3* Sea Kayak Training Course

Over the weekend of 7/8th July, Pure Liquid Kayaking ran a BCU Three Star Sea Kayak Training course, based around the Torbay area. The weather forecast for the weekend was not looking good, with a huge low pressure approaching bringing very wet and windy weather. Fortunately the worst of it hit during the night and into the early hours of Saturday, so by the time we'd covered sea kayaking equipment and looked at the effects of wind, swell, tides, etc from the warmth and dry of the Ibex club hut, conditions had eased considerably by the time we got on the water. First we looked at edging the sea kayaks, before working our way through the BCU syllabus of sea-kayak-specific strokes and techniques. After a spot of lunch, we set off towards Berry Head where we worked on applying those skills into a rock-hopping journey amongst the rocks and narrow gaps between them. After poking our noses out into the lumpy conditions near the Head, we headed back to Breakwater Beach where we worked our way through all the rescue skills. 
On the Sunday we were blessed with much better conditions for our proposed trip from Brixham to Kingswear, with lighter westerly winds and blue sunny skies. After some tidal planning exercises and map and compass work at the club hut, we set out on our journey from Brixham in pretty much perfect conditions. Around the Berry Head to Sharkham Point area the group did some navigation exercises working on their map and compass skills, with a brief forray into the big cave en route. After a spot of lunch at Long Sands we covered different towing techniques, before  finding some superb rock-hopping areas where the group explored the narrow gaps and inlets whilst further working on their manoeuvring skills in their sea kayaks. After some more navigation work along the convoluted coastline, we arrived at the Mew Stone. The section of coast from here to the entrance of  the River Dart estuary was fully exposed to the prevailing westerly winds, which had now increased considerably. After a few kilometers of slogging away into the wind we arrived safely into the protection of the estuary, and finally Kingswear - our destination. Hurrah! 

All in all, the weekend went really well, and we were able to cover all the neccessary skills and criteria in the syllabus in a nice varied and interesting way. I was blessed with a fantastic group of paddlers for the weekend, whose commitment, focus and enthusiasm was hard to beat. It was a pleasure working with and coaching such great bunch of paddlers, so a big thank you to Dave, Elaine, Richard and Tris. 

June Update

Well June has, I believe, possibly been the wettest on record since 1890! As such, climbing outdoors has not featured heavily in our list of activites, although I did manage a few nice Deep Water Solo sessions over Torquay on the rare dry sunny days we had. Thankfully, with my own bouldering cave, I was able to carry on training in the warmth and dry! 
With all the rain, you'd think I'd have managed to get on the river again for some kayaking action, but this was not possible due to work commitments and other issues. 

However, we did manage a couple of lovely sunny days of surfing down Cornwall, scoring some superb clean chest-high waves at my favourite spot just south of Newquay. It was fantastic to get back in the sea and enjoy the pure freedom and excitement that I get from riding decent ocean waves. Stoked! :) 

May Update

After a hectic and intense month of sea kayaking, and having finally got my Five Star Sea award in the bag, the rest of May has been spent chilling out and doing what I fancy. This mainly consisted of climbing a lot, plus a rather nice surf session shredding and carving it up in my Marauder surf kayak with good friend Jonathan Cowell. As the weather was mostly hot and sunny for the latter part of May, I was able to get out and do some bouldering, plus a fair amount of Deep Water Soloing. I climbed a couple new DWS routes at Berry Head - Soul to Soul, and Deep House, as well as scoring a few superb sessions over Torquay - climbing the Plimsole Line and Watchtower traverses, plus beasting myself doing laps on the Aqua Marina wall. On the very last day of May I spent a few hours climbing on London Arch, Torquay, trying a 7a+, and taking my first splashdowns of the season. It was good to fall in the sea again, despite the water still being a tad cold and getting hit by a hold snapping off! Oops! 

As for June, well I'll carry on with my theme, and see where the fancy takes me. Hopefully it'll involve more DWS, and more splashdowns. ;)

Sea Kayaking and BCU 5* Assessment

The last four weeks or so have been really hectic for me, after I'd finally got round to booking my Five Star Sea Kayak Leader assessment with Nigel Dennis at Sea Kayaking UK in Anglesea, North Wales. Trying to juggle Navigation work, night paddling, rough water paddling and kit preparation, ontop of my climbing training and regular paid work was very tiring for me, and before I knew it I was off on the long drive North to Holyhead in Wales. I had a few days prior to the assessment, up there, that I spent surfing and playing around in the powerful tiderace of Penrhyn Mawr in my Xcite, as well as night paddling around Holyhead Harbour, just to get used to the area and prepare myself for the assessment itself. The weather came in really bad for the assessment, and day one saw us leading groups in 5*+ conditions with F5-7 winds and big seas. It was a tough day, but we all returned safely at the end of the session, and met up later that evening for the night navigation exercise, that went very smoothly indeed due to the wind luckily dropping right off for us. Day two was the personal skills day with a bit more leadership thrown in and some scenarios to put us through our paces. The wind had eased to a F4-5 providing much more reasonable conditions in the tidal flows at our chosen location for the day, and the day went really well for me not only in the paddling, but also on returning to Anglesea Outdoor centre where I was told I had passed the assessment. I was so pleased, and relieved, to have finally gained my Five Star Sea Kayak Leader award. Woohoo! :D Now, safely back in Torbay, it's time to chill out for a bit, before hitting the climbing training once more in preparation for this season's DWS. Can't wait! Bring it on! :)

North Coast Sea Kayaking

Having sea-kayaked the entire South West coastline from our home in Brixham, down around Lands End and back up to Clovelly in a series of multi-day trips, we wanted to extend this to Minehead and incorporate the dramatic and remote coastline where Exmoor meets the sea. On Friday 30th March conditions were looking reasonably favourable for the weekend, with little in the way of Atlantic swell and only light to moderate Northeast winds, so after a last-minute decision to go, and some frantic packing of kit, we set off in eager anticipation of the journey ahead. We set out from Clovelly early Saturday morning under grey skies in a brisk wind. After a few hours we made it to Westward Ho! where we stopped for a hot chocolate and some food, before pressing on up the coast past Saunton Sands to Croyde Bay. I was surprised how many surfers were out in the fridgid 1-2 foot surf - must be crazy!? Next stop was Barricane Beach, north of Woolacombe, where we had a brew up and some more snacks to fuel us on. Once safely around Morte and Bull Points we pulled into Lee Bay, where we decided to call it a day and set up camp for the night at the back of the beach. After a long day on the water we slept like logs that night! Sunday morning was cold, but with the advantage of clear blue skies, and we set out at first light to catch the best of the tide for the first six hours. It was going to be a long day as we needed to cover 55km in order to make it to the van in Minehead! Oops! We only made a couple of very brief toilet stops in the first six hours of paddling, as we passed Ilfracombe and Lynton, finally landing just beyond the towering cliffs of Foreland Point for some proper food and a much needed brew up. It was a long slog from here, against the tide, up past Porlock where we arrived totally shattered at the north end of Porlock Bay. I stumbled out of my kayak feeling really light-headed and realised we needed to get more food (and Tea of course) down our necks to fuel us on the last leg to Minehead. We also had a good long much needed rest waiting for the tide to turn too. Late in the evening we set off on the final stretch with the tide with us again, and thankfully almost no wind for a change! This made a big difference, allowing us to cover the last 8km in just an hour and a half, even with our tired and aching bodies! We were so glad to have made it, and in the daylight - just! The only question now is; "Where next?" ;)

Bouldering Cave Progress

Finally, my bouldering cave is finished, much to my relief, after two months of blood, sweat, and hard work! Woohoo! :D After a lick of paint, and the bolting on of some holds, I couldn't wait to get on and give it a go! I soon found out climbing upsidedown is super-strenuous, and after a couple of sessions over a few days my forearms were feeling totally trashed - more than they have been in a long time. But then that's exactly what I wanted, and why I built the thing in the first place - to beast myself loads, with the aim of getting stronger as a result. I still need to buy more holds, but I've got enough for the bread and butter of my training to keep me going for the meantime. Summer DWS; Bring it on!!! Can't wait! :)

Oh, I almost forgot; on one of the recent warm sunny days we took a trip out to Chudleigh Rocks and had a splendid afternoons climbing, where I onsighted a superb E2 5b called 'Saturn Five' that was super-overhanging and suited me a treat - fantastic! Loved it! Then we climbed 'Great Western' VS 5a, which was ok, followed by 'Stalactite Direct' HVS 5a, which was very nice indeed. It was great to get out and do some lead climbing for a change. Thanks Elisabeth! x

Bouldering Cave Update

Due to the lack of water in the river this month, the majority of my time has been spent working on the build of my bouldering cave, with the odd foray out to Berry Head for some Deep Water Soloing and a few bouldering sessions locally - just to maintain some climbing fitness until I can start training on my wall. We also had a very nice paddle from Brixham to Kingswear on a fantastically sunny Sunday. After a lot of hard graft, the bouldering cave is almost finished now, with it just requiring a coat of paint and a few more inserts to be fitted. The mega jugs for the roof have arrived and I should get my hands on the paint this week, so it shouldn't be long before I can start beasting myself in preparation for this year's DWS season - haha - excellent! Can't wait! :D