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.
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...
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...
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!
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