Browsing Archive: May, 2013
Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 29, 2013,
Having promised there would only be one more update, there needs to be two... There's too much to put into one post, so I'll put up one on kit in a few days.
I’ve spent the last few days eating, sleeping, and getting
round to sorting out the rather damp pile of kit that has been dumped in the
garage. Bizarrely I’m missing the paddling, despite the efforts required to
make it to the finish in the headwinds. The simplicity of paddling eating and sleeping
is much easier than “normality”...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 22, 2013,
I have to say it's an awful lot quicker in a car! I was back in sunny Devon less than 24 hours after finishing, in a bit of a daze. It's quite hard to adjust to seeing things moving past you at 70mph, rather than 3mph!
I'm still a bit dopey, the last four days really took it out of me, so I feel like I've got jet lag. I wasn't aware that Scotland was in a different time zone....
Everything is now so much easier, things like making a cup of tea is back to being simple again. Rather than having t...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Monday, May 20, 2013,
This morning started early, I needed to be paddling at 0600 to catch the tides right, there was the most beautiful sunrise over my campsite, but that was the only thing the weather did to help today..
The last three days have been into headwinds, but today there was a little more punch to it so I knew it was going to feel really horrible. Despite the fact that I was paddling to the actual destination I'd been heading for for the last month, I really struggled to get the body working this morni...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Monday, May 20, 2013,
Another quality day, some of the most impressive coastline I've paddled.
I left my campsite perched on the edge of the golf course, and headed out knowing this was going to be the best weather day so required some distance.
After the relative dullness of yesterday the paddling today was amazing. Huge cliffs with cathedral size caves, massive arches and stacks, and enormous sea bird colonies. I could have quite easily have spent days on this coast, every cornouter you went round opened up more t...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Monday, May 20, 2013,
Proper update later. Eating at the moment....
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Saturday, May 18, 2013,
So much for my plans for a short day....
Left the campsite about 0830 after having a cup of tea made for me by my camping neighbours, for which I was extremely grateful, and set off into the misty foggy headwind. The day stayed pretty much like that all the way to Tarbatt Ness, with nothing going on. It was essentially the exact opposite of this picture from Loch Ness a couple of days ago.
I'd planned on finding somewhere to camp at the , but it was/a bit grim and rainy etc. So I figured I'd ke...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Saturday, May 18, 2013,
Short day today, which actually felt really civilised. I got up and slowly packed away the tent, finally getting on the water about 1100. I had toyed with going down the river Ness rather than the canal, but the prospect of damaging the boat so close to the end, made me decide against it.
Finishing the canal was a relatively big thing in my small world, as that's it for the canals now, just some sea left and I'm done!
I've got the return journey sorted, John from Skern is coming to pick me up. ...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Friday, May 17, 2013,
I can see why it's called the Great Glen...
Top day out. Not a breath of wind, which is apparently unusual, meant a lush paddle through beautiful scenery, I can't upload pictures at the moment but if I could that's all this post would be.
The way the lochs etc. are set up for paddlers makes it really civilised, so it was easy to make good progress. I've stopped at one of the designated camping spots again which are really good, and that leaves a short section into Inverness in the morning.
I nee...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Friday, May 17, 2013,
Today was almost as impressive as yesterday. I needed an early start to be able to pass the tidal narrows at Corran, so set my alarm for 0430. At 0630 I finally managed to get up, and a slightly frantic packing session meant I was on the water just before 0700. The coastline followed all the themes of yesterday, really pretty, varied, and lots of wildlife. I had a headwind all day, so progress was slowed a little and when I arrived at the Corran Narrows, the tide was flying out and there...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Tuesday, May 14, 2013,
That has to rank as one of the most enjoyable days on the water I've had. It started well with a full Scottish breakfast, and I have to say I think there's only been a couple of days without haggis so far in Scotland. I got back onto the Crinan and within an hour was back onto salty water being gently pushed out on the tide. The tides were a little awkward today, with the pushing tide not arriving until mid afternoon, this left me with a number of possible route choices, and also meant huggin...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Monday, May 13, 2013,
So, going nowhere today. The winds are belting again, and with a forecast of snow! I've decided to stay here until tomorrow. I've taken a walk down into the local town to restock up on a few bits which should hopefully see me through until the end of the trip.
Up until now I've been dealing with days, and ignoring the bigger picture stuff, as it really helps me avoid getting overwhelmed by the enormity of it. Today's the first day I've looked at the track to see where I've been, as I'm close ...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Monday, May 13, 2013,
After a good nights sleep I left early to try and catch a brief window of favourable wind. The weather has become absolutely everything in Scotland, I've been getting my forecasts via VHF as the mobile signal is weak, and at some point in every forecast for the last four days there has been a severe gale 9 occuring at sometime. I'm finding it a bit like playing chicken in deciding whether to go or not, as there are periods of relative calm, like this morning, before it unleashes again. You've...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Sunday, May 12, 2013,
So, the day started with me thinking that someone had decided to jetwash the tent. The rain was being pelted at it by the promised gale force winds. Somewhere the rain had found its way in, so the day had a decidely damp start. I packed away all the gear with the rain still lashing down, and headed round the SE tip of the island.
As soon as I rounded the corner it became apparent that the promised Westerly winds had in fact got North in them, any wind with North in when you're headed that way ...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Sunday, May 12, 2013,
So after a weatherbound day yesterday, conditions this morning looked significantly better. There was a bit of breeze but nothing like the gales of the last two days. The fotrecast is due to worsen tomorrow, so I decided to get as far up the Firth of Clyde as I could.
The remainder of my journey up the North Channel was straight forwards, as the ex harbourmaster from Portpatrick had shown me where all the eddies and tidal lifts occurred. The ferries crossing to N Ireland, were the next problem...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Thursday, May 9, 2013,
Sod that! Another night in Portpatrick for me. Gusting 40mph, going to wait till it drops to a more manageable 20 mph tomorrow.
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 8, 2013,
Welcome to Scotland. I knew I was in Scotland this morning, as I was woken by the hammering of rain on the tent. The winds that had made me leave the Island had arrived, but based on the fact I was going downwind again, and Port Logan, although pretty, wasn't really a venue to spend a few days. I left about 11 heading up the coast.
As I was paddling the winds were getting stronger and stronger, but with no significant groundswell manageable. Then the four horsemen of the apocalypse arrived fro...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 8, 2013,
After the long day yesterday I thought I'd take it easy today and saunter up the West coast, having a pleasant day out. Conditions were perfect, light winds, sunshine, good tide times, so I left my campsite around 0900 and headed West.
I was right at the end of the tide when I paddled through the Calf of Man sound, but it was still shifting quite quickly, it must be great fun in there when it's in full flow. I don't know what I expected from the Isle of Man, but I was astounded by how good th...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 8, 2013,
I left Anglesey this morning heading out for the Isle of Man. Having had a couple of rest days felt ready for the crossing, and conditions seemed to be ok. The forecast had changed so many times I decided that having a look in the morning and seeing if I thought it was alright, was probably the best option.
There's not much I can tell you about the crossing, it was long, it started off windy but that subsided through the day, there was around four hours where I couldn't see land at all, bar t...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Sunday, May 5, 2013,
So, the weather has seemed to have settled on the right side of a force four, which means that I'm going for the Isle of Man tomorrow. The crossing is long enough without starting further south, so today I headed to the North Coast to get a better start point.
The crosing from Penmon to the point was pretty hairy, with a strong Southwesterly wind blowing I had waves breaking over me for the first time this trip. The 12miles took just over 3 hours, and I arrived at the normally empty cove of P...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Saturday, May 4, 2013,
I had another sorting things out day today. I went to the Symposium and caught up with the guys from Celtic Paddles, it was great to see all the stuff they've got going in in terms of new ideas, and beautiful shiny carbon... I've been nothing but impressed with the blades I've been using. The ability to alternate between wing paddles and normal blades has been like having a rest day, due to altering my technique sufficiently to use different muscle groups, some of which I didn't know I had.
Ch...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Friday, May 3, 2013,
Two weeks ago today I left Lands End, and now I'm sat in my Mums lounge on Anglesey.
I spoke to a journalist yesterday whilst floating out off the N. Wales coastline, and she asked the what the highlight had been so far. I had to really think hard, because allthough there have been some challenges, the whole trip has been fantastic, everything has worked well, and I've had great support from family and friends back in Devon, which makes it infinitely easier.
I wrote on the opening page of the...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Friday, May 3, 2013,
I'd decided I needed an early start to get the best of the tide, so set the alarm for 0500, I woke up at 0630 having chosen to ignore it.
This is the first morning so far on the trip that I've had to crack the ice off my kit, this must mean I'm back in Wales. Because of my late start it was a bit of a rush to get everything packed up and on the boat, but I managed to leave just before 0700.
I pointed straight at the Great Orme and paddled offshore all morning, bypassing Rhyl etc. I stopped at ...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Thursday, May 2, 2013,
I set off from Chester just before high tide and, worked my way against the tide until it turned. It was good to be back on the salty stuff again, but I'll need to get used to working around the tides and weather again.
The Dee estuary has got some tricky sandbanks, choosing which way to go was based more around luck than judgement. The OS map was slightly clearer than the chart which just said that the banks were subject to change. Helpful.... I made it to the point just before the tide chang... Continue reading ...
Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 1, 2013,
Quick couple of hours to get down into Chester, and for the first time on the trip, I got hassled by a swan. Apparently the chicks were born yesterday, so he was very keen that I got off the river! Fortunately this was at the Dee junction which is where I wanted to get off.
There were some volunteers painting the lock gates, the Dee junction canal is closed, so moving around the gates isn't an option, but Dave Brown, one of the volunteers guided me through Chester, right next to the easiest g...
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Posted by glyn brackenbury on Wednesday, May 1, 2013,
After boy racering all day yesterday, I had a slightly more subdued day today.
The previous evening I ended up in The Anchor, which is the oldest pub on the canal network, they've only just stopped going to the celler to collect the beer.
I now know from my canal friends that Wolverhampton is the highest point on the canal network' which might explain why there are so many locks.
Up until today all the locks have been going up, so it's a welcome change to be going downhill now. It was a fairly...
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Been paddling for 30 years mostly as a surf and whitewater boater. Living on the N coast of Devon and growing upon Anglesey has meant that the sea has never been more than a couple of miles away.
