Northern England & IOM, Jim Krawiecki

The latest in the Pesda sea kayaking guides to the UK coastline has just been published. Jim Krawiecki's Northern England & IOM has been four year's in gestation and the wait has been worthwhile. Jim writes in a fluid and concise style and the pages ooze the detail which comes from the author's familiarity and enthusiasm for the area. There are 50 full routes spread over 267 colour pages. These offer something for all levels of experience. The routes include open crossings, coastal waters, tide races, estuaries, rivers and canals! Some of the routes are really inventive, this is not just an A to B to C round the coast.

The book covers the Isle of Man, the Cumbrian Coast, the Lancashire Coast, the Trans-Pennine canal network, the Yorkshire Coast, the Tyne Tees Coast and the Northumberland Coast. There are even three forays into Scotland.

From the striking cover showing shafts of sun shining through a Filey arch, the photography throughout the book is both an eye opener and a showcase for the region. I for one will be making a point of visiting soon. Clearly I have an interest in Pesda sea kayaking guides as I am currently finishing off the guide to SW Scotland. However, I can say without any risk of bias that Jim has produced an absolute cracker of a book. Buy it now and visit soon!

Catching the 0930 in the Sound of Islay.

We awoke at a decent time and had plenty of time to have a big breakfast in the morning. There was not a great distance to Port Askaig and the south going tide was building nicely to help us on our way. As we packed, the swans entertained us by teaching their cygnets to break into and out of the current in the Sound.
 

We did best to imitate their style and after catching the 0930 southbound, we were soon travelling at up to 14km/hour.

 The SW coast of Jura is an interesting place.

 The tide was carrying us south so quickly that we...

...repeatedly broke out of the current to investigate the many dykes, stacks, caves and raised beaches.