Well I had to head out this morning to yesterday's mark half a mile offshore to try and find my anchor and buoy over low water slack, abandoned on a short warp (to stop Westie catching me ) that was pulled under by the tide when I went to retrieve it. Of course it wasn't mirror-like this morning, slight swell and windblown surface chop combined with glare (and a malfunctioning GPS) left me without a hope and another £35 is down the pan
Anyway, while drifting around searching for it I flung out a wedge ont he bototm of a shrimp rig in the hope I might catch a herring or bass...well bugger me if I didn't have a pin whiting with it's gob stapled shut on the bottom of the wedge That's a first for me.
Sunday, 24 April 2011
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Three off the Claremont…23.04.2011
Well I got my arse in gear and arrived on the beach just before 6am with a coffee inside me and, being first there, set about kitting up at a leisurely pace. It was a superb morning and there was a rare visitor in the shape of a cat anchored in just off the beach; a sunrise subject.
I saw Tim drive past the end of the road looking for parking and decided that I’d go down from the promenade and rig the Scupper for launch fully. This done the call of the sea was too strong and so I left his bait – unwashed squid, bluey and fresh herring – on the shore with rocks on it while I paddled out to flick a shrimp rig about for five minutes. It was a waste of time but the launch and landing ere fun anyway. The sea was flat calm but the very small waves rolling in were pretty fast.
Tim got down to the shore and I went back in to have a natter and launch together. It wasn’t a big trip today, the plan was to head half a mile out and anchor up just inshore of a bank with fish baits down in the hope of thornies. We’d be heading into the tide but that’d shake the cobwebs loose so it was quite a pleasant paddle.
Tim was getting bites constantly from the off and once I replaced the bait on my bare ray rig so did I. The triple flapper scored first though with a brace of monstrous whiting which went straight back.
By now I’d noticed someone on the beach and really couldn’t make out who it was but finally Codcatcher made it out in his Frenzy for a nice warm morning on the water; I’d last fished with him at the back end of August.
Lots more rattles followed as there are millions of these around and then a clonking bite was struck and I had a good pull on the line – I thought I had a 3lb’er on, such was the pull (part fish, part tide). Up came this welcome pup, I love them! Species 5 for the year too.
Soon after Codcatcher had his first fish off the yak – nice one buddy! Tim also scored with a tiny whiting and then I was in again, matching Tim with my Personal Smallest:
Next up was the fish we have become known for around here, though this last 18 months has rather removed the expectation of seeing them, species 6 for the year, a codling of around a bit of a pound that swam off to fetch mother ;D Tim, meanwhile, was catching my anchor warp.
The tide was just starting to pick up again and things got a bit dramatic for a time so we headed in; I had a date with barbecued herring before taking my family down to the river to meet some friends for a paddle anyway…but that’s another story.
I saw Tim drive past the end of the road looking for parking and decided that I’d go down from the promenade and rig the Scupper for launch fully. This done the call of the sea was too strong and so I left his bait – unwashed squid, bluey and fresh herring – on the shore with rocks on it while I paddled out to flick a shrimp rig about for five minutes. It was a waste of time but the launch and landing ere fun anyway. The sea was flat calm but the very small waves rolling in were pretty fast.
Tim got down to the shore and I went back in to have a natter and launch together. It wasn’t a big trip today, the plan was to head half a mile out and anchor up just inshore of a bank with fish baits down in the hope of thornies. We’d be heading into the tide but that’d shake the cobwebs loose so it was quite a pleasant paddle.
Tim was getting bites constantly from the off and once I replaced the bait on my bare ray rig so did I. The triple flapper scored first though with a brace of monstrous whiting which went straight back.
By now I’d noticed someone on the beach and really couldn’t make out who it was but finally Codcatcher made it out in his Frenzy for a nice warm morning on the water; I’d last fished with him at the back end of August.
Lots more rattles followed as there are millions of these around and then a clonking bite was struck and I had a good pull on the line – I thought I had a 3lb’er on, such was the pull (part fish, part tide). Up came this welcome pup, I love them! Species 5 for the year too.
Soon after Codcatcher had his first fish off the yak – nice one buddy! Tim also scored with a tiny whiting and then I was in again, matching Tim with my Personal Smallest:
Next up was the fish we have become known for around here, though this last 18 months has rather removed the expectation of seeing them, species 6 for the year, a codling of around a bit of a pound that swam off to fetch mother ;D Tim, meanwhile, was catching my anchor warp.
The tide was just starting to pick up again and things got a bit dramatic for a time so we headed in; I had a date with barbecued herring before taking my family down to the river to meet some friends for a paddle anyway…but that’s another story.
Sunday, 17 April 2011
Ness Messing…17.04.2011
With a report of a wrasse being caught of Ness Point, clear water the day before on my way in from the Barnard buoy and bass moving in I’d arranged with Uptide for a nice gentle session in the morning. Neither of us had a lot of time so a couple of easy hours was all that was required.
We launched at Dogger and paddled gently south towards Ness Point. The tide was running quite hard on the flood and we covered the distance in no time. There was a hell of a rip around the jetty that comes out from the Ness and I went straight for it, being pulled round at quite a speed and skidding in sideways the other side; brilliant fun. I had no time for fun though, there were wrasse to catch ;D
We were in an eddy and static now. I rigged up with a size 1 triple flapper and a size 1 pulley rig, baited with a selection of mackerel, squid and fresh ragworm (bought specially from Angling Mad in Pakefield) and cast in. The yak bobbed around and moved about slowly and I spent half my time unsnagging the rigs from the rocks below me – this is a good hunting ground when the bass are in but does eat tackle. Unfortunately the water was very coloured up so lure fishing wasn’t really feasible but my main focus was wrasse anyway.
Mark was anchored a bit further away and after a while I wandered out and tied up with him after being invited over for coffee, being all sociable and civilised and everything. We weren’t getting bites at all but it was absolutely lovely out there. The sea was flat, the sun was shining and we could see for miles. Then the silence was shattered by my rod tip gently rattling; fish on!
I struck into it and as I pulled it up from the depths (we were in at least six feet of water) I was hoping it would be my wrasse but as it broke surface I realised that it was that other great denizen of the deep, a majestic pouting, my first of the year ;D
That was it and we started to head in as time was running low. I flicked a popper a few times near the rocks but expected the lack of results I got and as the tide still had a bit of a push we decided against paddling back to the vans and headed south around the harbour and landed at the beach down from my house giving the perfect opportunity for coffee and home-made scotch eggs. It was one of those really pleasant, idle mornings that are so much more fulfilling than they ought to be and set us up for the day.
We launched at Dogger and paddled gently south towards Ness Point. The tide was running quite hard on the flood and we covered the distance in no time. There was a hell of a rip around the jetty that comes out from the Ness and I went straight for it, being pulled round at quite a speed and skidding in sideways the other side; brilliant fun. I had no time for fun though, there were wrasse to catch ;D
We were in an eddy and static now. I rigged up with a size 1 triple flapper and a size 1 pulley rig, baited with a selection of mackerel, squid and fresh ragworm (bought specially from Angling Mad in Pakefield) and cast in. The yak bobbed around and moved about slowly and I spent half my time unsnagging the rigs from the rocks below me – this is a good hunting ground when the bass are in but does eat tackle. Unfortunately the water was very coloured up so lure fishing wasn’t really feasible but my main focus was wrasse anyway.
Mark was anchored a bit further away and after a while I wandered out and tied up with him after being invited over for coffee, being all sociable and civilised and everything. We weren’t getting bites at all but it was absolutely lovely out there. The sea was flat, the sun was shining and we could see for miles. Then the silence was shattered by my rod tip gently rattling; fish on!
I struck into it and as I pulled it up from the depths (we were in at least six feet of water) I was hoping it would be my wrasse but as it broke surface I realised that it was that other great denizen of the deep, a majestic pouting, my first of the year ;D
That was it and we started to head in as time was running low. I flicked a popper a few times near the rocks but expected the lack of results I got and as the tide still had a bit of a push we decided against paddling back to the vans and headed south around the harbour and landed at the beach down from my house giving the perfect opportunity for coffee and home-made scotch eggs. It was one of those really pleasant, idle mornings that are so much more fulfilling than they ought to be and set us up for the day.
Saturday, 16 April 2011
Buggered at Barnard…16.04.2011
Buggered at Barnard…16.04.2011
I’d been looking forward to this session all week. I’d planned it, researched the wreck, worked everything out and got the right gear together. Conditions were about as good as they get and things were a go; it was a bit of an advanced session both in terms of distance (around ten miles all told) and technical considerations (deep water, tide times and hopefully large fish) and so I really had to go with this window. I got set up at home and wandered down (no, the yellow house is NOT mine).
The Tunisiana, a 4,220grt, British merchant steamer, was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-16 and sunk on 23rd June 1915 off Lowestoft when on route from Montreal for Hull. 360ft long and 48ft wide she lies in 22 metres to the east of the Barnard Buoy. Lying in a hole I’ve been looking at for many years it seemed the ideal opportunity to go and have a look for her and see what I could catch. Detailed planning commenced a couple of days before with chart work backed up by other information:
Full Moon: -2
First Light: 05:14
Sunrise: 05:50
Low Water: 02:36am 0.4m
High Water: 08:57am 2.4m
Low Water: 14:51am 0.8m
05:54 1.8 kts Flood N-S
06:54 1.5 kts Flood N-S
07:54 1.1 kts Flood N-S
08:54 0.5 kts Flood N-S
09:54 0.8 kts Flood N-S
10:54 1.9 kts Ebb S-N
11:54 2.0 kts Ebb S-N
06:00 Swell 0.5ft NNE Wind 7-12mph WSW
09:00 Swell 0ft NNE Wind 6-9mph ESE
12:00 Swell 0ft NNE Wind 2-5mph ESE
Start: 52°28.001N 001°49.001E South Beach, Lowestoft
Mark: 52°25.198N 001°47.210E Tunisiana Wreck, Kessingland. 22 Metres Datum
End: 52°28.001N 001°49.001E South Beach, Lowestoft
Distance To Mark: 4 Nautical Miles, Straight Line
So, it looked easy enough. Get up, walk to the end of the road, launch, paddle out, drop anchor, fish, wait for the tide to turn, paddle home, have lunch. What could possibly go wrong?
Up I got, not the easiest thing to do after the week I had and off I went after a coffee. The sea was flat, no wind at all and the only effort on the four mile paddle out was in keeping straight by paddling across the current (adding on distance) and staying upright by the banks where the flooding tide was creating standing waves. I punched in the mark and set off.
Eventually, after 45 minutes or so I reached the East Barnard Buoy and headed off in search of the wreck. There were fish about, I’ve never had so many or such good returns – my sensitivities are knocked down too so I don’t chase shadows and I rarely get any fish show up.
Well, it wasn’t where the wreck guide said and nor was it where the chart said so I got close and dropped anchor in 82ft. My large reel, a DIY job courtesy of Richi (thanks mate!) was employed for the first time with a 2.5kg anchor and down it went, for quite a while. I shuttled it to the rear and waited.
…and waited. There was a hundred yards of line out and still I wasn’t stopped. The kayak was yawing from side to side, rocking, tilting and accelerating backwards whenever the line started to tighten. A good ten minutes of dicking about at over 1 knot with the anchor downstairs started to get annoying and then when it started to get decidedly iffy I felt that I had no choice. I wasn’t comfortable and I certainly couldn’t fish like this nor did I know where I’d end up and so I decided to call the session off. There was no way I was going to try and turn to retrieve it as there was a good chance I’d be in the water in a flash if I did and so my knife came out of my boot and sliced straight through my anchor trolley. That’s why I keep a knife in my boot that is sharp and that is why I use an anchor trolley that is thin.
Now I was four miles from home with a tide running way faster than predicted from that direction and so I set off, partially into and partially across and soon passed the buoy.
I paddled for around half an hour before I got bored and decided that I may as well have a go on the drift. I never drift – I hate bouncing leads and the confusion it brings and it’s usually too fast anyhow but I wasn’t going home without wetting a line. I baited up, cast in and a few minutes later was rewarded with a doggie, some whiting following on later. I missed loads of bites as I was fishing large hooks due to the intended mark but got some in anyway so it was okay. It was like I had arrived on a lake here though; there was no tide at all and I sat for well over an hour in the same place; it was uncanny. Fish were constantly moving under me on the finder, seals popped up throughout the morning and fish jumped and splashed all around me at times.
Eventually it was time to go and so I reeled in and paddled home. A few flat spots that stank of fish were encountered amidst the ripples here and there but I didn’t stop, I had a date with another coffee.
Video to follow when it’s done. It’s somewhat indicative of the day ;)
Video added - don't watch if bad language offends ;)
I’d been looking forward to this session all week. I’d planned it, researched the wreck, worked everything out and got the right gear together. Conditions were about as good as they get and things were a go; it was a bit of an advanced session both in terms of distance (around ten miles all told) and technical considerations (deep water, tide times and hopefully large fish) and so I really had to go with this window. I got set up at home and wandered down (no, the yellow house is NOT mine).
The Tunisiana, a 4,220grt, British merchant steamer, was torpedoed by the German submarine UB-16 and sunk on 23rd June 1915 off Lowestoft when on route from Montreal for Hull. 360ft long and 48ft wide she lies in 22 metres to the east of the Barnard Buoy. Lying in a hole I’ve been looking at for many years it seemed the ideal opportunity to go and have a look for her and see what I could catch. Detailed planning commenced a couple of days before with chart work backed up by other information:
Full Moon: -2
First Light: 05:14
Sunrise: 05:50
Low Water: 02:36am 0.4m
High Water: 08:57am 2.4m
Low Water: 14:51am 0.8m
05:54 1.8 kts Flood N-S
06:54 1.5 kts Flood N-S
07:54 1.1 kts Flood N-S
08:54 0.5 kts Flood N-S
09:54 0.8 kts Flood N-S
10:54 1.9 kts Ebb S-N
11:54 2.0 kts Ebb S-N
06:00 Swell 0.5ft NNE Wind 7-12mph WSW
09:00 Swell 0ft NNE Wind 6-9mph ESE
12:00 Swell 0ft NNE Wind 2-5mph ESE
Start: 52°28.001N 001°49.001E South Beach, Lowestoft
Mark: 52°25.198N 001°47.210E Tunisiana Wreck, Kessingland. 22 Metres Datum
End: 52°28.001N 001°49.001E South Beach, Lowestoft
Distance To Mark: 4 Nautical Miles, Straight Line
So, it looked easy enough. Get up, walk to the end of the road, launch, paddle out, drop anchor, fish, wait for the tide to turn, paddle home, have lunch. What could possibly go wrong?
Up I got, not the easiest thing to do after the week I had and off I went after a coffee. The sea was flat, no wind at all and the only effort on the four mile paddle out was in keeping straight by paddling across the current (adding on distance) and staying upright by the banks where the flooding tide was creating standing waves. I punched in the mark and set off.
Eventually, after 45 minutes or so I reached the East Barnard Buoy and headed off in search of the wreck. There were fish about, I’ve never had so many or such good returns – my sensitivities are knocked down too so I don’t chase shadows and I rarely get any fish show up.
Well, it wasn’t where the wreck guide said and nor was it where the chart said so I got close and dropped anchor in 82ft. My large reel, a DIY job courtesy of Richi (thanks mate!) was employed for the first time with a 2.5kg anchor and down it went, for quite a while. I shuttled it to the rear and waited.
…and waited. There was a hundred yards of line out and still I wasn’t stopped. The kayak was yawing from side to side, rocking, tilting and accelerating backwards whenever the line started to tighten. A good ten minutes of dicking about at over 1 knot with the anchor downstairs started to get annoying and then when it started to get decidedly iffy I felt that I had no choice. I wasn’t comfortable and I certainly couldn’t fish like this nor did I know where I’d end up and so I decided to call the session off. There was no way I was going to try and turn to retrieve it as there was a good chance I’d be in the water in a flash if I did and so my knife came out of my boot and sliced straight through my anchor trolley. That’s why I keep a knife in my boot that is sharp and that is why I use an anchor trolley that is thin.
Now I was four miles from home with a tide running way faster than predicted from that direction and so I set off, partially into and partially across and soon passed the buoy.
I paddled for around half an hour before I got bored and decided that I may as well have a go on the drift. I never drift – I hate bouncing leads and the confusion it brings and it’s usually too fast anyhow but I wasn’t going home without wetting a line. I baited up, cast in and a few minutes later was rewarded with a doggie, some whiting following on later. I missed loads of bites as I was fishing large hooks due to the intended mark but got some in anyway so it was okay. It was like I had arrived on a lake here though; there was no tide at all and I sat for well over an hour in the same place; it was uncanny. Fish were constantly moving under me on the finder, seals popped up throughout the morning and fish jumped and splashed all around me at times.
Eventually it was time to go and so I reeled in and paddled home. A few flat spots that stank of fish were encountered amidst the ripples here and there but I didn’t stop, I had a date with another coffee.
Video to follow when it’s done. It’s somewhat indicative of the day ;)
Video added - don't watch if bad language offends ;)
Sunday, 10 April 2011
Stanford Again…10.04.2011
Saturday began on the beach and ended on the piss. It was Liam’s 42nd birthday so he threw a barbecue (one of my three barbies of the weekend) and we ended on the single malt. Of course he asked if I was paddling on Sunday so I invited him along and offered the loan of my Chatham. Of course he’d like to use it. Now, Liam taught me the rudiments of paddling and we go out together from time to time with him usually in one of an assortment of the wrecks he has or in one of my yaks so he is more than capable of giving my new toy a proper paddle. The plan was hatched and regretted at sunrise.
I was doing some more filming of course and had the ATC9K in a different position this time:
It was quite lumpy on the way out with far more wind than the day before and at times I wondered if I’d be able to anchor. Both the Chatham and my Scupper took it in their stride of course and for once I got some nice pictures of me ;D
We reached the buoy after a while and I dropped anchor. The wind and swell had dropped and I baited up and cast in while Liam tried to stay awake and upright!
First up was a small whiting, one of 3
While Liam looked on with barely concealed excitement.
A couple of dabs and a doggie followed and after a hoot and a wave from yesterday’s charter boat I up anchored and we headed back for breakfast. Another beautiful morning. Sadly the sea had flattened off a lot now so it was a bit boring so I decided to jump in and have a swim about a mile out. This wasn’t filmed as my battery had unknowingly died – I’d filmed into the sun all the way out and was hoping to get better stuff on the way back with it behind me but it was not to be. A pity really as I was moving myself into loads of positions to capture the Necky from different angles. Oh well. At least I took a snap of the Marie Celeste:
So much for my deepwater re-entry, as I got ready to jump back up I touched bottom; I drifted onto a bank and was standing in under 5ft of water. This bank is the annoying one that has built up over the last 18 months and absorbs some of the really good waves that roll in when we have the yakboards out.
Here’s the camera mount from the water:
I was doing some more filming of course and had the ATC9K in a different position this time:
It was quite lumpy on the way out with far more wind than the day before and at times I wondered if I’d be able to anchor. Both the Chatham and my Scupper took it in their stride of course and for once I got some nice pictures of me ;D
We reached the buoy after a while and I dropped anchor. The wind and swell had dropped and I baited up and cast in while Liam tried to stay awake and upright!
First up was a small whiting, one of 3
While Liam looked on with barely concealed excitement.
A couple of dabs and a doggie followed and after a hoot and a wave from yesterday’s charter boat I up anchored and we headed back for breakfast. Another beautiful morning. Sadly the sea had flattened off a lot now so it was a bit boring so I decided to jump in and have a swim about a mile out. This wasn’t filmed as my battery had unknowingly died – I’d filmed into the sun all the way out and was hoping to get better stuff on the way back with it behind me but it was not to be. A pity really as I was moving myself into loads of positions to capture the Necky from different angles. Oh well. At least I took a snap of the Marie Celeste:
So much for my deepwater re-entry, as I got ready to jump back up I touched bottom; I drifted onto a bank and was standing in under 5ft of water. This bank is the annoying one that has built up over the last 18 months and absorbs some of the really good waves that roll in when we have the yakboards out.
Here’s the camera mount from the water:
Friday, 8 April 2011
Out to Stanford…08.04.2011
With the weather predictions looking good and the tides being a bit early I decided to hit the Stanford Buoy for a spot of fishing for the first time in a year or two. This was my regular spot when I first started going to sea and lies around a mile and a half off the coast of Lowestoft and over some banks. It would need an early start and so I headed down for sunrise.
I’d sorted a new mount for my ATC9K so that I could do some filming too, this would allow me to fit the camera in a selection of places where inserts were already placed and I chose the forward one at the front of the hatch.
I was ready to go as the sun crept over the horizon.
Within half an hour I was in position at the buoy and settled down to fish in around 30ft of water. The current was starting to ease as I dropped anchor and baited up.
I got lots of small bites from the start but kept missing them until finally a small whiting took the hook properly and I brought it in – the first fish of the year. This woke the boats up and soon I was being passed by workboats, yachts and charters, one of whom stopped to look at the idiot on the kayak…they asked how I was doing but I couldn’t really excite them…
Next up was a thin dab which I x-rayed before putting back to swim around with the whiting.
As the tide started to ease and Popeye came out in a proper boat around the same length as my yak I started to get stronger bites and dropped one near the surface as he looked on. It was a dogfish that was holding onto a strip of mackerel. Damn, the first decent pull of the day and it looked a nice size when it broke surface. Shortly after the kayak began to swing, heralding the ending of slack water and as I pulled my baits along the bottom another fish grabbed hold and I was in; a doggie came to the surface.
Three fish, three species and a glorious morning on the water left me happy for the rest of the day and I paddled home to eat dogfish with black butter, s erved alongside a skate wing I defrosted as well.
I’d sorted a new mount for my ATC9K so that I could do some filming too, this would allow me to fit the camera in a selection of places where inserts were already placed and I chose the forward one at the front of the hatch.
I was ready to go as the sun crept over the horizon.
Within half an hour I was in position at the buoy and settled down to fish in around 30ft of water. The current was starting to ease as I dropped anchor and baited up.
I got lots of small bites from the start but kept missing them until finally a small whiting took the hook properly and I brought it in – the first fish of the year. This woke the boats up and soon I was being passed by workboats, yachts and charters, one of whom stopped to look at the idiot on the kayak…they asked how I was doing but I couldn’t really excite them…
Next up was a thin dab which I x-rayed before putting back to swim around with the whiting.
As the tide started to ease and Popeye came out in a proper boat around the same length as my yak I started to get stronger bites and dropped one near the surface as he looked on. It was a dogfish that was holding onto a strip of mackerel. Damn, the first decent pull of the day and it looked a nice size when it broke surface. Shortly after the kayak began to swing, heralding the ending of slack water and as I pulled my baits along the bottom another fish grabbed hold and I was in; a doggie came to the surface.
Three fish, three species and a glorious morning on the water left me happy for the rest of the day and I paddled home to eat dogfish with black butter, s erved alongside a skate wing I defrosted as well.
Saturday, 2 April 2011
Stanford Sunday...02.04.2011
I didn't go to bed when intended and then didn't go to sleep when intended so reset my alarm and didn't go fishing as intended. A quick paddle out to the Stanford Buoy and back across the current, mid-flow on a spring, followed by some messing around saw me ready for breakfast.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
Dicking about on my day off...30.03.2011
I was planning to go fishing today but my whole week has been changed around so had to take care of some chores instead on my day off. A pity things changed really as it was perfect for fishing but boring as hell for paddling. Still, it gave me an opportunity to try out something from yesterday - I mounted a suction cup onto my headcam mount and popped it onto the Necky. These are printscreens from the video, my apologies for putting so many up but I really like them ;D
Sunday, 20 March 2011
Pier to Pier 20th March 2011
Biggest tide of the year they said, biggest for twenty years they said. I figured that’d mean a nice fast ride down the coast from Gorleston to Southwold; tides a bit early but what the hell, aim for a 6am launch, should see me there at a decent hour. My wife agreed readily to pick me up as I’d been a good boy yesterday.
5am, alarm goes off. 530, drysuited and booted and I’m on my way. 6am sees me pull up next to John by the launch to a cracking sunrise; what a beautiful day to die.
It looked calm as we got ready to go.
It was still calm as we launched and headed south.
We ran over the White Swan, marked by a bit of swirling and down past Corton without too much in the way of disturbance from rebounds. A few eddies, swirls and bumps just north of Lowestoft harbour were about as much as we had to contend with apart from a bunch of boats exiting the harbour mouth. Stil calm we carried on, avoiding stopping at mine for bacon sarnies and thought we saw a seal at Kessingland but it turned out, bizarrely, to be a bucket.
John was loving it, having never done more than 4 miles in one go before.
The last 4 miles wasn’t so loved though and by the time we arrived at Southwold pier he’d had enough.
I was starting to lose interest too.
Well, it was 17.7 miles and we’d paddled continuously including going against wind and tide for the last hour or so, lesser mortals may have found this tiring.
I was just happy to land without falling in for once.
Time for a drink.
Of note was the fact that this supposed massive tide was rubbish, we never got much tidal assistance and it never seemed to have much speed, nor did it tally with my tidal software in any way; times seem at least one hour out and speeds completely fictional. A month ago I did the first half with another mate and we would have smashed this time by at least 40 minutes for the full journey due purely to conditions. Also of note was my not having to wait for John in his Ultra. Heavier and wider made no difference and we were evenly matched until the final leg when going against the elements; that was certainly food for thought.
5am, alarm goes off. 530, drysuited and booted and I’m on my way. 6am sees me pull up next to John by the launch to a cracking sunrise; what a beautiful day to die.
It looked calm as we got ready to go.
It was still calm as we launched and headed south.
We ran over the White Swan, marked by a bit of swirling and down past Corton without too much in the way of disturbance from rebounds. A few eddies, swirls and bumps just north of Lowestoft harbour were about as much as we had to contend with apart from a bunch of boats exiting the harbour mouth. Stil calm we carried on, avoiding stopping at mine for bacon sarnies and thought we saw a seal at Kessingland but it turned out, bizarrely, to be a bucket.
John was loving it, having never done more than 4 miles in one go before.
The last 4 miles wasn’t so loved though and by the time we arrived at Southwold pier he’d had enough.
I was starting to lose interest too.
Well, it was 17.7 miles and we’d paddled continuously including going against wind and tide for the last hour or so, lesser mortals may have found this tiring.
I was just happy to land without falling in for once.
Time for a drink.
Of note was the fact that this supposed massive tide was rubbish, we never got much tidal assistance and it never seemed to have much speed, nor did it tally with my tidal software in any way; times seem at least one hour out and speeds completely fictional. A month ago I did the first half with another mate and we would have smashed this time by at least 40 minutes for the full journey due purely to conditions. Also of note was my not having to wait for John in his Ultra. Heavier and wider made no difference and we were evenly matched until the final leg when going against the elements; that was certainly food for thought.
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