South West Sea Kayaking Meet 2011- Day 2 10-07-2011

Last night Eurion and myself decided we would have an easy paddle from Kimmeridge to Durdle Door and back so we could enjoy the hospitality of the Greyhound to it's full potential.

So it came as a bit of a shock when Mark suggested that Swanage to Durdle Door and then back to Kimmeridge would be a good paddle for us! After a bit of a rush Eurion and myself were joined by Huw, a paddler from Pembrokeshire.  We found ourselves paddling out from  Swanage.

We are soon paddling around Durlston Head passing nesting Guillemots on a sheltered narrow ledge on the way.

At the Anvil Point Lighthouse built in 1881 we decide to stay in close to the cliffs instead of paddling straight across to St Alban's Head.

We could see why Mark had suggested paddling this stretch of the Dorset Coastline with plenty of bird life including a few Puffins and numerous Shags some more visible than others.

Approaching St Alban's Head the cliffs increase in height along with our speed as we are pushed along by the ebbing tide.

We paddle across Chapman's Pool and along the Kimmeridge Ledges where we hear on the VHF that a yacht has run aground and on hearing the coordinates we realise we are pretty close.

When we spot people waving on a yacht in front of us Eurion informs the Coast Guard that we along with a speedboat are in attendance and we paddle over to see if we can be of any assistance.

With the Coast Guard Helicopter watching over proceedings Eurion and Huw help set up the tow line between the 2 vessels with me looking on as official photographer.

With tow line attached we keep our distance as the yacht is pulled free after making some horrible scraping noises. We make our departure and are later thanked over the VHF for our assistance, with apparantely no damage being sustained by the yacht.

We stopped for a quick lunch at Kimmeridge before carrying on toward the Limestone arch of Durdle Door. There was to be no sight seeing on the way as the wind had increased and it turns into a bit of a slog to get to Durdle Door.

Beginning our paddle back to Kimmeridge we pass the numerous holes and arches of Stair Hole before stopping in Lulworth Cove for a brief chocolate break.

We paddle a few hundred yards out where we can fully appreciate the size of the cliffs en route to Kimmeridge,

We arrive in Kimmeridge to complete our paddle and bring an end to a cracking weekend of sea kayaking. Thanks to Huw for keeping us company today and  to Mark and Heather for once again organising the weekend. 

Follow Those Buoys 03-07-2011

With the forecast good and the tides being reasonably large Springs Eurion and myself decided to use the last 3 hours or so of the ebbing tide to see how far we get along the line of buoys that mark the Nash and Scarweather Sand Bars.

We are swept past the lighthouse at Nash Point between 7 and 8 knots and hardly have time to take a picture of the East Nash Cardinal Buoy before being propelled down the Bristol Channel.

In well under an hour we are paddling past the Mid Nash Buoy just over 5 nautical miles into our paddle.

After another 4 nautical miles in very quick time we are at the West Nash Buoy after seeing a group of Porpoises a couple of times on the way.

We have to make a slight alteration to our course to reach the South Scarweather Buoy as the tide is trying to take us out past it.

We were hoping to be able to land on Scarweather Sands but all we could see were breaking waves, we decided to have a closer look.

There was no sand to land on just near perfect surfing waves. I had a close call on the above wave being more concerned about taking photos, no damage done though just a thorough soaking.

It was a bit strange to be nearly 5 nautical miles from the nearest land and to encounter near perfect waves, especially as today there was no swell, I bet it is pretty awesome out here when there is some swell.

In 15 minutes we are back paddling on a glassy flat sea, hard to see where those waves had come from.

After nearly 3.5 hours on the water and just over 16 nautical miles paddled we arrive at the West Scarweather Buoy.

The tide is still ebbing so we decide to paddle onto the Ledge Buoy which is 4 nautical miles South of Mumbles Head. The last 15-20 minutes were a bit of a slog as the tide has turned but we make it.

It is now just the small matter of paddling back which seemed to be more of an effort and at times we didn't seem to be making too much progress.

Although it seemed slow we did the paddle back in just over 3.5 hours I guess we must have just been getting tired.

An amazing paddle of just over 37 nautical miles (43 miles or 69 kms) in almost 8 hours making the most of the tidal power of the Bristol Channel. Thanks Eurion for the invite and for the additional photos.