl who was busy getting things tied down...then in he came... as smooth as you like, a quick turn to the camera on the beach and he was in. Then it was time to natter before he got befriended by a huge great wolf! Well, fishing was impossible as it turned out – the 4mph current equated to 4mph red weed in large quantities and double breakaways weren’t holding bottom. Baits were washed out in no time...so that’s it for Dogger. Two aborts in a row and it’s rare that I can stay a whole tide there. Back to Hopton!

Saturday 2 January 2010

Jumpin’ Jack Frost...02/01/2010

After a few hours sleep my alarm went off and I shook off the remnants of last night’s warm-up whisky as I staggered out of my bedroom to get some warm kit on. First coherent thought of the day was:

“Fuck, I’d better wash this undersuit later!”

The second was to wake Westie who’d camped over and Hungryfisherman who was frozen inside his car (bloody mad man). Both would need a hot drink and once mine had reached my toes I even pulled myself together sufficiently to make some fried egg sarnies for us all. Now, is it just me or is ketchup on a fried egg sarnie just plain wrong? Worcestershire Sauce (Lea and Perrins, naturally) is de rigeur in our house and Tabasco is allowed but surely Tomato sauce is ghastly on it, no? Enough, it’s time to go to Gorleston and launch...

The night before there’d been no beach and a strong swell so I’d asked Richi to post an alternate up on the forum (cheers mate). Pinkfoot had texted to say he’d headed to Gorleston which was ideal as the flood would take us down to Hopton and the ebb would bring as back up again. However, Lureman was expected and I figured I’d best check to see if he was waiting at Hopton. Lucky really, as he was and so was Sharkhunter, who’d driven overnight from Wales! Bloody mad, the pair of them ;) With FatFlyFisher having come from Oxfordshire too the fishing had better be good...

The sea was halfway up the wooden slip at the bottom of the ramp but the sea was a lot less bumpy so we decided to go ahead and launch here anyway. Of course, it was snowing now so the BeardHeads sported by Westie and myself were appreciated. Lureman was first in, followed by Sharkie before we followed them down. Seal launching was not my priority so I launched normally straight into a couple of waves that washed the cobwebs away. I then hung around to watch (and film) Westie and Hungry...Westie impressing with his launch!

We paddled out, aiming for Steve’s mark...and missed. Five of us were all anchored up within 100 or so yards of it once we’d settled and in theory should have been in a good position. For those of you wishing to know where we were, here is a photo:

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The first hour passed with nothing at all. No bites, no rattles, nothing. Just weed. What the hell? Had we caught them all last week? The second hour proved no better. Finally though, two and a half hours in, I had some excitement as a starfish took my bait and started to shag it presumably.

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Enough. I slipped my anchor and wandered over to chat to Sharkie for a bit before paddling uptide to Pinkfoot’s position, he and Spiny having come south from Gorleston. A pleasant paddle of around a mile and a half had burned off some of the festive flab and they were also blanking! Well, it can’t be a double every week after all!

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Onto Spiny, the first time we’d actually managed to hit the sea at the same time – hopefully the first of many as his cat is very hungry. The ice-breaking duck seemed to have worked wonders as he’d broken through the Baltic wastelands of North Norfolk, traversed the snow on the beach and navigated the icy waters southwards into the heart of the Codlands...

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I headed back and hooked back up to my anchor, the tide was easing as we started into slack water. Westie and I were pretty close to each other and with the swinging we ended up bouncing off each other at times. We still hadn’t had so much as a sniff of a fish!

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Heartened by the news that Lureman was in with a whiting we began to tremble with anticipation. I was mostly trembling in the toe area although my fingers were starting to anticipate too. The excitement was building...

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...and an hour or two of building excitement got me up to such a frenzy of anticipation in all ten of my toes and all ten of my fingers that I decided that enough was enough and I needed to return home to lie in a darkened room . Not only did I (and most of us) blank but we blanked in style – it was a beautiful day, a beautiful sea and I am sun and wind-tanned. Besides, I have some cod in the freezer!



Now, where’s my Yak Board...