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.