Pish! Low life have struck again.
This time the victim is Aled Williams, designer and founder of TIDERACE Sea Kayaks.
Here is his story:
"Stolen: Tiderace Xcite
Taken from my parents' back garden in Four Mile Bridge, Holyhead, Sunday night, 26/04/09.
Colour: All white (hull, deck, seat + rim, bulkheads), Kevlar 10mm outside seam, black ropes and elastics + hatch rims
Construction: Full Carbon (the inside is all black, chequer-board cloth pattern 10mm squares), epoxy resin, vacuum construction.
Serial No: XC078EC21 (label inside front deck day hatch)
Condition: As new
This particular boat is a one-of-a-kind, with a custom layup to my specification, estimated retail value: £3500
Please contact me on 07973 785537 or info@tideraceseakayaks.co.uk should you have any information on the whereabouts of the kayak.
Aled"
Wednesday, May 06, 2009
Monday, May 04, 2009
Sunday, May 03, 2009
Surf's up on Ayrshire's Atlantic coast!
Yesterday the surf was up on Ayrshire's Atlantic Coast.
Most people think the Ayrshire coast is a sheltered backwater in the Firth of Clyde. However, its southerly aspect is exposed to the North Atlantic through the North Channel between Ireland and Scotland. Add to this, steep surf beaches such as at Ballantrae, the tide race of Bennane Head and a coast remote from roads with cliffs, caves and reefs and you have the recipe for a great day out! Magicseaweed.com was predicting a surf height of 10.5 feet and period of 13 seconds from the NW at Macrihanish. Weather forecast was for force 4 SW dropping to 2 then increasing to 6 southerly.... just perfect!
Driving south towards Ballantrae the road rises over Bennane Head. What a prospect lay before us. Peeling surf as far as the eye could see!
We launched at Finnarts Bay on Loch Ryan and paddled north to Lendalfoot. Unfortunately the car park by the beach at Finnarts Bay is in the process of being converted to a caravan park and vehicular traffic has been blocked. It looks like they might be constructing a new car park well behind the beach so I hope that public access will not be blocked. It does now mean quite a long carry to the water though.
Within minutes of launching we were enjoying some superb sea kayaking below bold cliffs and ...
... exposed headlands. Two golden eagles soared overhead.
It was soon time to stop for luncheon but there are few landing places on this coast. Little Portandea came into view between the backs of huge crashing surf monsters. The seakayakphoto.com luncheon club is not put off by such things and we steamed in between two huge sets. Billy said "do you hear that one?" as a huge wave crashed over the protecting reef behind...
... then smashed into the little bay. During a very pleasant luncheon we were able to observe the effects of succesive waves on the cliffs. Boulders were rumbling and being tossed about the steep beach by the heavy surf.
Our kayaks looked mighty frail sitting there! After lunch we then enjoyed a very exciting launch.
Refuelled, we then made our way up to the surf beach at Ballantrae. What a hoot! Well spaced peeling monsters were making their way shore wards at 20km/hr.
After a while it seemed only right to do some practice surf rescues. Billy volunteered to get wet as he was keen to test out his new Fourth Element gear. Please note, this is not a very safe arrangement of kayaks with a large approaching wave! I turned parallel to Tony and rafted up well before that next peeler arrived!
All bailed out...
... and Billy is on his way again, delighted with the effectiveness of his Fourth Element thermocline top and shorts.
Next we had to negotiate the race at Bennane head. It was neaps but we had timed it so that we were rounding the headland 3 hours after the turn of the tide. There were some huge swells and the water off the head was very confused and so there are no photos in the race itself.
However, it was a flood tide, where the incoming tide is split by the headland. This is always calmer than on the ebb. On the ebb, the south going current to the north of the head joins the north going current to the south of the head. Where they join can be a maelstrom!
The end of a perfect day.
02/05/2009
Thursday, April 30, 2009
South West Sea Kayak Meet - 12th-14th June
Mark Rainsley has organised the second South West Sea Kayak Meet for the 12th to 14th June
This promises to be a fun alternative to the many established UK symposia. The SW has a stunning coastline and I am very tempted to go myself but I can't travel very far from home at the moment.
Have a great meet!
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Sea kayaking Carsethorn to Southerness
Crossing the broad expanse of Drum Bay we approached Carsethorn .Having been denied white topped foaming Solway Steeds we now looked forward to some white topped foaming pints of Guinness in the waterfront beer garden of the Steamboat Inn. Sadly, our thirst went unslaked, not only were the no rooms, the Inn was closed!!!! Hopefully, it will reopen soon.
Chugging up and down, just off shore, the Leah Marie, MT117, was dredging for cockles. For most of the day the Carse Sands are dry land. They are only covered by water for a couple of hours at high tide. This little trawler from Maryport on the English coast of the Solway had to time her arrival with some precision. She is quite a new boat having been built in 2006 but it looks like she has a wood burning engine in there!
Quite thirsty we came to the Thirl Stane. At high tide you can paddle right through this natural arch into a delightful sandy cove behind. As it was, the tide was retreating quickly and we had to press on to our final destination Southerness.
Southerness is a rocky point which extends south into the sands of the Solway coast. The lighthouse is the second oldest in Scotland. It was commissioned in 1748 to encourage ships to use the ports of Carsethorn, Glencaple, Kingholm Quay and Dumfries.
The lighthouse is surrounded by water at high tide. It was heightened on at least two occasions but due to decrease in shipping traffic in the Upper Solway it was last lit in 1936.
The old village of Southerness is rather attractive with low cottages which seem to shrink into the ground to escape the winds that blast across the point. Unfortunately it has grown somewhat and is now surrounded by a huge caravan park. We chose not to stop at the pub.
All in all a thirsty 25km trip from Dumfries to Southerness but what a magnificent way to enter the Solway!
13/04/2009
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The Nith bore
Leaving Glencaple, we entered the 2.5km straight channel, which is hemmed in by mud banks and connects the Nith to the sea at Airds Point. It was here that we expected to meet the Nith bore. It was 2 days after springs, on an 8.1m tide, so we expected a wave or two! It was 12:43. High water Hestan Island (0n the Solway) was due at 14:47 (HW Liverpool 14:21) We were drifting downstream with the river current at 8km/hr when all of a sudden the water ahead began to slope down towards us, its colour darkened and its surface was contorted with small ripples, then whumph! We were now travelling back towards Dumfries at 12km/hr. There was no broken water just a sudden change in velocity of 20km/hr! It was really quite disconcerting.
We were going to make nothing against the current on the right side of the channel, so we ferried across to the far side where the water was shallower. This and the help of an eddy allowed us to get another 500m towards the sea. We then ferried back to the right side of the channel where a series of piles created a little eddy from which we clambered onto the mud bank.
We dragged our kayaks up the steep mud and onto the merse above. We decided to have a lunch break and watched the tide rush by, filling the bay and covering the mudflats.
Just as suddenly as it had begun, the flood tide began to ease after only an hour.
We were soon on the water again and clearing Airds Point. Criffel came into view with Carsethorn at its foot. Carsethorn is another of the ports of Dumfries.
Carsethorn lies on the long low peninsula on the horizon, it was still 6km away.
13/04/2009