Solar pyrotechnics at Loch Ailort

Back in March, my joints were doing better than now so I took a long drive from Glasgow on the Road to the Isles. I was due to meet Ian for a sea kayaking trip in a brief weather window before the worst snows of the year arrived. When I reached Loch Ailort, the sun dropped beneath the veil of cloud that had hid it from sight on the long road north. I could not help...

 ...but stop the car beneath the steep slopes of Rois-Beinn and get the camera out.

I had only just restarted the car when I had to stop again. This time it was the unmistakable silhouette of Eigg and Rum over the Sound of Arisaig.

To the east the lower slopes of Rois-Beinn were illuminated by the low sun but the upper slopes were in the shadow of the low clouds.

 The sunset was really building up...

 ...beyond the Small Isles.

 The dying sun put up an incredible display and I had to force myself to turn round...

 ...to appreciate the golden light that was illuminating the far shore of...

 ...Loch Ailort.

At last the sun went down and I continued to the welcoming lights of the Glenuig Inn where I arrived just a few minutes before Ian. We were already looking forward to large plates of Mallaig prawns.0

Paddle sailing and planing in P&H Aries 155 sea kayak and Flat Earth Code Zero 0.8sqm kayak sail.

The blog has been rather quiet recently as I have run into continuing joint problems and am now seeing a shoulder surgeon in addition to a knee surgeon! I gave up mountaineering when my knees packed in now I am worried about sea kayaking as my shoulder problems worsen. I have not been on any expeditions since early March and unfortunately I had to pull out of the Skye Sea Kayak Symposium (at which I was going to demonstrate kayak sailing). This was a great pity as it was the first Skye or Jersey sea kayak symposium that I have missed in many years. I hope everyone is having a really good time at the symposium.

Yesterday Phil and Andrew wondered if I would like to join them on a trip to Ailsa Craig. Unfortunately I had to decline this too as I could not get my sea kayak onto the car roof (even with the Karitek easy load roof rack). Nor could I drive that distance and I certainly could not guarantee that my shoulder would last the 34km round trip.

Instead I thought I would review some of the recent testing of the P&H Aries 155.

Despite its short length the Aries (and Delphin) shows a remarkable ability to plane in following seas. Add a sail and even relatively light winds give you the ...

 ...ability to  enjoy continuous planing over considerable distances. Many people stop paddling (and trail their paddle in an extended low brace) when there is enough wind for the sail to drive a kayak at its displacement speed. However, as can be seen here ,kayaks like the Aries and Delphin will rise onto the plane, then considerably exceed their theoretical maximum displacement speed. Therefore not only should you continue paddling but in marginal planing conditions you should paddle as hard as you can to pop the kayak up onto the plane and keep it there. In stronger winds you will also find that travelling fast downwind reduces the apparent wind on the sail and this paradoxically means travelling fast makes it easier to survive and enjoy difficult conditions.

Here David has overtaken the wave in front and has climbed up the wave back. He has reached the critical point, where his body has nearly crossed the crest of the wave but the kayak has dropped off the plane. At this point the apparent wind in the sail increases as the boat slows. This increases the drive in the sail but is also the time you need to paddle as hard as possible. If I had been David, I would also have leaned forward as far as I could (but as David has a bad back and in a few months will enter his eighth decade, he has a partial excuse).

Two stiff strokes sees David break through the crest of the wave in front and start planing again. Yee Haa!

Although, in my previous posts on the Aries 155, I have said it is a wonderful kayak to paddle with a Greenland paddle, I would not recommend a GP when trying to drive a kayak onto the plane in marginal conditions like these as you simply don't get the same explosive power. Here David is using a wing paddle.

One of the beauties of the Flat Earth kayak sail is that it allows you to continue to paddle with no hindrance when the sail is hoisted.

Don't expect paddle sailing to be a relaxing easy option. Paddle sailing a kayak is hard work. The idea is to maximise planing time as this is such fun.

The adjustable grip hitch for sea kayak sailing rig stays.

Following on from my post about fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a P&H Aries 155, Alec commented:

"You say that your stays are a "fixed length" but you seem to have some sort of slip knot (see pic ) for adjustment. May I ask what knot you are using?"

Yes I do use a locking slip knot for fine adjustment. Previously Geoff has recommended a trucker's hitch (which needs tied every time) and Shawn Armitage has recommended the easier to adjust three-turn tautline, both of  which I have used previously. I have also used the Clamcleat CL266 Mini Line_Loks which are very easy to adjust but these slip in winds at the top of F4.

I currently use the adjustable grip hitch as it is as easy to adjust as the three turn tautline but it is also easier to remember how to tie in the field.

Start by making a loop by bringing the loose end over the stay (which is tied to the mast at its other end).

 Now wrap the free end twice round the stay side of the loop.

Now take the free end once more over the stay side of the loop and bring it back under both sides of the loop and thread it through itself.

Pull the knot tight. If you pull the end of the loop, the knot locks tight. However, if you grip the knot itself you can easily slide it in either direction to make the loop longer or shorter.

The reverse of the knot looks like this.

I normally thread the loop through the closed end of a 32mm snap shackle. This means that I can quickly remove and replace the rig from the kayak without knot tying.

To get the tension in the side stays just right, I bend the mast back then gradually shorten the stays by sliding the grip knots. I test the tension by putting the mast into the vertical position, repeating the process until I get the stays "twang tight".

Fitting a Flat Earth Kayak Sail to a P&H Aries 155.

The Aries is the composite version of the rotomoulded polyethylene Delphin so I knew it would be a great sea kayak for paddle sailing with a Flat Earth Kayak Sail.

Like the Delphin, the Aries has a peaked foredeck to shed water. Just forward of the compass mount the deck is very stiff due the moulded channels to take the spare paddle shafts. There was a handy RDF here so I removed the standatd bolt and used a longer M6 stainless steel bolt  to secure the front of the mast foot plate. The rear was proud of the deck so I packed it out with two stainless steel washers and drilled the deck for the rear M5 bolt. I used Aquaseal round the bolt to seal the hole.

 The mast foot in place.

 I used two surface mount fittings for deck lines to mount the two side stays at right angles to the mast, one on each side. I have several kayakst set up for sailing so I have a standard side stay length and each kayak has a small loop of Spectra cord which is adjusted to fit the side stays once then the snap shackles allow the rig to be fitted nd removed quickly to any kayak with no adjustment.

As my sidestays are at right angles to the mast I also use a back stay which is attatched to a Spectra loop through the front deck elastic RDF. Once the mast is erected the sidestays become "twang" tight.

I fit the sheet and uphaul cleats (ClamCleat CL 213 and CL214 low profile line cleats) on either side of the cockpit front. Make sure your thumbs won't bang against them when paddling. Note the pink uphaul line loops under the rear deck elastic and then goses foward where it is tied off onto the back stay. If you are running before a strong wind a tug on this will get the sail down without having to turnt the kayak's bow round into the wind so the mast blows back.

All ready to go....

YeeHah!

P&H Aries 155 test and review, first impressions.

I am lucky enough to be paddling the P&H Aries 155, 2013 model at the moment. I should say straight away that I have it on free loan. In case you think that this may introduce a degree of bias, I have also had free loans of the Rockpool Taran 16 and the Malin Sea Kayaks Gometra this year.

Please note these are just my first impressions, after 5 days on the water. However, the Aries 155 is very similar to the rotomoulded Delphin 155 so you should also read my long term review of it.

In developing the Aries 155 some of the Delphin's features have been softened, particularly the razor sharp chines and double concaves in the bow. However, it is much closer to its RM sibling than most sea kayaks that are produced both in RM and composite forms. Most, like the Valley Nordkapp, are significantly smaller in RM form. Not so the Aries/Delphin, which are of similar size. They share a considerable rocker with squared off stern.The chines are hard at the bow and stern but soften towards the cockpit area.

The Aries 155 is 4.85m long and 0.57m wide. It is 290l in volume. The cockpit and the wide point are set well back. New for 2013 is the smaller rear deck hatch and small rear day hatch with two bulkheads behind the cockpit. Also new are the moulded longitudinal channels for split paddle shafts on either side of the compass recess. These mouldings make the fore deck very stiff, which is ideal if you were thinking of fitting a sail... The Aries comes with the Mark 2 P&H skeg slider. I have previously tested a prototype of this slider and retro fitted one to a Delphin 155, which had a stiff Mark 1 slider.

This was the first time I have tested a production mark 2 skeg and it proved faultless. I was delighted to see a heavier grade shock cord fitted to the skeg downhaul. This will resist the tendency of the previous skeg to lift when planing, especially when  kayak sailing downwind. The hard chines on this kayak are designed to plane and the extra drive of a sail helps you plane if you do not have standing waves in a tide race or suitable surf to catch a wave on.

When P&H first released the Delphin then the Aries there was a lot of hype in the media about how original and how versatile they were. Perhaps unsurprisingly there was then a bit of a backlash and several commentators said they were too specialised towards use in the surf to be considered for allround use, they were unsuitable for beginners and they did not look like proper sea kayaks! This has clearly had an effect on sales of the Aries. At the end of 2012, Geoff from Karitek (my local P&H dealer) told me that no one had requested a test paddle in his demo Aries 155 so he returned it unpaddled! I hung back and produced my long term comparative review of the Delphin 155 in January 2013. What I found was a remarkably versatile day kayak, which was just as good for a beginner in flat water as an expert in the surf. I therefore could not wait to get my hands on an Aries 155!

I have now paddled the Aries on five day trips in wind conditions that varied from F0 to the top of F5 and in water conditions that varied from flat to steep, 1m wind against tide waves. I have paddled it alongside and interchanged it with a Delphin 155, Rockpool Alaw Bach and Valley Anas Acuta.

The Aries 155 performs in a very similar way to the Delphin 155 and I refer you to the long term Delphin test above for more detail.

 The Aries is just ridiculously manoeuvrable...

...and as I will shortly be entering my seventh decade, it is nice to be in a kayak that allows me to twist right round when reversing into caves!

It likes nothing better dodging rocks as the swell rises and falls round the skerries.

There are some minor differences between the Delphin and the Aries, which might be related to the slight differences in the hardness of chines in the bow area. The Delphin 155 slams a little more going out over steep wind over tide waves. The Aries 155 feels a little softer in these conditions and so is possibly a little faster paddling out through the waves. Coming back in through the waves, the position is reversed. The Delphin's hard bow chines encourage it to plane a little earlier than the Aries but don't think the Aries is a slouch, it gets going, catching more waves than either the Alaw Bach or Anas Acuta, which are both renowned for their surf performance. On flat water the Aries cruised at the same speed as an Alaw Bach, comfortably maintaining 6.0 to 7.5km/hr which is the speed at which our group normally paddle at. The Aries, Delphin and Alaw Bach do not accelerate on flat water as quickly as kayaks like the Nordkapp LV. All three also tend to squat on their sterns during flat water sprinting and this limits their top speed to about 10.5km. However, put a little wave into the equation and...

Given some criticism that the Aries is not a "proper sea kayak" I spent an enjoyable day comparing the Aries 155 with the epitome of a "proper sea kayak"...a 2008 Valley Anas Acuta with an ocean cockpit. The Anas Acuta is the original composite sea kayak based on the West Greenland kayak that Ken Taylor brought back to Scotland in 1965. My own Nordkapp LV is descended from that kayak through the Anas Acuta, Pintail and Nordkapp. The Anas Acuta and the Aries are very similar in volume and both share a great deal of rocker. Although they both have chines, the hull plan shapes are very different. The Aries is shorter and wider and the wide point is much further back.

The conditions were F4-5 wind against an ebb tide in the Solway. As the water became shallower, in the gently shoaling estuary, the waves began to break a long way out. I didn't have an onshore photographer but...

Photo John Black

...conditions were similar to these photographed during testing of the Delphin 155 in 2012. They were ideal conditions to test two kayaks with reputations for handling surf. I have paddled the Anas Acuta many times since 2006 but had only paddled the Aries 155 on three prior occasions. What I found on the water was very interesting indeed.  The Aries 155 outperformed the Anas Acuta in almost every parameter I compared, with the exception of rolling. See table below.

The Aries 155 is also the best all round sea kayak for kayak sailing which I have tested. Although the Rockpool Taran 16 may be faster under sail, it cannot match the Aries' manoeuvrability and fun when kayak sailing in waves. It was not as confidence inspiring either. In exciting conditions, you feel much "closer to the edge" paddle sailing in the Taran 16 than in the Aries 155. The Aries 155 is also a very "stiff" kayak when sailing upwind. It resists the heeling effects of gusts exceptionally well. The addition of a sail takes the performance of the Aries (and Delphin) in the waves to another level. Downwind the sail reduces any tendency to broach and it is easy to drive fast downwind and wave. In winds of force 4 and above you will be overtaking the waves in front. I am suffering from an injured shoulder at the moment but even so, I found I was regularly hitting 18 to 20km/hr when paddle sailing the Aries 155 downwind in waves.

The Aries 155 also makes an excellent photography platform, as long as you put the skeg down before you stop paddling (so that you glide straight). I would not have taken my 5D mk3 out of its bag if I had been paddling the Anas Acuta in these small but steep waves.

So far the Aries 155 has been paddled by three other paddlers. Here are their comments. Phil has been paddling his Quest for 4 years. Phil's comment about the Aries was "Wow, that's one of the best days I have had on the water, I want one." Tony is a 5* paddler with a Rockpool Alaw Bach and a P&H Cetus and he commented "What a great boat, that one is a keeper. It's so manoeuvrable but it's not slow and it's great catching wind over tide waves." Lastly, Alan has been paddling since 1998 and has  an Anas Acuta and a Nordkapp LV. Alan said "When I saw you with the Delphin last year I laughed. Paddling the Aries was a real eye opener. I now realize how much things have moved on since the Anas Acuta was designed. The Aries also paddles really well with my GP. Anyone want to buy an Anas Acuta?" That's 3/3 votes!

I think P&H, with the Aries (and Rockpool with the Tarans) are to be commended for daring to break away from the traditional Greenland mould that has characterised British style sea kayaks since 1972. I say this has someone who has enjoyably spent most of my paddling time in the Nordkapp LV, which is probably the epitome of this development of the British style. It is no accident that Valley have responded by  producing the two Gemini kayaks, which share many features with the Aries. The Gemini has been produced in two versions (which emphasise either speed or manoeuvrability)  and this may hint that neither is as versatile as the Aries, though I have yet to paddle either.

Like the Delphin 155, the Aries 155 is an exceptional day sea kayak due to its blend of comfort, versatility and  performance. Remarkably, its performance does not come at the cost of its user friendliness. The Aries 155 has something to offer paddlers of all levels and ambitions.

I will give a more considered long term review in a year's time. In the meantime if you are in the market for a day sea kayak, you should put the Aries on your list for a test paddle. If you are on the light side of average then you could consider trying the Aries 150. If you like the idea of this type of kayak but are in the habit of hitting things, then the Delphin in surf spec should fulfill your desires to test the properties of materials. If you are on a budget then I can thoroughly recommend the Delphin in Corelite construction.

Lastly, I really liked the tasteful turquoise, white and tangerine colour scheme!

Brief comparison of P&H Aries 155 and Valley Anas Acuta.

	Aries 155	Anas Acuta
length	485cm	523cm
width	57cm	51cm
volume	290l	297l
speed flat water	***	**
speed down wind and swell	*****	***
acceleration flat water	**	**
acceleration on waves	*****	***
manoeuvrability on edge flat water	*****	****
manoeuvrability in waves	*****	*****
stability at rest	*****	**
stability on edge	*****	****
rolling	***	*****
tracking flat water	***	**
tracking upwind in strong wind	****	*
tracking downwind in swell	*****	**
resistance to broaching	***	**
resistance to purling	*****	***
suitability for beginners	*****	*
ease of getting in and out	*****	*

Departure gate, Port Mor terminal 1.

 Ian and I still had some time before the ferry arrived to take us back from Muck to Mallaig via Eigg. We decided to take the short walk across to the north side of the island. Ahead of us the brooding Cuillin of Rum slowly emerged from...

 ...the cloud that was enveloping the island..

 As we started the descent to the north shore Horse Island dominated the view to the north west of Muck.

 We soon passed Camas na Cairidh, where we had made landfall on Muck less than 24 hours before.

 Gallanach Lodge is the new hotel on Muck and will open at the end of May 2013.

 A few moments after passing the Lodge we arrived at the beautiful Gallanach sands.

 Though tourists would need to be prepared to share the beach with the local residents at the west end of the beach. Mr MacEwen the farmer and owner of Muck gave us a welcoming wave as he passed on his quad bike. Unlike nearby Rum, which was closed to visitors, Muck has welcomed visitors and offered them free access for decades before the Scottish Land Reform Act guaranteed access to Scottish wild land for responsible visitors.

 Just past the bay and farm we came to Gallanach Cottage which is available to rent.

Ian and I then took a short walk to the north end of Muck. I found the ground to be too rough along the coast so...

...we walked along the short turf on the crest of the ridge where we came across some gravestones.

There are a number of idyllic beaches here but we did not scramble down to them as my knees were really sore and we still had to get back to Port Mor...

 ...Terminal 1 where the crowds were already gathering for the arrival...

 of the ferry.

 The MV Loch Nevis reversed in and we pulled our kayaks up her stern loading ramp. The crew were most interested to hear how we had got on particularly as we were the first sea kayakers of the season.

The MV Loch Nevis called in at the new ferry terminal on Eigg after passing through the narrow channel between Eilean Chathastail and the mainland of Eigg.

The old tidal  harbour can still be entered behind the new jetty though the channel between the perches is neither wide nor deep.

As we left Eigg the low winter sun briefly lit the wonderful landscape before the clouds gathered round...

 ...the Sgurr of Eigg and sea fog rolled round...

...the north end of the island. With a chill in the air we went below to...

...enjoy a huge plate of scampi and chips.

All too soon our Small Isles trip was over. The crew kindly helped us pull the kayaks up the steep ramp then we loaded the kayaks onto the cars, which we had left at Mallaig sea front.

Ian and I had both enjoyed this trip immensely.  Neither of us is goal orientated. We just went paddling for an enjoyable kayaking exploration. Amazingly however, we had paddled between all four of the Small Isles and spent a night on each on a winter trip. A key element in this was flexible planning, we changed plans several times to take account of changing conditions. It would be fair to say that some of the options we had changed to, had been considered at the planning stages before we set off.

We had met many interesting and genuinely nice people. It was fascinating to hear how each island community was working for its development and future. We had faced everything from flat calm and fog to some of the roughest wind against tide conditions you would care to spend any time in, in a remote place in winter. Ian and I were also fortunate in that we shared such a similar attitude to trip planning and risk assessment. Ultimately the trip was all the richer for each of us, as it was a shared experience.

It is always good to follow a story from more than one perspective. Ian's story can be followed fom here to here.

As we drove home on the Road to the Isles, the sun set behind Muck and we knew we would return soon.