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Trip Reports Page 1
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Kimmeridge to Swanage [aka Worbarrow Bay]
Sunday 21st February 2010Following extended
discussions on the mechanics of arranging a shuttle for a
one way trip to Swanage, it was decided we'd best meet at
Kimmeridge and work it out later. Weather reports were not
looking good with a predicted south-westerly Force 5 later
in the day and the likelihood of some rough water. Seven of
us met and motored down to the bay, luckily arriving before
the man in the toll booth so a substantial loss of income
for the coffers of the estate!
There was a little confusion and possible concern at the
notice on the slip advising that the firing range was open
and the sea was therefore closed but it turned out the sign
had been left out in error and was quickly removed by a
slightly sheepish bloke who'd been called by the coastguard.
Inspection from the slip confirmed our expectations as it
was already a fresh breeze with a lot of white horses and
surf breaking in the bay and on Broadbench, so we decided to
go for plan B, which was to head west to Lulworth with the
option of putting in at Worbarrow Bay if conditions
required. This would be against tide and wind but with some
assistance on the return leg. The prospect of rough
conditions and lack of landing sites made a trip eastwards
and especially around St Aldheim's look a bit too risky.
We launched without mishap and headed out through the
surf aiming to go wide and miss the breaking waves on
Broadbench. The sea was what we'd call confused as were some
of us as there were sets of larger waves coming at irregular
timing and from all sorts of directions. Some of you, by now
will have guessed where this story leads but let's just say
it was a tribute to the paddling skills of (most of) the
group and Bertie's leadership that we have only two
additions this week to the
Swim Tracker! I was first to fall prey to a (huge,
obviously) wave but ably assisted by Bertie, followed
shortly after by Hugh caught by a wave (almost) as large as
mine. A textbook rescue by Clive and we all proceeded with
more than a fair share of bracing and good luck. Progress
was exceedingly slow and when Bertie suggested a stop at
Worbarrow Bay there was no dissent. It had taken us over two
hours of solid paddling to cover about two miles!
We spent a peaceful hour enjoying the rest and Hilary's
baking before heading back to sea where we found conditions
had improved considerably. The swell had subsided, the wind
had dropped and the sun made an appearance so it was really
rather nice. With conditions in our favour we made the
return in under an hour. We took particular care approaching
Kimmeridge Bay following the experiences of some of the
group members last year. We kept wide of Broadbench and kept
a weather eye for rogue waves but arrived back at the slip
without mishap. All in all a hard paddle and a good test of
skills accompanied as always by good humour and convivial
company. Thanks to Bertie for leading and saving us from
disaster and welcome to Jim who joined us for his first
paddle with the club.
There are no accompanying pictures for this report
as Barbara, our resident photographer, was away skiing. |
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Report by: John Christmas |
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Weymouth Harbour, out along the Portland Breakwater
Sunday 7th February 2010A motley yet fine band of
paddlers assembled on the slipway at Weymouth Harbour bright
and early on a Sunday morning. They were commendably led by
Clive West, who attempted to get the properly kitted out
band of 18 merry paddlers into some sort of order. All types
of craft were represented today. The plan for the day was to
head off out through the harbour bound for the northern
entrance of Portland Harbour and on to Chequered Fort. With
appropriate warnings of death by hanging if we dared to
venture onto the structures we duly departed under sunny
blue skies. Obviously Clive had had words with the weather
gods since we had a touch of blue sky and barely any breeze.
The forecast of E /NE 3 -4 was certainly incorrect for the
morning.
We shared the slipway with Weymouth Rowing Club who were
launching a new gig in preparation for some gig racing in
the harbour entrance later that day. The paddle out through
the harbour was a pleasant warm up . As we neared the
harbour entrance the blue sky disappeared and a chill
descended over the area. The sea however was flat calm and
we made rapid progress to our destination, with plenty of
opportunities to chat to fellow paddlers, a number of whom
were meeting for the first time. A special welcome to Jon
Massey, Ron Lee and Michelle Price who were taking part in
their first club paddle.
The only drama on the way out was for Geoff, who had
swapped a borrowed club Charleston for Barbara’s Rockpool
and suddenly found himself taking on water. Stopping to pump
out what appeared to be gallons of water it was unclear
whether this was sea water or whether Geoff had got caught
short after a heavy night the evening before. Geoff’s
concern was more to do with the size of the repair bill that
Barbara might present to him.
On arriving at the Chequered Fort the calm seas meant
that we could fully explore and take in the historical
surroundings. At this point Kevin Mundy decided to put on
some extra clothes, not quite landing on the structure
(obeying the words of out Leader) and it could be said that
it counted as a ‘half –swim’. As we had made such good
progress plans were altered and our erstwhile leader said we
would head across to Sandsfoot. However as the leading group
approached Sandsfoot we were informed that we were heading
for Castle Cove. We never did work out whether Clive’s
navigation was faulty or whether that was the intention all
along!
Anyway we lunched on the beach, Barbara and Hilary
ensured our energy levels were high for the return journey
by providing plentiful home baking, including left overs
from Ian’s birthday cake. Happy belated birthday Ian!
Meanwhile Barbara’s boat was temporarily repaired and she
happily swopped back into her now dry boat.
With the breeze picking up slightly, together with the
sea state, we set off for the northern entrance of Portland
Harbour. It was slightly choppy coming out through the
entrance and making our way back to the harbour entrance,
but all managed well with no swimmers or near misses. The
rest of the group paddled back without incident to the
slipway, with the exception of Jon and Barbara who paddled
between the hulls of the large cat. They were suitably
rebuked by an irate crew member.
All managed to exit safely, so the first paddle of the
year with no swimmers and no alteration in the current
league table.
Yet again it was a great day out paddling in local
waters. It was great to see so many club members out and
especially good, as a new member, to meet other new /
relatively new members and put faces to names or forum
names, as well as meet the ‘die hard’ committee members who
together put much time and effort into making the IOPCC a
success. Thanks are particularly due to Bertie for arranging
the programme and to Clive for his unflappable leadership,
even in the event of partial rebellions and much talk about
tassels. You’ll have to get to know me a bit better to find
out more about that one! |
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Report by Jill Franks
Pictures by Barbara Browning,
Roger Williamson & Jill Franks |
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Sandbanks to Ballard Point via Old Harry's Rocks.
Sunday 17th January 2010.After the extremely cold,
frosty, snowy, windy weather Dorset has had so far this year
Sunday 17th January was a beautiful day. The Isle of
Portland Canoe Club took advantage of the excellent weather
forecast and 15 members met at Sandbanks, Poole. There was a
blue sky, sunshine, a light breeze and a calm sea. It wasn’t
warm but everyone had appropriate gear for January paddling.
We could see our main objective Old Harry Rocks, 5km in the
distance.
We set off from Sandbanks across the entrance of Poole
harbour towards Studland Bay. There was very little traffic
on the water and we were able to cross the main channel
easily. In the summer this area can be very busy but on this
occasion we
had it to ourselves and crossed easily into Studland Bay
which was beautiful and calm. As we paddled across we met
three more Club Members who had launched at Knoll Beach.
This made a total of 18 paddlers on the water – an IOPCC
Club record.
From the calm of Studland Bay we could see the ominous white
of breaking waves around Handfast Point – Old Harry’s Rocks.
The stacks point out from Handfast Point towards the Needles
on the Isle of Wight, 28km across Bournemouth Bay. ‘ Old
Harry’ is an archaic name for Satan, and describes the stack
at the seaward end. A tide race forms off the outer edge of
the rocks and on this occasion with a big spring tide and
residual swell it was working well! For most people this was
good fun and everyone bounced round this spectacular
Headland into the relative calm of the cliffs towards
Ballard Point where we paddled inshore to be close to the
spectacular chalk spires, pinnacles and caves that form off
the white cliffs.
At Ballard Point we turned and paddled back through the
stacks and pinnacles to Old Harry’s. The tide race had
developed further and we had the combination of following
waves and tide against us. For those who chose to give Old
Harry a wide berth the tide was stronger and those paddlers
who cut in close had large breaking waves. Too large for
Hugh who capsized, failed to roll and swam. Ken skilfully
reached him and carried out an efficient rescue so Hugh,
clad in a dry suit, was unscathed and quickly back in his
boat. The other 17 paddlers eventually battled their way
against the tide back into the calm of Studland Bay and we
then paddled across to
Joe’s Café for a well-earned lunch break. Some keener
Club members took advantage of the calm safe water and
practiced their rolling skills before lunch. Most people
decided to stay relatively dry.
After lunch we paddled inshore along Studland Beach and
played in the small surf waves. This was very good fun. Cate
got a bit carried away and capsized. She was quite close to
the beach and was safely washed up. We dropped three people
off at Knoll beach and made our way back to the training
wall and the main channel out of Poole Harbour. The tide was
running out of the Harbour very quickly and we had to work
quite hard to get across the Channel. There were waves off
the Sandbanks in the bay to add a bit of interest to the
last kilometre before we all safely reached the beach at
Sandbanks. All landed without incident apart from Clive who
decided to swim the last 10 metres – smiling and swimming –
now that’s a neat trick in January!
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Report and pictures by: Barbara Browning |
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Sandsfoot to Ferrybridge and up The Fleet
Sunday 3rd January 2010.Sunday January 3rd was
forecast to be cold and windy. The scheduled event in the
IOPCC paddling programme was to put in at Sandsfoot on
Portland Harbour, paddle up the Fleet and then back again.
This paddle was suitable for everyone and a group of 12 met
at Sandsfoot at 09.30am. The forecast was accurate. Freezing
temperatures and a strong easterly breeze.
The group included the usual suspects in closed cockpit sea
kayaks but also three new members in sit on top kayaks. It
was good to see twelve people on the water and to welcome
new members in craft we had little experience of so early in
the year.
It was a high spring tide and the whole of the beach at
Sandsfoot was covered at HW. We knew this meant that the
flow under Ferrybridge was likely to be in excess of 6
knots! Well wrapped up in a variety of dry suits, pogies,
balaclavas, pink woolly hats etc we set off with the wind
behind for Ferrybridge. There were waves but everyone coped
with this without a murmur. Approaching Ferrybridge it was
evident that the wind and waves were funnelling through the
gap and with wind against tide there was significant rough
water! Out leader Clive J had asked Ian and I to bring up
the rear so we had a good view of the group as they rode the
waves . 10 out of 10 for surfing style to John Mc on his 3m
SOT. I have never seen a SOT surf – and as it turned out
neither had John! He seemed to be having fun…sort of!
Once safely through into the Fleet we had a relatively easy
paddle up the Fleet. Although we were against the tide the
easterly wind was significant and we were blown up to the
narrow gap next to the Army barracks. The flow here is
squeezed and was very fast. Clive West was delighted to be
able to use his towrope in tandem with Ian to give John Mc a
bit of help up to the lunch stop.
As it was such a cold day Clive J who was leading the trip
had planned to stop after 1.5 hours so the time out was
about 3 hours. We had a short break on Chesil beach for a
chat and a hot drink. The flow had increased even more and
was perfect for practicing ferry gliding so we did a bit of
that before setting off at speed through the narrows and
back down the Fleet. We regrouped before Ferrybridge and
John Mc left us at this point preferring to walk back with
his SOT on wheels.
The group whizzed under the bridge and just as it seemed
we would get through without incident Sandra was taken by
surprise by a very fierce eddy and her SOT turned over. The
flow was very fast and she was quickly swept out into the
Harbour. Once clear of the flow and eddy Kevin M was able to
raft alongside and turn the boat over and Sandra was able to
climb on. In those conditions it took longer than any of us
would have liked to get Sandra out of the water. (about 3
minutes) The sea kayaks were difficult to manoeuvre in the
wind and waves and we had no experience of rescuing with a
SOT.
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| Sandra and Ryan and their
Prowlers at Sandsfoot |
Clive J giving the group their
briefing |
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| John McKinlay on the way to
Ferrybridge |
A grey day over Portland |
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| Heading up The Fleet |
Kevin M, later to become the hero
of the day. |
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| John Mc getting a helping tow up
The Fleet |
A well earned break on The Fleet |
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| John Christmas
surprised and delighted not to be first on the
Swim
Tracker! |
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Once aboard Sandra was cold but otherwise unscathed. The
wind had increased to 24 knots gusting 27 knots easterly -
that is Force 6 gusting Force 7 against us. The paddle back
to Sandsfoot is just over a kilometre and it was quite a
battle against the wind and waves. We all paddled back and
arrived back at Sandsfoot having enjoyed our adventure.
| Barbara's pictures of the paddle are on the
Galleries Page. This report has been taken up by the Dorset Echo. You can
read it
HERE>> |
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Report and pictures by: Barbara Browning |
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IOPCC Christmas Paddle
Sunday 20th December 2009
After several weekends
where the conditions were too wet and windy to get out on
the sea, the weather forecast for the planned Club paddle on
December 20th looked like paddling would be possible.
December is usually
chilly, but when you have to chip ice from the inside of
your kayak rather than sponge it out you know that an extra
layer under the dry suit is a good plan. So having rooted
out the pogies and the hats the advance party met at
Sandsfoot and launched at 10am. There were four paddling
from Sandsfoot – Jill, the fifth person was unable to make
it from Reading because she was snowed in!
Despite the freezing
temperature it was a beautiful bright sunny morning with the
forecast 10 knots of Westerly breeze behind us. We made easy
progress across Portland Harbour and out of the North Ship
Channel. Weymouth Bay was a pretty place to be. We made our
way round the bay to Bowleaze Cove where we met up with the
rest of the group at 11am. Our group now numbered 10 as we
made our way around Redcliff – pausing to try and catch some
feeble surf waves – and along the coast to Osmington Mills.
It was good to see such a large group of Club members out so
close to Christmas. Beats Christmas shopping!
The sea conditions made
the landing at Osmington straightforward so there were no
swimmers – not that they would have counted...yet! The muddy
scramble up the cliff was strenuous but the warmth of the
Smugglers Arms made it well worth it. Our break in the pub
was very pleasant especially as we were joined by Club
members who weren’t paddling and also non-paddling family
and friends.
At 1.30pm we were on our
way again – sliding down the cliff ready to paddle back. As
expected the gentle breeze of the morning had picked up to
20 knots and the paddle back required more energy. The water
as it splashed over the foredeck into your face was
surprisingly warm!! Shortly before we dropped the main group
off at Bowleaze we met up with Hugh deIongh. Hugh had been
sailing in the morning but jumped out of his Laser into the
Sirius and paddled out to join us.
It seemed a
lot further on the way back due to the freshening breeze
which was right on the nose but we made it back to Sandsfoot
with daylight to spare. No one was too keen to do any
rolling practice, despite it being the first outing for
Hugh’s new dry suit. So we quickly changed and packed up the
boats with minutes to spare for the Carol singing in Hope
Square at 4pm.
Happy Christmas Everyone.
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| Clive, Bertie and Ian on the way
to Bowleaze |
The group on the way to
Osmington. |
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| The group on the way to
Osmington. |
New member Geoff in his shiny new
Christmas cag! |
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| The boats at Osmington |
Bertie and Jamie at The Smugglers
Arms |
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| The group, fed and
watered, ready to paddle back from Osmington |
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Report and pictures by: Barbara Browning |
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River Barle: Tarr Steps to Exebridge
Sunday 15th November 2009
After a week of heavy rain the first Club river trip of
the season was eagerly anticipated. Seven paddlers headed up
to Somerset to Tarr Steps to paddle the river Barle down to
Exe Bridge a section totalling some 16 kilometres.
The first section is the South West’s most popular and best
Grade 2 trip. Its popularity was confirmed as we arrived at
Tarr Steps to find about 30 other paddlers already there.
Out trip had coincided with an annual race, which is held in
memory of a paddler who had drowned on the river 21 years
ago. Just the sort of reminder that the more apprehensive of
us needed! The race got underway while we shuttled our
vehicles and by the time we were ready to go there were a
lot less people about.
The river was quite high but manageable and we were treated
to impressively long and numerous rapids. The purchaser of
the beers was quickly decided as Ian took a swim early on
(after about 400 metres) after failing to negotiate a very
large rock. The interest continued down past Marsh Bridge
with some interesting rapids that were challenging in places
for most of the group but good fun! Continuing on towards
Dulverton still water and a horizon line heralded the town
weir. River right provided an easy line and all successfully
negotiated the weir. Below the weir a long braided rapid led
us into Dulverton where this section of the river ends, just
below Dulverton Bridge.
Following on from Dulverton down to Exebridge the last 6
kilometres continued to provide interesting paddling, as the
level was quite high. There is a large weir about a
kilometre after Dulverton. We portaged this one and welcomed
the leg stretch this opportunity to be out of the boats
provided. The second weir was more straightforward and we
all successfully slid down its face. Not long after that the
Barle and the Exe converge and there was an enjoyable surf
wave lurking where we stopped to play and Andy demonstrated
a couple of good rolls!
After another kilometre the road bridge came into view. We
had reached our egress and after changing enjoyed a pint (or
hot chocolate for some) in the Anchor Inn.
Thanks to Bertie for leading this trip.
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John seal launching
at Tarr Steps |
Bertie Beckram |
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| The group on the water |
Portaging the weir |
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| Waiting to shoot Dulverton Town
weir |
Bertie playing in a surf wave |
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| To the pub...!! |
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| This report also appears in the 'Dorset Afloat' pages
more>>
Barbara's pictures of the paddle are on the
Galleries Page. |
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Report and pictures by: Barbara Browning |
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Sandbanks to Ballard Point.
Sunday 27th September 2009
Sunday 27th September was a beautiful day. The sky was
clear blue, the sun shone all day, it was 20 degrees or
more, the sea was calm and the seven members of IOPCC who
went out paddling from Sandbanks had a splendid day out!
Where were you???
Launching from Sandbanks beach was very straightforward
at 10am as there were few people about and the sea was flat.
We set off towards Shell Bay and crossed the Channel as a
group with no problems from the other craft in the channel.
As there was only a light breeze blowing most of the sailing
craft were motoring.
We made our way in a leisurely sociable manner across
Studland Bay towards Old Harry Rocks. The stacks point out
from Handfast Point towards the Needles on the Isle of Wight
28km across Bournemouth Bay. Old Harry is an archaic name
for Satan and is used to describe the stack at the seaward
end. In the nineteenth century Old Harry had a wife but this
accompanying stack fell into the sea. The perfection
continued, as it was neap tides with only 20cm of tidal
range so the tidal race, which can form off the outer edge
of the rocks, was not working.
We remained inshore and pottered along to Ballard Point
under the arches, into the caves and round the chalk spires
and pinnacles. The spectacular chalk cliffs stretch
progressively higher but then fall away after Ballard Point.
At Ballard we decided to paddle back the way we had come
and enjoy the amazing scenery again before going to the café
in Studland bay for our lunch break.
We enjoyed an hour sunning ourselves over lunch before
launching again. We paddled inshore along the beach at
Studland. There were hundreds of Naturists out enjoying the
sunshine. A pity the battery on my camera had died by this
time!
We made our way over the training wall, across the
channel, over the Sandbanks and back to the beach. Some of
the group then did some rolling practice in the lovely warm
water! After loading the boats and changing we enjoyed an
ice cream in the late afternoon sun while taking in the view
of where we had been.
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Jill crossing towards
Shell Bay. |
Nick at Old Harry |
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| New member Jill |
Sheriff Hugh De Iongh |
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| Old Harry |
Hilary at Old Harry |
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| The group before
leaving Sandbanks. |
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Report and pictures by: Barbara Browning |
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Night Paddle, Ringstead to Durdle
Door and back.
Saturday 18th July.
A message on the ansa-phone in the afternoon from Hugh
confirmed the trip was on. The heat wave earlier in the
month a distant memory, the planned trip actually fitted
into a brief window of light winds (SW 3), calmish seas(
slight) and no rain (dry!)
So on the beach finds us having an in-depth briefing,
which included the issue of personal laminated maps, which
enabled our group of 5 to set off eastwards.
We cleared Ringstead (which is a big bay) around a small
choppy point. The eroded grooves on the cliffs tell their
tale-this is an exposed coastline in spite of our eponymous
island in the way of the prevailing South Westerlies.
So the green coast of the bay gives way to the deserted
cliffs with Bat Hole in the distance. Small groups of
cormorants could be seen. We took our turns to go through
Bats Hole which was calm and the sea full of kelp, to find
Hugh ambushing us armed with his camera.
Next Durdle Door which is still standing in spite of my
sons claims that it had fallen in due to a combination of
global warming and acid rain.
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| Ready for the off at
Ringstead |
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| Bats Hole |
Durdle Door |
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| A very reflective
group! |
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Around the corner we beached, stretched our legs and were
treated to refreshments-home made flapjacks and what's this?
Hot chocolate flavoured with almond liqueur! A nice touch Mr
De Iongh.
Issued with whistles, green ,pink and purple night lights
we set off back. The journey back was a delight ,into a
freshening wind in our faces. Tidal assistance meant easy
paddling with the hull of my canoe slapping down loudly into
wave troughs. The light went quickly, huge formations of
heavy, dark rain clouds out to sea built up rapidly, filling
the horizon.
In the gloom we spotted the rocks of the causeway and
beached in the dark with varying degrees of clumsiness.
It was a successful trip and most invigorating. Thanks to
Hugh for organising it. He obviously put a lot of thought
and effort in and everybody enjoyed it.
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Report by: Rob Hogben | Pictures : Hugh
DeIongh |
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IOPCC FRIENDS AND FAMILY DAY
Saturday 11th July - Sandsfoot
Despite the weather we had a very successful, relaxed and
enjoyable afternoon on the water.
The forecast wasn’t good, and true to met office predictions
it started raining on Friday night and seemed determined to
drizzle all the next day. Lots of phone calls in the morning
expecting cancellation but no, we were running with what
we’d got.
Ken arrived with a much larger fleet of boats than
anticipated (thanks to John Perham of WOEC, who lent us the
Jurassic Kids kayaks) and combined with IOPCC’s club boats I
thought we would have more kayaks than people!
BUT within 30 minutes of kick off the whole fleet was on the
water and there were kayaks and paddlers everywhere – what a
great sight! Lovely to see new faces and whole families
trying paddling out for the first time and others who just
turned up for a go. Lots of fun was had by all. Unlike last
year there was no passing trade from accidental tourists
that happened to be attracted by the boats and noise, but
some very keen and determined folks ready for some sport.
In all, it was a very enjoyable and relaxing (if not the
sunniest) afternoon. A big thank you to Will who did a grand
job of looking after everyone on the water, Ken for bringing
the boats and returning them, John, Gemma, Keziah and Hannah
for helping with the clear up.
Feedback from the punters has been very positive, so perhaps
we’ll see some new faces on the water.
Thank you to everyone for turning up.
Cate
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Report by: Cate Bargh | Pictures : Barbara
Browning |
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Aveton Gifford to Thurlestone
30th-31st May 2009
The weekend 30th-31st May was the highlight of IOPCC’s
month. Ken Baillie carefully planned the Club trip to
Thurlestone in the South Hams of Devon. This was such a
great weekend enjoyed by 11 members. Ken had got it all
organised and the whole trip went perfectly. Even the
weather was great.
Most people met at Dorchester Tesco’s and travelled down in
convoy to the Car Park at Aveton Gifford where we were due
to launch at 14.00. This was at about half tide and we had
to walk with our boats floating along for the first few
hundred meters or so before there was enough water to
paddle. The sheltered estuary was very beautiful with lots
of birds and an ebbing tide to float down on. At Bantham the
pace of the tide quickened as we wound our way past the
thatched boat house and between the moored boats. As we
reached the mouth of the river we came out of the shelter
and felt the Force 5 easterly wind. The waves were
substantial in the entrance and we were in the company of
kite surfers who were often spectacularly airborne. As usual
there were a couple of larger waves which some people got
trashed by – but everyone stayed upright.
Once out onto the ocean we headed inshore to appreciate the
spectacular coastline and to try to get out of the full
force of the wind, which was gusting up to 25 knots. It was
a hot sunny day out of the wind and the beaches were very
busy with holidaymakers. We had hoped to camp on a beach at
Thurlestone but we carried on to Hope Cove where we stopped
for an ice cream. Cate decided she was a little warm and had
a swim on the way in. Hugh valiantly went to her rescue.
Ken had a chat with the Harbour Master at Hope Cove and
agreed that it was OK for us to camp around the corner from
the main beach. It was just a 5-minute paddle away but very
secluded as it could only be reached by boat. We set up camp
there and enjoyed food, drink, a fire and good company in a
beautiful location with perfect weather. It was Clive’s 60th
birthday so we all enjoyed the cake Hilary had made for the
occasion. Even a half moon and the stars came out to join
us.
An uneventful night led to a perfect morning. Our leader had
said the plan was OTW 9am sharp. Such was the enthusiasm and
organisation of the group that we were ready to go at 08.15
– so we did. The wind had dropped and it was a perfect blue
day. As the tide was flooding we were able to paddle through
Thurlestone Rock which is an arch . After this the group
split as 4 paddlers stayed inshore to rock hop whilst the
rest of the group carried on out to go around Burgh Island.
Ken had arranged VHF communication channels in advance so
there were no worries and we all met up at
Challaborough for a leisurely brunch.
Once again Kens planning was perfect and we were able to
paddle across the bar, which links Burgh Island to Bigbury
at high water. It was good fun to paddle our boats across
with people paddling across.
There was some waves and surf to be enjoyed on our way back
into the Avon estuary. The tide was weakly flooding up the
estuary and we had a leisurely paddle back up to Aveton
Gifford accompanied by jumping fish, egrets, herons and
swans. This was an excellent club trip, carefully and
meticulously organised by Ken and enjoyed by us all.
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| Leaving Aveton Gifford |
Thatched boathouse at Bantham |
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| Paddling out avoiding the
kite-surfers |
Camping near Hope Cove |
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| Barbecue and beer on the beach |
Hilary's latent pyromania finds
an outlet. |
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First Stella of the day
7.52am! Brave man! |
Clive |
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| Thurlestone Rock. |
Crossing the sand bar at Burgh
Island |
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| Most of the group at
Thurlestone Rock. |
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Back to the top |
Report by: Barbara Browning |
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Poole to Brownsea Island
12th April 2009
Easter Sunday 0930: Lake Pier car park. The sky didn’t
look as promising as forecast. Six of us were preparing to
be on the water at 10:00; two more, Barbara and Ian were
already on the water, paddling round from their overnight
camp, with their equipment stowed in their sea kayaks. We
were also pleased to be hosts to Emlyn. He was on holiday
from South Wales, and had sought us out through the
wonderful IOPCC website. He was joining us on our trip in
his Capella (his wife went shopping in Bournemouth with his
wallet - good effort!).
Clive West organised this trip meticulously, as he did not
want to be responsible for getting us stuck in the mud at
low tide! The sky brightened as we prepared to launch (this
included Ian and Hilary clearing my boat of wood lice - I
must use my boat more!). Clive handed out laminated OS maps
of the area which included our destination: Brownsea Island.
Also included were the tide directions and speeds taken from
tidal diamonds on the chart.
We set off on time, with the sun glittering on the water
now. Conditions were calm and clear. We paddled straight
across the end of Wareham Channel to the other side and
headed south skirting the Arne nature reserve. This was very
tranquil. Anchored ‘gin palaces’ were dotted here and there
and impressive properties peeped out from the shore. We
passed Long Island and the wooded Round Island and then
headed east towards Green Island and Furzey Island, passing
a colony of noisy gulls.
From Fitzworth Point we headed north-east, straight across
to the west side of Brownsea Island. This was as exposed as
it got with a mild head wind and some gentle bouncy water.
The approach to Brownsea was inspiring - peaceful sandy
beaches and pine woods. I was looking forward to my lunch
only to be told by Clive that we had to paddle all the way
round the island first!
Landing is forbidden on most of the north side and all of
the east side due to nesting birds, including
Oyster-catchers and Canadian geese of which we saw lots.
Brownsea Island has been a designated nature reserve since
1927, now managed by the National trust. It is also famous
for being the birthplace of scouting, with Baden Powell
taking his first group there. The view of Poole on our left
was not particularly attractive but the harbour was full of
activity with sailing boats, cruisers, wind-surfers and
skidoos.
As we passed Sandbanks and rounded the corner onto the
south side of Brownsea the calm and tranquillity returned.
With the island on our right hand side now and superb views
of green mainland including the Purbeck hills in the
distance. Despite my rumbling tummy the mood was relaxed and
the temperature warm. Along the beach people were enjoying
the holiday. Craig obviously still had some energy to dispel
before lunch, as he did some Eskimo rolls. |
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Clearing Fiona's boat of
stowaway woodlice! |
Craig and John |
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| Emlyn, Fiona and Clive |
Craig at Brownsea Island |
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| John at Brownsea Island |
Oystercatchers amongst the
pottery waste. |
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| Barbara's winning entry into the
Easter baking wars |
Entrants in an Easter Bonnet
competition. |
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Barbara, Ian, Emlyn,
Hilary,
Clive, John, Craig and Fiona |
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Brownsea Island is a peaceful place with woodland, wetland
and heath. It has a rich diversity of wildlife including
Sika deer and the endangered red squirrel. We saw neither of
these but were pleased to see wild violets during our trips
inland to the virtual toilet.
We ate lunch in the sun on warm mossy ground on the
southwest corner. The beach here is covered in old broken
clay pots. These are left over from The Branksea Clay and
Pottery Company which built a three storey pottery on the
south shore over 150 years ago, employing two hundred
people. The clay proved to be not good enough for fine
pottery and terracotta chimneys were not profitable enough.
The pottery closed down after five years.
Anxious not too leave things too late with the tide going
out, we headed in a straight line back to Lake Pier. Four
kilometres later we arrived back at 14:30, in plenty of
time, much to Clive's relief!
This was a really pleasant trip with great company and
helped along by good weather and delicious home baked cake
thanks to Hilary, Ian and Barbara. |
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Back to the top |
Report by: Fiona Marlow |
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Bude Surf Trip
29th March 2009
Early on Sunday morning nine paddlers ventured north to
sample the thundering surf of Widemouth Bay in Bude. Surf
reports did not look overly optimistic despite high wind and
rough seas earlier in the week, but we decided to go anyway
as there was bound to be more than in Weymouth. The day did
not look promising with an early morning frost and the usual
build up of rain clouds as we approached Honiton. Things
improved as we made fast progress with no traffic problems
and without getting lost. The omens improved further when
the beach café opened just as we arrived and coffee and
bacon butties brightened the prospects markedly. The day
continued to improve with some nice clean waves and a bright
blue sky. The beach was unusually quiet with hardly any
board surfers and paddlers in the majority- surf probably
not big enough for the hard-core locals. Much riding of waves followed accompanied by occasional
swimming although not nearly so frequent or as painful as
the whitewater swimming practice of previous months. Bertie,
Steve and Matt showed off their skills in their glass-fibre
surf boats while the rest of us did our best in the plastic.
Ken demonstrated his patent T-Bone rescue to good effect and
a fair amount of rolling was evident. The surf had been about 12feet by the time we got back to
Dorchester (measured in the 'proper way' from the sea-bed to
somewhere above the crest of the wave). The day was
unfortunately without any real drama or tragedy, although we
did scour the beach for possible accidents and photo
opportunities but everyone enjoyed themselves and returned
exhausted which all adds up to a pretty damn good day on the
water, which is what it’s all about.
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Dave, Ian, Barbara,
Ken, Matt, Jake and John. |
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John and Ken
ready to rumble |
Bertie, one of the
fibreglass hotshots |
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| Barbara, getting serious. |
Ken...he just smiled all day! |
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| Dave, taking it easy. |
Steve. Ready to make the rest of
us look rubbish! |
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Barbara, battling out for
another ride. |
Ian riding high, just before yet
another swim! |
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| Ken |
John and Jake |
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Back to the top |
Report by: John Christmas |
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