WKCC » Sea and Surf Trips

Suggest a River Trip

Clive — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 08:24:29 +0000

We are looking for suggestions for future river trips. If there is a particular river you would like to paddle, that you may have paddled before, or a river you have never paddled then we want to know about it. It can be a River, Lake, Coastal, Sea, Canal, suitable for either Sea Kayaks, Canoe, Touring, Playboating, Whitewater or camping. We want to hear about anything you would like to paddle.

Click here to go to a form where you can enter the details and it will get email to me. We can then go through all the suggestions and build them into the programme for the future.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

A challenging time Sea Kayaking in Weymouth 10-12 Sep 2010

gpt27 — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:25:18 +0000

Graham, Luke and I arrived roughly about the same time on the Friday night meeting up at Pebble Bank Caravan Park. After a bit of bartering a deal was made on campsite fees. The campsite had amazing views over the harbour to Portland and over the Fleet giving a good idea as to what to expect from the sea conditions. That night things were not looking to good with strong winds blowing.

Next morning saw the early arrival of Caroline. Wendy sent a text to say that she had problems with her water works and was hopeful that Severn Trent could fix it so that she could join us later. The weather conditions were still poor with a force 4 wind blowing. We opted for a local paddle around the harbour area. On leaving our get in at Sandsfoot the wind was behind us and the water a little choppy. This set the mental challenge when we needed to paddle back to the start at the end of the days paddle. Once beyond the breakwater we were out of the wind and the sea conditions were calm we could practice this new skill of edging out on turns. Luke demonstrated how easy it was to roll a sea kayak after taking edging a little too far. After exploring the breakwater and discussing its history we headed for Weymouth Harbour stopping at the Nothe Fort for lunch, ice cream and a very civilised cup of tea in a mug. Caroline was left waiting for her hot-dog. As the man said it only take 2 minutes to make but had to wait until all the other customers had been served before he started. By this time the sun was shining and we had a nice paddle into Weymouth marina.

After we finished our little battle against the wind we pitched up on the beach to meet the owners of the very nice boats we had been loaned from IOPCC (Isle of Portland Canoe Club). Thanks again to them without which trips like this would not happen. From there we headed to the cafe for a cuppa and to discuss tides, trip planning and weather.

That evening Wendy arrived and we all went to town for a hearty meal after our 18km paddle.

The weather had improved for the next day with wind NE 2-3. This looked good to make a trip around Portland. We set off assisted by the tide and wind. There was a bit of swell coming in from the right which was getting bigger as we approached the end of Portland. One of these waves lead to a capsize Luke was along side quickly to right our casualty. We remained close at this stage to negotiate the remainder of the swell as we entered sheltered water around the end of Portland Bill. We all enjoyed the paddling down to the breakwater stopping off at Church Ope Cove for lunch, only to be confronted again on entering the breakwater with a headwind to finish of our 16km paddle. The sun was shinning, Tina came down to the finish with coffee and cookies and another enjoyable days paddling was had. The talk when everyone was leaving for home was of arranging another trip, with ideas of visiting Lulworth and Durdle door.

Paul
Map of routes paddled – Weymouth Sep 10

Kayak Surfing Sunday 12th April

gpt27 — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 07:59:36 +0000

The surf and weather forecast for Porthcawl on Sunday look OK and particularly suitable for learning to kayak surf. The meeting venue will be at the usual place in the car park on the hill at Rest Bay for 10:00 or in Malcs cafe if he’s open. Take change for parking. You need to allow for the sea temperature being cool at the moment but with the sun forecast then you will need sun cream.
If you want to check out the surf forecast then see this link magicseaweed or the regular magicseaweed link on our home page. The reports selection is at the top left of the msw page.
Google map to Rest Bay. You can zoom in and out on this map and switch to aerial photo view which gives a good shot of the car park. Note a top tip for the route is to go down the M50, A40, A449 to Newport to pick up the M4 as it avoids paying that nice big toll on the new bridge and it’s a more pleasant route.
Please note that the weather and surf conditions are subject to change so WKCC cannot guarantee conditions.
For more details contact Graham.

Surfing – Saturday 31st May

admin2 — Fri, 30 May 2008 07:44:35 +0000

The surf and weather forecast for Porthcawl on Saturday look good at the moment and a few of us are going kayak surfing. Low tide is at 9:47 so meeting at the usual place in the car park on the hill at Rest Bay for 10:00 would be a good plan. UV levels are forecast to be high so bring your sun protection.
If you want to check out the surf forecast then see this link magicseaweed or the regular magicseaweed link on our home page. The reports selection is at the top left of the msw page.
Google map to Rest Bay. You can zoom in and out on this map and switch to aerial photo view which gives a good shot of the car park. Note a top tip for the route is to go down the M50, A40, A449 to Newport to pick up the M4 as it avoids paying that nice big toll on the new bridge and it’s a more pleasant route.
For more details contact Graham.

Sea Kayaking Weekend – Anglesey 25th -27th April

gpt27 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 17:56:35 +0000

The club recently had a very successful event sea kayaking around the coast of Anglesey in North Wales.
The trip was arranged by Paul Haggett and he was assisted by Brian Smith who are both experienced sea kayakers. We stayed at the Llanrug Outdoor Education Centre which is run by Worcestershire County Council which has great facilities including reasonable beds, hot showers and a drying room for the rare occasions that the weather in North Wales turns slightly damp. They provided cooked breakfast and evening meals, packed lunches and cake to keep us going. The kayaks they provided were also a good standard.
The event was attended by Paul, Tina and Nathan H, Paul D, Brian, Richard B, Lina , Ben B and me (Graham).
On the first day we paddled from Cemaes to Almwch approximately 12km. These are the official weather figures but I can tell you it was very windy:

Wind South 5 to 7
Weather Rain, Fog patches
Visibility Moderate, poor
Sea State Moderate

Day two was a complete contrast with a completely flat sea and just a slight breeze.
We paddled around Puffin Island and down into the Menai Strait to Beaumaris.
We had close encounters with various sea birds, porpoises and seals who were particularly curious.
The journey was the same distance at 12km but took about one and a half hours less.

Official weather figures for day two:

Wind 2 to 3
Weather fog patches, showers
Visibility Moderate, occasionally poor
Sea State Slight

Overall it was a very well organised event and well worth going if you get the opportunity in the future.
Thanks to Paul and Brian.

p.s. Gallery to be added soon.