Paddle 08, Perth

Paddle 08, the Scottish Canoe and Kayak exhibition is on this weekend, 25th and 26th October, at the Bells Sports Centre, Perth. It runs from Saturday 09:00 - 17:00 to Sunday 10:00 - 16:00. In addition to the trade stands, there is a really interesting progamme of presentations. I will be giving a slide show and Q&A session on Sunday from 13:00 to 14:30. It would be really great to see some of you there.

Red sky at night does not always promise...

The swell in Fleet Bay was much bigger than a force 5 wind would suggest.


I decided to paddle out to the mouth of the bay and go round the Garvellan rocks at its entrance.


As the spring ebb tide was assisting me, I made good progress, despite the head wind. There is a good little tide race off the Garvellan rocks and in the wind against tide conditions I found the it quite exciting. The low brace proved to be most useful.


The evening sky turned blood red as the sun sank below the western horizon.

18/10/2008


The red sky had not foretold a fine day. The wind was averaging 34 knots and gusting to 55 knots. Not a day for sea kayaking but ideal for windsurfing! At least I now knew where the previous day's swell had come from! This photo shows the flood tide. Later on when the spring ebb started the swell steepened up in a most satisfactory way!


Sadly that was our last weekend on the Solway until next spring.

19/10/2008