Sea kayaking with seakayakphoto.com: Fleet Bay

Showing posts with label Fleet Bay. Show all posts

Monday, December 23, 2013

A Midsummer dawn on the Solway.

We have just passed the shortest day but my thoughts have recently gone back half of a year to when I was last on the water. It was a short but wonderful trip on the Solway in south west Scotland in the glorious summer of 2013. I arrived on the beach just as the sun was rising, it was shortly after 5am.

I soon had the boat at the water's edge and although there was not a breath of wind, I rigged the sail as a breeze was forecast to pick up as the day progressed.

The water temperature was 18C so the sea felt like warm tea on my bare feet compared with the chill of the dawn air. Where was I off to that required such an early start...?

Friday, November 01, 2013

A shooting and second coming at the three pillars of Knockbrex.

Last week the Atlantic storm St Jude hit southern Britain. In SW Scotland we escaped the worst but my friend Cameron enjoyed strong wind windsurfing in Fleet Bay. I started windsurfing in 1977 but have not windsurfed since I dislocated my right knee falling down a sand dune on Gunna in June 2009 but I do hope to get back to it someday...

I can't sea kayak at the moment either as I am recovering from shoulder surgery which happened at the end of July. Actually even my walking is not too good and I am due to have major surgery to reconstruct my left knee on Monday (as it is also dislocating). Despite this I decided to go for a...

...short walk to Knockbrex Bay to see the storm. This ash tree shows the direction and strength of the prevailing wind. No sooner had we left the shelter of the trees than we came across a...

...really splendid sight. Shafts of sunlight broke through a dark stormy sky and illuminated the three priapic pillars of Knockbrex.

The pillars were being battered by the storm but were standing firm as...

...successive waves rose up their shafts before exploding into clouds of spray which ...

...swept round...

...each side of the pillars before...

,,,coming together again on the downwind side. As the ground shook to the impact of the waves...

..we found the scene to be strangely uplifting.

It was after all, only 3 months since I had been chased off this beach by a man wielding a shotgun. That resulted in two police armed response units and a helicopter being sent from Glasgow. It is just as well I do not scare easily as I might not have come back to Knockbrex...

Tuesday, January 01, 2013

Seakayaking desktop wallpaper calendar 2013.

I wish a very Happy New Year to all visitors to seakayakphoto.com. As way of a celebration of the last year and in anticipation of sea kayaking adventures yet to come, here is the 9th annual sea kayaking desktop wallpaper calendar from seakayakphoto.com.

As in past calendars, all the photos were taken during the previous year (2012). Despite having been retired for a year now, I have not been able to explore wide new horizons as I had once dreamed. Increasing disability has somewhat restricted the areas in which I have managed to paddle. This year all the photos are from my local waters of the Firth of Clyde and The Solway Firth. Far from feeling sorry about this, I have felt blessed to have the freedom to enjoy exploring my own doorstep. I am so grateful for the assistance of my friends in getting me to and from the water. My daughter Jennifer chose the photos for each month of the calendar.

2013 cover shot. This is paddle sailing at its best: sun, wind, tide and big skies, on a trip round the Little Cumbrae in the Firth of Clyde.

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January. A cold east wind sped us from Maidens to Seafield with the snowy mountains of Arran on the far side of the Firth of Clyde.

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February. Some gentle swell made for interesting exploration of the rock channels of Bennane Head on Ayrshire's Atlantic Coas, Firth of Clyde.

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March. Looking back to Glen Sannox after a misty crossing of the Sound of Bute, Firth of Clyde.

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April. Sunset in the Kilbrannan Sound, Firth of Clyde. It was dark when we reached our camp site but the experience of night slowly gathering round you on a calm night is unmissable.

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