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Sunday 23 January 2011

SINK or Swim 23/01/11

The forecast for Sunday had initially been surfy and so Steve, Tim and I hatched a plan to get together and get out on the water for a play. There wasn’t a great deal of optimism that it’d turn out surfy after all as Magic Seaweed has a habit of being wrong a lot on our stretch of coastline so the backup plan was for a paddle and/or sail depending on what conditions actually occurred on the day. Fishing was out though as it’s so poor here this winter.

It all began the night before with the three of us getting together at mine for pheasant with cider and apples served up with beer. Steve had to cancel on the paddling but at least managed the evening and so, at 06:30 I only had to get the coffee on for Tim and I before we checked the sea state, swapped kayaks about and headed up the coast to Gorleston to the launch point.

This was the first time my new Chatham 17 was going to face the open sea and I confess to some trepidation. It’s had 3 trips on flat water so far so I’m used to the fit but had no idea what it’d be like with some movement to contend with too. Combining that with an inability to master rolling as yet meant that if I cocked things up I’d be bailing out before scrambling in over the rear deck…which didn’t fill me with enthusiasm but it was time to bite the bullet and so I carried her down to the beach, leashed my paddle and a spare and waited for Tim to sort out his GPS.

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Tim was happy too. He’s not used his Dorado much since getting it but it was ideal for the day’s trip and it’d be good to ponce around in composite boats for once to impress the seagulls. The first thing that struck us was the massive difference in dimensions between the two which hadn’t shown up on the roofbars:

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It’s no surprise as they are very different craft built for very different tasks. I dread to think how my original Prowler 15 compares side-by-side! Still, it was time to head down to the water’s edge and get ready to go.

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I sat there with the waves washing up the beach and got my spraydeck on. I had no idea if I’d be able to launch myself or if I’d need Tim to assist but was pleased to make it on my own. The next question was whether I’d ride up and over the waves or go through them…with them breaking close in it turned out to be the latter. The third question was whether I’d stay upright or make a complete arse of myself.

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Phew! Tim followed me out.

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As I floated south with my skeg partway down I assumed Tim was stopped and fiddling with his GPS and waited for him to get close before I started to paddle. He was soon alongside and off we went. The thing was I didn’t feel I was getting much out of my paddle and decided that I needed to change back to my regular Nordkapps (a very good change as it later turned out). What I hadn’t figured on was that Tim was actually paddling quite hard, having been off the water for a few months, while I was making practically no effort at all. The change was immediately noticeable as I finally felt I was getting some purchase on the waves and I slowed my cadence down to keep to the same speed.

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I was also trying out my new Polar Hood on the water. I picked this up at the London Boat Show and have been wearing it all week – really comfortable and warm too. It was appreciated today too as the wind was behind us and when I removed it my head immediately felt cold. Being pretty loose around the head too it never made me feel too hot as a normal hat does either. (NB my Beardhead was just added for effect). Well worth the £12 price tag.

We headed south past the wreck of the White Swan, doing around 6mph, and in no time arrived off Hopton. I couldn’t see anyone fishing from the beach but could see the spray shooting up south of there where the incoming swell hits the sea defences. It was time to head a bit further out as the swell was a bit larger down here and I knew that the returning ones would also be pretty large too. I was not wrong and we were getting 3ft waves coming from both sides with very little time between them soon after. This lasts for a good couple of miles and every stroke was helping to keep me upright as well. I’ve been down here in seas more than twice as large in my Scupper Pro and it’s a blast but I was starting to get nervous now and called Tim over to hold my hand ;D A combination of getting used to a totally different shaped hull, an inability to roll, a following sea, wind and tide that was now pushing us along at 4mph+ without paddling and nearly being tipped over on a couple of occasions when the waves got very close together made me tense up –something that hasn’t happened on the water for many years – and I just didn’t feel right. After a few minutes we broke apart again but things were still the same and we rafted up again for a few minutes more.

I was quite pleased once we got through that particular patch and paddled out of the last half quite happily, thinking about things. I realised that it was not the boat that was unsteady, instead it was very stable and very forgiving, but my reacting to the rolling of the hull as if I was in my Scupper. A good lesson learnt that came in handy later on…

Now averaging 7-8mph we carried on past Corton (some anglers on the beach) and Gunton. At times we passed 10mph which was pretty surprising and although we could see we were moving quickly along the shore it wasn’t until Ness Point that we got a visual indication…

The outfall pipe, protected by rocks, that runs out from the point usually provides some decent waves on the flood and knowing this we decided to go wide and pass the buoys that mark the end of it. As we got close it appeared that we wouldn’t need to go offshore of them as it looked okay so I headed just inshore of them. The wash created from the water rushing past them was quite a sight however as it was getting on for a hundred yards or so and I started getting sucked in towards them at a rapid rate of knots. It was as though I was being charged by them and I had to dig in to move past quickly as it appeared that I might hit them otherwise. The acceleration of the Chatham was most impressive and I shot past about twenty yards away. It was too close for comfort! Still, it was a nice bit of excitement. The water in this area is pretty lumpy and we enjoyed ourselves on the approach to the harbour. Calling up on the VHF we were informed we were clear to go past as nothing was coming in or out and rounding the harbour to head to shore we started to surf the occasional wave as the swell was now going in the same direction as us.

As we came towards the shore I started looking for a clear, sandy area to beach. The spot I intended to go to has thrown up plenty of stones over the last few weeks so we instead turned uptide and headed to the beach closest to home. The current was around 2mph here but we made good headway against it, between 3 and 4mph, and got ourselves in position to go in. Tim made a good landing and I popped my deck before attempting my first surf landing in the Chatham. I did just as well as I did the first time I took my old Prowler out in a big sea for the first time – 50 yards from shore I went sideways and got dumped ;D. History always repeats itself…

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That was then:

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This is now:

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It was a cracking paddle, I learnt plenty about my new ride and how much I need to do to get competent with it and with the fishing being so poor right now I’m certain I made the right choice in getting it. My waist and hips got a work out that I can still feel two days on too. Next stop Southwold.