Paddle 12 Emsworth to Langstone Harbour Entrance and back

The start of the paddle was from Emsworth slip at the end of South Street.  The low tide was at 9:15 AM and was 2.07 metres high / low.  That's about the highest low tide we get in this area, low tides during springs are usually less that 1.0 metres.  You can see in the beginning of the video that there was water near the slip at our departure time of 8:00 AM.  We had to paddle a long way before the water was more than a metre deep, so I suspect if you tried to launch from here on a low spring tide you may be faced with carrying your boat up to a mile along the channel before it would float.  If anyone knows from experience I'd love to hear from you.

 

We paddled along the channels sheltered from the wind by both Hayling Island and the mud banks.  It was peaceful but not silent, the geese provided a relaxing constant background chatter.  After a wrong turn down a dead end (at low tide) channel, we went past Northney Marina and Hauling Bridge.  Both locations provide all water egress, although I'm not sure if Northney Marina charge landing fees for kayaks.  The slipway on the NE side of Hayling Bridge is free and leads to a public car park outside a great pub.  There is also a slip way on the NW side of the bridge but I believe that is a private slip for the use of the sailing club there.

 

We paddled against a F3 wind in Langston Harbour and went to the South of the sand bank the Mulberry Harbour is stranded on, so that we could look at the wreck of a Second World War landing craft beached on a mud bank between  Sinah Holliday Camp and the Kench.

Landing Craft wreck

A few miles further and we reached Langston Harbour Entrance, according to our GPS we had paddled just over 8 statute miles.  The café on Hayling side just up from the ferry pier was friendly, sensibly priced and made decent drinks.  In the 20 minutes we spent having lunch the forecast F5 arrived, complete with white tops to the very small waves in the sheltered harbour.  The paddle back to Emsworth was completed with wind and tide in our favour with the GPS showing us regularly exceeding 5 mph ground speed.  I experimented with my Greenland paddle, trying a wing paddle sideways element to the stroke.  It felt more efficient, need to do more work on this.

Total distance logged 15 statute miles.

 

Paddle 11 Southsea to Fareham Creek and back

End of lunch break

 

Paddle 10 River Itchen

Woodmill Activity Centre & Canoe Shop

Today a friend of mine with only a little experience in short white water boats, had his first time in a full sea kayak.  I volunteered my boat for him to use as he wanted to try a boat with and without a rudder.  I hired a boat from Woodmill Canoe Shop (link here), it was a yellow P&H Scorpio and they cheerfully offered me a choice of demo paddles including several made by Werner.  I think the half day charge of twenty pounds is very reasonable for close to two thousand pounds worth of boat and paddle!  I am not affiliated with the canoe shop in anyway and am happy to recommend them to anyone.  They have a large fleet of demo boats and demo paddles and will let you have a short trial (10 or 15 minutes) for free or you can hire a boat for longer.  They can be found at the tidal limit of the River Itchen near Southampton and have enough water to paddle for about 2.5 hours either side of HW Portsmouth depending upon whether its springs or neaps.

Today's selection of paddles

We swapped paddles during the session and it was really good to be able to compare them back to back.  The yellow paddle above is a fibreglass Aqua-Bound Manta Ray 215 cm; the red one is a Werner Camano 220 cm and the wooden one is my homemade Greenland paddle 225 cm.  Not surprisingly the Manta Ray with the largest blade felt most "planted" in the water, then the Camano with the Greenland being the least "solid" at insertion into the water.  They all felt about the same effort while cruising.  It was surprising how noticeable the weight difference was between the Manta Ray at 1180 grams and the other two both weighing about 800 grams.  I didn't have a set of scales to weigh the Camano, the Werner website quotes the weight as 780 grams for a straight shaft Werner, but doesn't give the length or whether that is 1, 2 or 4 piece.  I'm inclined to believe 780 grams is the weight for a 1 piece 205 cm straight shaft, as the 220 cm 2 piece I used today did not feel lighter than my Greenland paddle.  The difference in feel was immense, none felt better or worse, just different.

My friend found the Kodiak more stable than the short boats he has used in a pool, which I think were Dagger RPMs.  Just out of interest he is about 6'1" and 13 stone 7 (189 lbs, 86 kg), the Kodiak was otherwise empty.  He didn't have any scary moments and despite practicing edging and sculling draws, no low braces were needed.  Stability is subjective, would I recommend the Kodiak for any novice - absolutely not, but it is appropriate for some.  After an hour of paddling without the rudder his response to using it first time was "That feels like cheating".  In my opinion, the Kodiak unloaded, needs a rudder when the wind gets above force 5.  It is definitely more of a mile eating machine using the rudder in any wind strength.

Tom Yost Sea Flea

I've had a few questions about Fiona's kayak.  Its a design by Tom Yost called a Sea Flea.  His website is called Yostwerks and it has detailed plans and a long building manual.  Tom doesn't charge for his designs or support and provides the information to encourage and enable people to get into kayaking.

The Sea Flea is a skin on frame (SOF) kayak made with a fuselage style frame.  There are a series of plywood frames with stringers attached, very much like a model aircraft.

Ready for covering

The ideal wood to use for the stringers ,due to strength and weight, is Western Red Cedar (WRC).  It is strong enough and only weighs 380 kg per cubic metre.  Oak by comparison weighs 750 kg per cubic metre, both float as sea water is 1073 kg per cubic metre.  WRC is so rot resistant that it is used untreated to make roof shingles (wooden roof slates) in places like Kentucky USA and has a 30 year lifespan!  Kentucky has a climate very similar to the UK in terms of rainfall, but it is hotter in the summer and colder in the winter, so 30 years without rotting there shows some serious rot resistance.

First time out we fitted stabilizers

Tom Yost encourages people to modify his designs and experiment with new building processes and techniques.  Here is a picture of the first cockpit layout, it was an ocean cockpit as per the plans.

Ocean cockpit Sea Flea

Fiona was comfortable in the ocean cockpit, getting in was easy, but a wet exit wasn't.  The problem could have been solved training and practice but a change to keyhole cockpit was made to make it safer for her and other novices.

New longer keyhole cockpit

The Sea Flea is the second skin on frame kayak I've made.  The first one was a cheap summer project to entertain my son and was made from any kind of scrap wood lying around and still ended up light enough for a 13 year old to hold with one hand!

The build process was fun and the result surprisingly capable

The white kayak above was another Tom Yost design that I increased by 20% to make a 13.5 foot by 24 inch kayak.  The shape and behaviour on the water of this kayak was very similar to an Easky 15.  It was easy for my son to paddle and control, my wife also loved paddling this kayak.  I was able to paddle it but getting in and out was very difficult with my long legs.

Sadly the white kayak didn't survive the winter, the scrap pine and fabric skin rotted beyond saving.  It was an excellent prototype and we spent less than 30 pounds making it.

Paddle 9 Hilsea Creek

The view from Mountbatten Center car park towards Portsdown Hill across the West end of Hilsea Creek.

Weather and water temps were fine for Fiona to take a trip out in her Sea Flea.

The Sea Flea is one hand car top-able at only 9 lbs!

Wrecks or ruins are magnetic for kids - and adults now I come to think about it

She uses a Greenland paddle I made for her from a cheap 2*4.  It weighs 410 grams and is the right length for her at age 8.  Her Sea Flea is only 50 cm wide so she is able to use a paddle that is close to the same anthropomorphic measurements as Greenland paddles for adults.

I have been making a few changes to my kayak.  I re-routed the cables that raise and lower the rudder, they are now fitted closer to the factory position.  The previous owner had fitted the pulley in front of the cockpit and it was catching on my paddle.  I also removed various bolt on accessories he used for fishing.  Prijon sell HTP sticks the right size for putting into a glue gun so that you can weld over screw holes etc, but since I haven't got any I filled the holes with "rivots" of polymorph plastic.

Polymorph filled bolt holes from the outside

Just pop some in a cup, pour over boiling water and you have plastic about as hot as your fingers can handle that molds like putty but sets hard. No leaks and its easy to remove, just use a sharp knife to cut off one end of the "rivot" and you can pull it out.  No leaks today and I much prefer having a clear deck.

3 hours after HW

The tide today was 4.83 metres at 12:45.  The picture at the top of the page was taken at 2:30, but the water height was almost the same as the top of the tide.  The effect of the Isle of Wight during spring tidal flows is to cause a long high water stand in Portsmouth Harbour.  See the graph below from Magic Seaweed showing how the height various through the tide cycle.

On spring tides once the stand is over the sea level drops quickly and can easily leave you with a muddy landing or stranded a long way from your car.

Paddle 8 Eastney through Hilsea Creek and back

The forecast for this weekend was Force 3 gusting to Force 7.  That's just too rough for comfort in the Solent, but the picture below taken Saturday lunchtime, shows just how sheltered Langstone harbour can be.

Eastney Harbour Entrance, low tide Saturday 18 September 2014

Steve and I are both from Portsmouth and took advantage of a 4.1 meter neap tide to pass from Langstone Harbour to Portsmouth Harbour via Hilsea Creek.

One thing to be careful of when paddling in Langstone and Portsmouth Harbours is "storm discharge". The local water company will discharge untreated sewage into the harbour if the alternative is to have raw sewage flooding the streets or peoples homes.  Luckily you can see notices of discharges and register for email alerts via the Langstone Harbour Board here.

We had just enough room to pass under the train bridge and the low road bridge by Hilsea roundabout.  It was low pressure so I expect the water was a little higher than 4.1.  If the tide were any higher than today you would need to portage or wait.  The train bridge wouldn't be too bad, close to 50 meters assuming you can get in and out of your kayak via the concrete side which would be about 18 inchs or less from water level.  Hilsea roundabout is another deal.  The only portage would be 600+ meters zig-zaging over the footbridge that crosses 6 or 8 lanes of traffic.  See Google Earth below:

Luckily, we could avoid all such hassle and just drift below the roundabout.

Steve

I made a Greenland paddle when I first started kayaking, mainly because there were so many choices of "serious" kayak paddles all costing hundreds of pounds.  The choices involved length, blade size, blade shape, cranked or straight shaft, fiberglass, carbon fiber and many other variations from manufacturer to manufacturer.  A quick trawl round the internet shows that it is a subject fraught with strong opinions that ultimately boil down to suck it and see.  I decided that I couldn't invest a lot of money in a paddle until I had paddled enough to know what works for me and my body mechanics.  Enter Greenland paddles.  I know there have been some serious journeys completed using them, Greg Stamer and Joe O'Blenis have both proven that a Greenland paddle can do the job.  The attraction to me was the cost.  I could get a decent paddle blank of Western Red Cedar from our local timber merchants for twenty pounds.  In making it myself, I could also modify it and explore which length and shape worked best for me. Four iterations of my paddle later (same piece of wood) and I am close to set on what I want from a paddle.  Steve tried it today and was pleasantly  surprised at how it felt.  Enough that he is interested in making one as a winter project.  I broadly followed the guidelines of Chuck Holst found here.  Kayarchy has an excellent page on Greenland paddles here.

Going back to Greenland

When I bought my Kodiak it came with a euro paddle and I thought I'd give it a go.  My first impressions were positive, but I found that on longer paddles I developed swollen and sore wrists.  Today was my first time going back to my Greenland paddle since buying the Kodiak and I found it placed a great deal less stress on my wrists than my euro paddle.  I need to do some more experimentation with euro and GP paddles in similar conditions to come to any solid conclusions.

Paddle 7 Prinsted Bay

28 September 2014

Sea Flea for another first paddle

The water was warm and murky but still great fun for old and young.  The Sea Flea had another outing and proved itself as an excellent design for young novice kayakers.  My daughter was quite happy controlling it in a F3-F4 breeze, the boat and her are both so light I expected her to be more affected by the wind.  Our friends son had his first kayaking experience and after using it with and without the outriggers decided kayaking is fun.  Plenty of smiles and requests for more time on the water in the future.

Sea Flea with outriggers fitted

Easky left, Kodiak right

The Easky 15 is a boat often recommended to new entrants to kayaking.  I have paddled one on flat water only and found it well behaved and easy to control.  It responds to edging well and feels very predictable.  I can only just fit in the boat with the seat set as far back as it goes and with the foot rests at their longest setting, and then I have to be wearing thin soled shoes.  I'm 6'2" and have unusually long legs with an inside leg measurement of 37" from ground to groin standing in bare feet.  At 113 kg I'm just under 18 stone and within the design load of the boat.  My wife is 5'4" and significantly lighter (apparently its not possible for me to know her actual weight) and she was very happy in the Easky.  She has very little experience in kayaks but has used open canoes on rivers quite a bit, so I think its fair to say the stability of the Easky is suited to novice kayakers.

From this angle they don't look too different

Easky 15 left - Kodiak right

The Easky 15 has a skeg, the Kodiak has an optional rudder.  The camera angle above hides the difference in boat lengths.  While the photo below shows how different the lengths are (Easky 15 4.75 metres, Kodiak 5.18 metres including the rudder), both pictures were taken without moving the boats.

Kodiak left - Easky 15 right

Paddle 6 Southsea Seafront to Portsmouth Harbour and back

21 September 2014 - PDCC trip from Southsea Seafront to Portsmouth Harbour

Lunch stop at Tipnor

This was my first time entering Portsmouth Harbour by kayak.  I have been through on boats and ships many times, but it looks quite different from sitting on the water.  It was a great deal more relaxing than by yacht, but that was in part due to the size of a kayak but its ability to move as fast as many yachts under power.

PDCC paddlers in the lee of a small island

Tony shares my excellent taste for yellow boats!

 No fitness issues today and I'm starting to feel at home with the rudder.  The past few paddles I have been using a euro paddle, an Aquabound Manta Ray.  It came with my boat and after having used Greenland paddles for the past couple of years I didn't expect to like it.  Towards the end of today's paddle I found myself missing my Greenland paddle for the first time.  There have been too many variables changing between paddles for me to give them a direct comparison.  I'm going to have to find some time to do some comparative paddles with each to explore their strengths and weaknesses.

Left Kodiak, right Scorpio

The picture above shows my Kodiak next to a P&H Scorpio.  My Kodiak is known as a high volume expedition boat that can carry vast amounts of kit.  The Scorpio is not, and yet the size difference isn't striking is it?

Paddle 5 Eastney Training Night

Monday evening training with Portsmouth District Canoe Club (PDCC) - 15 Sept 2014

Another excellent evening with PDCC, although it was the last wet training session of the year.  The nights are drawing in and it was dark enough by 8 PM that anyone without a light disappeared from view in a scarily short distance.  I used an Adventure Lights Guardian white light and was very happy with it.

Manufacturers picture

It was certainly bright, not sure how close it is to the manufacturers claim of maximum visibility of 5 km.  Time will tell if the batteries really do last 100 hours as per the manufacturers specifications.  More details can be found here: Adventure lights Guardian Expedition. It is turned on or off by twisting the lens, turning it on tightens it down, unscrew to turn it off, but be careful as if you unscrew too far the whole unit opens and the batteries fall out.  At about  £13 it's not going to break the bank.

Paddle 4 Hilsea Creek and Portsmouth Harbour

Hilsea Creek and Portsmouth Harbour.

Not the most attractive or well cared for site, but it is quick and easy to get to, allowing more time on the water and less time driving.

F2, slack water, launch and return at the public slip next to Hilsea Lido, 6 miles of paddling with and without the rudder just getting used to the boat still.

Looking West from Hilsea Creek towards Pounds Scrap Yard and Portsmouth Harbour

The single largest milestone on today's paddle involved me doing non paddling things while sitting in a kayak on salt water.  It may not sound like much, but being able to take a drink of water, eat some wine gums and even take a photo is something I wouldn't even attempt from my Inuk.

Paddle 3 Chichester Canal

Sunday 7 September 2014 Chichester Canal

Fiona in her Sea Flea today

My daughter is almost 8 and even though she is tall for her age, there are very few kayaks suitable for her.  Tom Yost has published free plans and a building manual for skin on frame kayaks at his excellent website Yostwerks.  The Sea Flea is perfect for her, its a great blend of stability, tracking and speed to allow her to get from A to B playing and learning along the way.  I used reinforced PVC fabric for the skin and while there have been no problems with the skin I'd be much happier with something sturdier like nylon fabric sealed with a polyurethane coating.

The narrow boat tour

Today saw a family outing to Chichester Canal, where Fiona and I paddled our kayaks while my wife and youngest daughter took a narrow boat tour.  The canal trust is run by volunteers and intend to refurbish the canal and build a new lifting bridge that will allow access by boat from Chichester City to Chichester harbor four miles away.

Keeping out of the way of the narrow boat

We paddled about a mile and a half out.  Fiona was bouncing all over the canal and must have covered in excess of two miles before asking for a tow.  This was the first time I had towed her, so we started slowly and soon she was asking for me to go faster and faster.  I looked back to see Fiona instinctively doing low brace turns, zig zagging from side to side on the tow line grinning from ear to ear.  We had no difficulty keeping up with the narrow boat and I'll happily plan longer still water trips with Fiona that include a lunch stop and leg stretch.

Who moved than bank closer?

Paddle 2 Hayling Seafront

Thursday 4 September 2014 Hayling Seafront.

Hayling Seafront looking West towards Portsmouth (taken on a different day near high tide).

One of the advantages of shift work is a midweek day off allowing a peaceful paddle in a place that at the weekends is heaving with people relaxing from their 9 to 5 jobs.

Low tide and a cross shore F3 breeze with a small swell coming from the SE made for enjoyable conditions.  The waves ranged from 1 foot to 2 foot and were at approximately 45 degrees to the beach.  Hayling beach has a large shallow area that is sheltered at low tide by a huge sand bar at the West end of the beach.  I stayed within the large area that is chest deep or less and paddled circuits parallel to the shore enjoying the waves that came in from the SE.  I even surfed a few waves that seemed bigger than the average.

In total I paddled for a solid 90 minutes and realized that I had made things far harder for myself than I needed to on Paddle 1.  I had stopped edging and reverted to my "Inuk safe mode" of using brute paddle force to change direction.  Edging in the Inuk was an affair that frequently resulted in me turning upside down before I could do anything, luckily it was also easy to roll back up.  To be fair to the Inuk, the designed paddler weight is max 100 Kg and I am close to 15% over that naked in the mornings, so by the time I have all my kit on, some coffee and a decent breakfast inside me I am probably more like 20% over design weight.

Today I enjoyed exploring the Kodiak's secondary stability in small waves and massively opened up my edging envelope.  I am continuing to improve my fitness in general, but I'm sure that some more time in the Kodiak, in a variety of conditions, will see me needing to use less energy to get from A to B as my technique improves.

Paddle 1 Ringstead Bay to Lulworth Cove

Sunday 31st August 2014 : Ringstead Bay to Lulworth Cove organised by Portsmouth District Canoe Club (PDCC).  The combination of F3 to F4 winds and swells reflected from the cliffs created a confused sea.

Lulworth Cove - white caps showing on the sea outside the cove but completely sheltered inside.

I was happy with the Kodiak in these conditions, it was predictable and confidence inspiring, but I hadn't adjusted the foot rests correctly.  They were in a comfortable position for bracing my feet against when forward paddling, but not close enough to allow me to engage the thigh braces effectively.  Once I had adjusted the foot braces, the boat felt wonderful and I had no concerns with stability.  I experimented with the rudder and found that it interfered with the seat of the pants feel for the boat.  I suspect there is some counter-intuitive element to rudder steering in a similar way to counter-steering motorbikes.  After enough time in the seat I'm sure I will develop the required intuitive control with either paddle, rudder or a combination of the two.

Gratuitous picture of my boat ashore above Lulworth Cove, once I have a waterproof camera I'll be able to take photos afloat.

One unexpected issue identified on the paddle was the woeful state of my fitness.  I had originally planned on paddling back to the start point along with the rest of the group, but I chose to cut the trip short in Lulworth Cove after just over 5 miles of paddling.  It was very hard for me to admit that I was not able to complete the return trip safely under my own steam.  I have a history of endurance activities and am no stranger to physical challenges or pushing my limits.  I had full confidence in the ability of my paddle partners and they made it clear that within the group there was the capacity and ability to rescue a member of the group who got into trouble, rafted tows being one option.  I know my limits and chose to finish at Lulworth Cove because I was certain I wouldn't make it back to Ringstead Bay without help, just unsure how far I would get before I needed that help.

The challenge now is to improve my paddle fitness.

What's it all about?

Prijon Kodiak

I just bought a new kayak, a Prijon Kodiak, and have been considering how this will impact my kayaking.
My first thought was that I would be able to paddle in a wider variety of conditions now that I have a boat suitable for my skill level, size and shape.  I used a friends Kodiak for an evening with Portsmouth District Canoe Club and enjoyed it so much that I jumped at the chance to buy one that was offered for a reasonable price.

  My last kayak was a Nelo Inuk bought in true Curph style.  I had researched thoroughly, poured over any literature I could find, talked to those with experience and then followed my gut in a tangential leap to buying something inappropriate.  A beautiful, sleek, fast sea kayak.  I did learn a lot in this boat and mostly enjoyed paddling it, but in truth it was holding back my progression.  I was only willing to paddle it in the most benign of conditions.

Nelo Inuk 15% over the design load.

Falling over again

My aim with this blog is to record my paddling exploits with the intention to achieve 52 paddles in the next 12 months.  Why 52?  Once a week may sound like a low target, but considering there will be a few months when it is too cold for me to paddle with the kit I have, some weeks when the weather is too severe and then add family and work commitments, 52 paddles is significantly more than I am used to.