Justine's Web Journal

clean and well fed in Sardinia

2009-04-18T09:03:00.003+01:00

We stayed last night in the Lemon House B & B in Lotzorai which specialises in catering for climbers, walkers, bikers and kayakers. It is great to be clean and to have slept in a proper bed. We went out for a pizza last night with Peter and Anne from the B&B, with some Austrian climbers and with Francesco Muntoni, from Cardedu kayak, a local kayak guide. We are now having a relaxing breakfast with Peter,Anne and 2 English climbers before getting back on the water this afternoon.

Sardinia is a really beautiful island. The coast is largely rugged with loads of small hidden bays and its usually easy to find lovely isolated beaches to camp on. we have slept on tiny sandy coves, cresents of gravel, in pine trees and on endless dunes. There are amazing stretches of cliffs with caves and arches. we have also camped on the outskirts of towns and villages so we can look around and go out for food. The coast isnt very developed except for tourist houses in a lot of the bigger bays. most of these are empty as the season hasnt started yet so its a bit odd to kayak past ghost towns! beachside cafes are mostly closed and its hard to find a restaurant open in the evenings, although you can usually get a Sardinian beer.

The wind is very unpredictable and usually doesnt follow the forecast but it hasnt been so strong to make us turn back yet. we have tended to get off the water if it picks up to more than a force 3 or 4 against us as wed rather be on the land looking around and enjoying the place than working hard for little gain!! weve had it behind us a couple of days which has been very nice.

ok, time to get organised and get paddling. the coast ahead of us today is one of the most beautiful stretches with towering cliffs, impressive sea stacks, hidden caves and sandy beaches.... or so weve been told!

sardinian rain!

2009-04-09T15:34:00.000+01:00

We're sat in the tent as the rain continues to hammer down outside! So much for sardinian sun! Actually up until last night its been warm and mostly quite calm and beautiful.if you aren't familiar with twitter then you may not realise that we are sending daily updates of our kayak journey around sardinia on twitter. You can read them above this blog in the blue box. Where it says''justine and barry are kayaking in xxxx, italy then click on the link and it will take you to a map of our route for the day. If we are still kayaking you can see our progress live! its still raining!

Skiing on the way to Sardinia

2009-03-31T19:07:00.004+01:00

A FISH OUT OF WATER? THE KAYAKS AT 1500METRES!
It was unplanned and unexpected, but we somehow ended up skiing in the Swiss Alps today!!! We decided at the last minute to make a slight detour on our drive to Sardinia and called in on my father who is staying near Sion in Switzerland.

We put on our kayaking thermals and begged, borrowed and stole (temporarily) some skiing equipment, and by 10am we were on the slopes at Montana resort. The sky was blue and it was really hot today so we could really appreciate the beauty of the mountains. Barry was nervous about taking to skies again - he mumbled something about not wanting to break his leg just before our kayaking trip! But after his first few turns he was grinning and making jokes so I knew he was enjoying it!! We had a great day skiing between towering rock buttresses. with Alpine Chuffs flying in formation above us. We stopped at a great restaurant in the sun and enjoyed soup and raclette. I was really pleasantly surprised at the amount of powder snow there was right besides the pistes. I had endless runs making fresh tracks, within 50 metres of the piste! Tomorrow we have about a 5 hour drive to Genoa where we will catch the overnight ferry to Sardinia. We hope to be paddling by Thursday afternoon!!

On the road to Sardinia

2009-03-29T12:16:00.003+01:00

PHOTO BY AXEL!

We're driving south - still in the UK right now and heading towards Dover for a 2pm ferry. We've decided to stop for a night or 2 in Sion, Switzerland because my dad is there, and I just realised how close it is to our planned route through France & Switzerland. The ferry to Porto Torres in Sardinia only goes every other day anyway, so instead of rushing for the Monday night sailing, we'll get the Wednesday night sailing, arriving Thursday morning.

On advice from Rene Seindal, we will drive 40km to the small town of Fertilia where there is a secure carpark where we can leave the van for 1 Euro a day. It's also a pretty place to start, and means we have a section of coast with quite a few landing options to start with. The coastline anti-clockwise from Porto Torres is more cliffy with an often rough headland to paddle around and few landing options. That will be a nice end to our trip for us, instead!!

In the meantime, I've been featured on a website called 'Go! Girls Outdoors', a website for anyone (including men) interested in the issues facing women in outdoor education and recreation. Click here to see my profile, or HERE to go to the site homepage

Irish Sea crossing track

2009-03-26T10:40:00.002Z

I finally ( with help from Sanoodi) uploaded the track of mine and Barry's paddle to Ireland on New Years Day. Well, it was actually 1.30am on 2nd January by the time we left, but we hadn't been to sleep so it felt like it was still New Years Day!

We followed a bearing of 280 degrees the whole way across but the tide took us north, then south and then north again. It was really strong as we approached Wicklow but turned as we arrived so we had to fight a tidal race off Wicklow Head before we could land! If you missed it, you can read about the crossing on an earlier blog here.

If the track doesn't display properly then you can see it on the Sanoodi website here. The stats given on the website show a distance of 59 miles in 11 hours 53 minutes, an average of 5mph. This is statute miles - it was about 52 nautical miles I think.

We plan to get a ferry to France on Sunday and drive down to Italy as tourists ( i.e slowly!). We should be in Sardinia and paddling by early April. First, we have to pack!!

"Eastern Horizons" DVD here, and new art for "This is the Sea"

2009-03-25T09:48:00.003Z

It was Christmas here yesterday and a batch of 'Eastern Horizons' DVDs arrived at my door, ready to go to eager viewers in the UK, Europe and Australasia. It's now for sale in the CackleTV shop!

I also took delivery or another batch of "This is the Sea" DVDs as the classic DVD is still popular and I've nearly run out. At the time when I first made 'This is the Sea' it cost about £25 per colour for the artwork on the DVD. Money was tight and I chose a very simple design with just 2 colours. Or so I thought..... I actually got charged for 4 colours anyway, as the blue and yellow that I chose weren't the blue and yellow that they had in their palette so they had to mix different colours to make them! So much for money saving!

THE NEW 'THIS IS THE SEA' DISC BESIDES THE OLD ONE!

In May it will be 5 years since 'This is the Sea' first came out so when it came time to get some more made a month ago, Derrick from Kayak Quixotica suggested making a special anniversary cover! Well, we left the cover that Jim Westcott designed as it was, but Derrick designed some new disc art using a photo of Hadas Feldman and I from Kamchatka. I'm really pleased with it and think it looks great! So if you order "This is the Sea" from the UK, Europe & Australasia store from now on, then you might get the new look DVD! Some of the DVDs are headed to a shop in Sweden today aswell!

Mediterranean sun, here we come!

2009-03-24T13:27:00.003Z

SARDINIA

This weekend, Barry Shaw and I are packing up the van and driving south in search of the Sardinian sun!
Barry kayaked around the next door island of Corsica a few years ago and enjoyed himself so much that he wanted to return to paddle around the bigger neighbor. At around 900km of coastline, we expect it to take us around 4-6weeks. We expect the surf to be less than in New Zealand! but it is a very windy place so that will be our biggest challenge. You can read more about the trip here.

Whenever we have a phone signal we will be recording the route we paddle on our blackberry, using free SMap software from Sanoodi. You can follow along by 'following' CackleTV on Twitter, or by checking the twitter feed on this blog, at the top of the page. You'll see a message saying, 'CackleTV' is kayaking in Sardinia with a link. click on the link to go to the map of where we are. If the twitter feed doesn't work, then you can also go to the Sanoodi website and search for routes in Sardinia.

Not long now, I'm busy preparing for the trip... lots to sort out!

BARRY IN CORSICA. PHOTO BY JOHN-BOY

Bardsey lambs & track

2009-03-23T10:24:00.006Z

Axel and I went to Bardsey on Sunday, in a brisk breeze. Axel hasn't been there since about 2002 so we took the scenic tour, including using the eddy close to the mainland, and then going around the island. I also thought Axel would appreciate a slightly longer and more challenging route so we chose to go to the island with the strong tidal streams giving us more hindrance than help. ( If we'd left from "Whistling Sands' on the West coast of the Llyn, we'd have been able to drop onto the island using the ebb, and make the most of the afternoon flood to take us back later).

You can see the resulting 'tracks' that we made on our journey, as recorded by our Blackberry and the free Sanoodi software. The tide is strongest nearest to land and you can see that we were swept downstream as we approached our destinations on the way there, and back. On the way back we were aiming about ENE, even though the tide tide took us much further West than this!

Once on Bardsey, the Porter family were very busy in the middle of the lambing season. After a cup of tea, Axel and I were happy to help move some young lambs from the stable where they were being looked after to the field outside. Steve took the mum while we got to carry the cute cuddly lambs. Later we went on 'patrol' with Steve and Jo looking for any new-born lambs, or any mothers who needed some help with a difficult birth. We saw 3 new lambs come into the world - 1 set of twins and 1 single lamb. Despite the goo, there is something magical about new life!

The technology I used to track our progress to and from Bardsey will be used on my next trip. In theory, an update from 'twitter' should alert people to the start of a new paddle, and you can follow along live, or check the progress once we're reached our destination. For some reason, the twitter update part didn't work on the paddle to Bardsey - perhaps because the phone signal was very week? I'm trying to find out if that can be fixed.

Click HERE to see the outward route to Bardsey and HERE to see the return route on the Sanoodi website, from where you can navigate around and look at other things.

You can read Axel's account of the trip here.

CackleTV Twittering!

2009-03-17T15:11:00.005Z

You may have noticed that a strange box has appeared on the top of the blog, which says 'Twitter' in it. A week ago, I didn't know what "Twitter" was and I didn't really care ( I'm getting old already!)! But then I got told that 'twitter' could automatically let people know if I was about to go on a kayaking trip, and provide a link to a 'live map' of the kayaking route. I signed up and have spent the last week or so working with "Sanoodi" and Derrick to work out the nitty gritty of it.

Today is a beautiful warm sunny day in Wales and when I got a phone call from a friend, I didn't need much persuading to get out on the water - just to test the system out, of course!

The upshot is that as I'm kayaking somewhere, my position is uploaded live onto a website, superimposed on a map or an aerial photograph. Check out the map of the test paddle today - it's amazingly detailed. You can even see where Jeff and I stopped for a play in the moving water. For those people who have better things to do than check up on my progress (!), you can look at the map at the end of the day and see where we kayaked, the total distance covered and the average speed. And, by the way, we were against the tide today - in both directions!!

How this works is quite simple - thanks to some very clever software - and the good news is that if you want to do the same thing, you can download the software you need for free from Sanoodi. You need a phone with a GPS in it - either a blackberry, an I-phone, a Nokia S-60, or a windows mobile phone. Then you can download a free copy of the SMap software from the Sanoodi website and upload your own tracks live to their website. Or go to wap.sanoodi.com from your phone. We have a blackberry because it has the best battery life.

Barry and I are planning a trip in the next few weeks which I'll write more about soon - and we'll be using the blackberry to give live updates of our position. To follow along, you don't have to join twitter. Just check the blog and whenever we set off, you'll see a link to the map of our route. If you want to join twitter, or you are already a member, then 'follow' CackleTV and you'll automatically get the update everytime I go on a trip.

Sunny Surfing

2009-03-16T10:14:00.002Z

It actually felt like Spring this weekend. On Sunday, the surf on the Hells Mouth webcam was looking good and the sun was shining. Eve and I drove down the Llyn Peninsula with our surf kayaks in the van and had a great couple of hours getting wet and thrown around by the waves. Eve was rolling like a demon, recovering from front loops, back loops & washing machine rides! A great day to get excited about warmer weather and fun adventures to come!

Swellies by night

2009-03-13T17:34:00.003Z

Yesterday was a really big tidal range with a high tide of 9.7 metres in Liverpool. Perhaps more importantly for us, the low tide was REALLY LOW! Only 0.4metres... That meant that the standing waves at the Swellies in the Menai Straits should be really well formed and calling out to be surfed! The only problem was that action time, when the waves form was about 6.30pm -- about the time it gets dark! But we couldn't resist such a big tide. Barry also wanted to check out a different wave, a bit higher upstream from the ''Swellies wave', which he's only seen 'working' (i.e surfable) when the low tide is REALLY low. It was working well last night, with the tide tanking through there, making it hard to get onto the front wave. The traditional Swellies wave is still my favourite though, and on our way back, in near pitch dark, it was steep and powerful. It was a bit scary, to be honest, especially when we could only see each other if we were very close. After Barry capsized and rolled, which I didn't see, we decided to get off the water, and go for a well deserved Pizza-and-a-Pint!

"Eastern Horizons" DVD released this month

2009-03-11T14:56:00.004Z

Cackle TV is going to sell and distribute the new seakayaking film "Eastern Horizons" in the UK. Europe & Australasia. Bryan Smith & his wife Lise-Anne Beyries from Reel Water Productions in Canada have been spent a lot of the last 18 months making this new entertaining seakayaking DVD, which is released this month.

The creators of "Pacific Horizons" (which is also available from CackleTV) moved over to North America's east coast from Georgia to Newfoundland to bring you another inspirational and breathtaking sea kayaking adventure film. Eastern Horizons blends the rich history and culture of the sea with world class sea kayakers, idyllic destinations, incredible wildlife and compelling stories of people who's lives are deeply connected to the Atlantic Ocean. From the rich marshes in North Carolina to the icebergs in Newfoundland and from the urban landscape of New York City to the remote fishing villages of the Magdalene Islands, this film is a must for everyone interested in the ocean.

You can read more about the film HERE, and you can now pre-order it from my website. The DVD should be available to ship on 25th March, or soon afterwards.

"Pacific Horizons", "Eastern Horizons" and the "This is the Sea" series can also be purchased at a reduced price if you buy more than 1 DVD at a time - click here to go to the UK/ Europe / Australisia store. For example you can buy any 2 DVDs for £35.99, or any 3 DVDs for £52.99, with free shipping anywhere in the world.

"This is the Sea 4" is still doing well at film festivals. The South island circumnavigation film won second place for 'best Adventure film' at the Sheffield Adventure Film Festival recently. First place was awarded to 'Solo', the film about Andrew McAuley crossing the Tasman Sea.

In the US, "Eastern Horizons" is being launched by Bryan this weekend at Canoecopia.

Another Place

2009-03-10T16:51:00.003Z

Last weekend Barry and I visited 'Another Place', a series of 100 cast iron statues placed on the beach at Crosby by artist Antony Gormley. I remember hearing about the statues when they were first put there in 2004, and finally found myself close enough to Liverpool to enjoy a stroll along the beach with a difference. The statues are identical and are spaced along a 3km section of beach. They all stare out to sea - some of them almost completely buried by water at high tide. I found it really evocative to see all those mesmerized people fascinated by the magic of the sea.

Bardsey Adventure

2009-03-03T17:40:00.004Z

THE SEA ON THE WAY OUT, BARDSEY IS BEHIND THAT WAVE!

Everyone I contacted to 'play out' this weekend was busy or away, but I decided not to let that stop me having a wee adventure. On Sunday morning, I packed the van and drove down to Aberdaron at the end of the Llyn Peninsula. The white water at the tiderace off Pen y Cil headland was very clearly visible from a mile and a half away. The conditions were sporty enough for me to phone the Porter family who live on the island to tell them I was on my way - they promised to look out for me and to get the kettle on as I drew close. I had a fun paddle in the end - a force 4 wind which was almost a headwind kicked up a few big waves, but I enjoyed the heightened awareness that comes from being solo.
STEVE GIVES 2 SICK SHEEP A RIDE BACK

I was met by Steve and his son Ben on their quad bike and escorted to their farmhouse for the promised cuppa. It was a beautiful day and I took a walk up to the top of the island and looked back at the whitecaps in the Sound. The sky was so clear that I could see Holyhead mountain and the hills of Ireland from up there. I was invited to stay overnight with the Porters and had a great evening. Ben took me out in his rowing boat to check his lobster pots. He had one big lobster, but it was a female which he had to put back, and a few other lobsters which were too small to keep. Oh well, no lobster for dinner this time!
BEN ROWING BACK AFTER CHECKING HIS POTS
THROWING BACK A LOBSTER THAT'S TOO SMALL
After dinner, the stars were out and I had a look at the craters of the moon and Saturn's rings through Steve's telescope.

The next morning, before I headed back home, I "helped" the family to round up the year old ewes, so Steve could shear around their bottoms! I didn't offer to help with that task, and headed back across a roughening up sound about 9.30am. The current was strongly pushing me in the wrong direction this time, but I ferry-glided across the Sound and ended up about a mile downstream of the headland I wanted to go around to get back to Aberdaron. The eddy close to the land carried me back to Pen y Cil headland and I had to work hard to surf against the tide to get around the corner, then i was home and dry, with a following wind to push me back to the beach.

Bardsey island is one of those special places which relaxes me and makes me feel happy just to be there, and it's usually quite an exciting paddle to get there.... I'm sure it won't be long before I return!
BEN AND JO ROUNDING UP THE SHEEP

Walking on Water

2009-02-23T20:45:00.004Z

This weekend I walked on water for the first ( and probably last) time! I was visiting my friend Cheryl in the Lake District and went with her to 'have a ball' in Keswick. Cheryl is organising the 'Keswick Mountain Festival' this May, full of outdoor activities, speakers like Double Olympic champion James Cracknell, climber Leo Houlding, Doctor Mike Stroud, endurance athlete Jez Bragg, round the world runner Rosie Swale and round the world cyclist Mark Beaumont. This weekend she had to test out some giant inflatable balls which you climb into and which allow you to walk on water. I was only too happy to volunteer to be one of the testers! It was great fun, but amazingly tiring to try to make it go anywhere. And of course, it was really difficult to try to stand up, or to remain standing up. I found that kneeling down and trying to 'run' on it like that was a bit easier.

Al and Jase from 'Keswick Adventure Centre' will be manning the 'water wheels at the Keswick Mountain Festival and they blew up the balls using an electric pump. They then seal you in there with a huge 'dry suit' type zip. It's quite a strange feeling being 'locking in there' with only 5-10 minutes of breathable air but I soon forgot that as I tried to keep ( or get!) my balance in the ball. It's also a wierd feeling to fall into the water, but not actually to get wet! Not even my socks were wet inside the ball, which was pretty cool.

CHERYL INSIDE THE BALL, WITH AL AND JASE

More chances to see "This is the Sea 4" films

2009-02-19T10:02:00.003Z

Chapters from "This is the Sea 4" are proving popular with film festivals. if you live near San Francisco this weekend you can see "Rockhopping in Baja" and "Dubside"on the big screen as part of the 6th annual Ocean Film Festival. Click here for details.

The following weekend, 27th February to 1st March is the 4th Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, known as Shaff. Here you can see the multi-award winning film of my New Zealand expedition. I also notice that they are showing "Solo", the film of Andrew McAuley's tragic crossing of the Tasman Sea.

From 6TH - 14TH MARCH 2009 is the Fort William Mountain Film Festival in Scotland. The shorter festival version of the New Zealand film is showing (approx 25mins) and perhaps one of the other chapters.

I've also entered the film into the Wanaka Mountain Film Festival in New Zealand from July 3rd-7th, and the Alaska Ocean Film Festival on June 6th. They haven't selected which films they are showing yet but hopefully one of mine will be in there!

The NZ film is also on tour throughout Canada and America as part of the Reel Paddling Film Festival.

Last ski

2009-02-11T02:59:00.002Z

MY DAD SKIING PAKALOLO ( DOUBLE BLACK DIAMOND)

Barry and I had our last day of skiing in Whistler today. The last 2 days were great, with fresh snow and some good runs. I went up for one last run down the Peak Chair, 2 minutes before it closed and I had the mountain to myself going down through some of the bowls spraying powder behind me. It was a great end to our time in Canada.

This is Barry's first time skiing and he's been whizzing down black runs and (sometimes reluctantly) tackling bumpy un-pisted runs.

BARRY WHIZZING DOWN THE DAVE MURRAY DOWNHILL

New Zealand film wins best Adventure Film at Reel Film Festival

2009-02-05T05:30:00.004Z

The film of our circumnavigation of New Zealand has won another award - the best adventure film at the Reel Paddling Film Festival. This Canadian festival has been running 4 years and aims to be to paddling films what 'Banff Mountain film festival' is to Mountain Films. The festival is taking the best paddling films on tour around Canada and America over the next year so if you haven't already seen it then you might get a chance to see it at one of the locations. Check here! If you do go to one of the showings then please make sure you vote for us for the 'people's choice award'! Or, of course, you can always buy the film which is just one part of the 'This is the Sea 4' DVD.

The photos are of Tofino, just to prove we looked around a bit, aswell as surfed!!

Surfing Tofino

2009-02-04T22:15:00.006Z

We've had 3 days staying at a fantastic house right on the beach at Tofino. We wake up, check the surf out of the window, have a quick soak in the hot tub, eat breakfast and walk down to the beach with a surf kayak! After lunch, we do it all again.

On the first day it was raining and misty - the sea was 8 degrees and the air was 7 degrees so it didn't make much difference whether you were on top of the water or under the water! The last 2 days has been sunny and warm and it's great to be here. There is something about surfing which is hugely addictive. I think it's the energy and the power.

We're here with Shawna and Leon of Body Boat Blade, and Eric and Megan Schorr of Anacortes Kayak Tours.

Thanks to Johnson Outdoors and Necky for lending us 2 Spyder surf kayaks, which we've enjoyed trying out. Thanks also to Lendal for sorting Barry and I out with surfing paddles. Thanks to Kokatat for a fantastic hood which kept me warm!!

Thanks to Barry and Eric for the photos.

Skiing

2009-01-27T03:41:00.003Z

I'm in Whistler skiing with Barry and my dad. Shawna Franklin and Leon Somme have joined us for a few days and we're enjoying the huge number of runs available here. It hasn't snowed for over 2 weeks but we're still enjoying being out here in the mountains skiing.

Tomorrow is the last day of skiing for a while, and we'll go back to Orcas island with Shawna and Leon for a few days, then on to Tofino for some winter kayak surfing, before a final 5 days skiing in Whistler before flying home.

River Dabbling

2009-01-15T16:24:00.003Z

YES, THAT IS AN ICE WATERFALL BEHIND BARRY!

We took our salty sea kayaking kit for a dunk in the river last weekend. Nick and Mark invited Barry and I for a paddle down the Tryweryn. It was blowing a gale on the sea and seemed a perfect opportunity to try something a little out of our comfort zone. We had second thoughts as we looked at the ice-clad rivers on the drive there. brrrr. Neither of us have done much river paddling before, and enjoyed learning new things. Sorry the photos are not very good!

We've also been getting out on the sea a bit and enjoyed a choppy trip to the Skerries with a different Nick last Friday. Tomorrow we head to Canada for some skiing and some surf kayaking.

New Years Irish Adventure

2009-01-03T20:03:00.007Z

CROSSING TO IRELAND IN THE DARK

I can't remember whose stupid idea it was to kayak over 50 nautical miles from Wales to Ireland in winter, a week after the shortest day of the year, but somehow Barry and I came to do just that. Barry has already kayaked from Wales to Ireland at the very top and very bottom of Wales ( from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and from St Davids to Rosslaire) but he also wanted to kayak from the tip of the Llyn Peninsula to Wicklow. I think he probably imagined doing this in Summer but the Summer came and went without the Easterly wind that we wanted to push us along in the right direction. Then over the last 10 days, we've had consistent Easterly winds and bright skies. One of us suggested the paddle to Ireland and we came up with all sorts of excuses why we shouldn't do it - a lack of fitness, near freezing temperatures, the fact we have less than 9 hours of daylight for a 12-16 hour crossing, tiredness etc etc. So we went paddling to get our fitness up and tried out Barry's double seakayak which we thought it would be safer ( and quicker ) to take. The easterly winds didn't go away so on New Years Day, instead of sitting at home and relaxing we got organised and got our kit ready.

We only managed to snatch an hours sleep that evening before leaving the house around midnight, to drive south to Porth Oer ( otherwise known as Whistling Sands), a beach near the tip of the Llyn Peninsula. We planned to leave in the dark so we could be sure of arriving at unknown territory in the daylight. The crossing is around 50 nautical miles so we knew it would take over 11 hours in the double, and perhaps 14 hours or more if things didn't go well.
GETTING READY AT 1AM
It might sound obvious but when we arrived at the beach, the thing that struck us both was how dark it was! It was a starry night but the slim moon we'd expected was nowhere to be seen. We couldn't pick out any waves. We considered driving home again but thought we'd get on the water and see what it was like. A rolling swell picked us up straight away and the kayak moved up and down disconcertingly below us. But as our eyes adjusted we could see the shape of the sea within a few metres of our kayak and it wasn't that rough. Green phosphorescence sparkled off our paddles and it was quite exciting to be setting off into the unknown.

The lighthouse of Bardsey island flickered it's beam over us for the first few miles as we drew further away from the shore. We paddled without any lights and navigated using the stars ( i.e we got onto the right bearing using the compass then picked out a star in front of us and aimed for that, turning the light on to check we were still on course every 30 minutes or so). We soon warmed up with the paddling, but as soon as we stopped to eat and drink, we got very cold within 5 minutes. The sandwiches and flasks of hot drink we'd prepared would have taken too long to pfaff around with so we drank water and ate snacks of sausages, hard boiled eggs, bananas, chocolate, nuts and museli bars. We would stop every 5 or 6 nautical miles, eat and drink quickly then paddle on again. We set off about 1.30am and paddled in the dark for the first 5 and a half hours. My stomach was knotted with tiredness and we were both struggling to stay awake. In fact we both fell asleep several times while paddling. We'd nod off for a split second then our paddle would catch on the water or we'd start to lose our balance and we'd wake up with a jolt. This was one of the reasons for taking the double. Apart from being faster, we wouldn't have to worry about losing sight of each other in the dark, and we hopefully wouldn't both fall asleep at the same time and fall in the frigid water.
BARRY AT SUNRISE

Very soon I started to hallucinate and seeing all sorts of things in the sea in front of us - trees, boats, rocks, birds and sculptures all rose up in front of me, and melted into nothing as we drew up besides them, or over them. For a split second I believed that we were about to hit whatever the object was and a panic would start to well up inside me, but I quickly realised I was imagining things and watched them fascinated to see how they changed or disappeared. Once it got a bit lighter, I really believed that a swarm of midges had just flown past my face, until Barry pointed out that we were 25 miles from land and it was January so I couldn't have seen midges.
APPROACHING WICKLOW
A slight breeze and swell from the east helped us along at 4-5 knots, and we were able to surf a few waves at up to 9 knots. At 8.30am the sun came up behind us and my hallucinations stopped. The tiredness was still there but we closer and feeling more positive. Finally Wicklow Head came into view and the flood tide was carrying us north towards it. The VHF radio crackled into life and it was Des Keaney of Deep Blue Seakayaking asking for an ETA.

We were now a mile from Wicklow Head feeling confident we could ride the flood around it to Wicklow Harbour. Unfortunately as we got closer, the tide on the headland had turned earlier than we'd expected and we had to ferry glide a mile into shore, giving it a last big effort to surf the waves forwards, against the tide.

ARRIVING AT WICKLOW

At about 1.30pm we pulled into Wicklow Harbour after almost 52 nautical miles and 11 hours 53 minutes on the water. Des and Sonja held the kayak while we clumsily struggled out of it. They very kindly drove us back to their home, offered us a shower, cooked us a fry up and sent us to bed for 3 hours while they prepared dinner! Another friend, Marie came over that evening and we lost all track of time and stayed up chatting until 2am!! Thanks a lot to Des and Sonja for all their help and kindness. Today they took us to the Dublin ferry terminal, where Stenaline Ferries really looked after us ( thanks to Eila and the staff there for sorting that out). We had to wheel the double kayak through security and carry it around to the baggage lorry, then stack it on top of all the suitcases. Then we were invited up to the bridge to chat with the captain, Simon Mills, who is also a seakayaker.
QUEUING UP WITH THE KAYAK TO BOARD THE FERRY HOME
We got home this evening, thanks to a lift from Nick and Libby. I think it's time to relax now!

Kayak Fishing Fever

2008-12-16T09:36:00.004Z

Kayak fishing is the fastest growing sector of kayaking around the world with hundreds of people taking up the sport every month. I often trail a hand line behind my kayak which could perhaps be regarded as 'entry level' for kayak fishing. At the other end of the spectrum, fishermen go out on sit-on-top kayaks with electronic fish finders, up to 4 or 5 rods, a stash of lures & a cool box for bait.

I filmed some of these fishermen for the first time in "This is the Sea 4". There's an 8 minute feature which mainly follows Jim Sammons, who has been kayak fishing in San Diego for 20 years and who runs kayak fishing trips there and in Baja. But there is a a catch - Jim has to launch through 3 foot surf before he can even cast a line!

I recently sent a review copy of "This is the Sea 4" to Terry Jackson from the UK website 'Kayak Fishing North Wales'. Terry described the DVD to me as 'inspiration in a box', which I like a lot!! You can read his review here, or enter the competition he has set up to win a signed copy of the DVD.

Bardsey island turkeys

2008-12-10T14:43:00.004Z

On Saturday, Barry and I paddled to Bardsey island at the end of the Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. It's one of our favourite places to paddle and we've got to know the only family who live there all year round. Steve, Joanna, Rachel and Ben Porter have spent just over a year as the resident farmers - during the summer the other few houses are occupied by local lobster fishermen, RPSB bird wardens, National Trust representatives, a resident artist and many visitors. In the winter, it's just them, cattle, sheep, turkeys, ducks, seals and birds. The local lobster fisherman is employed by the post office to deliver their mail by boat once a week, but in the Winter there are often 3 week stretches when it's too stormy to get out to the island. It's only a couple of kilometres from the mainland but the tide flies through the sound at up to 6 knots and it can be really rough. That's why the Welsh name for the island is Ynys Enlli - island in the currents.

We try to visit Bardsey at least every couple of months and we are always given a warm welcome, a cup of tea and often a piece of home made cake! In return we take out some fresh fruit, a weekend newspaper and some other treats. We've been talking about staying overnight for months and finally we spend a lovely evening with the Porters, eating local beef, chatting and going for a star-lit evening walk. Slightly strangely, we also watched the X-factor on telly!!! The next morning we watched the Porters catch some of their turkeys for Christmas gifts. If we get a chance to go back to Bardsey before Christmas then I'm going to bring one of the poor turkeys back in my kayak and have a Bardsey free range turkey for Christmas dinner. At least it will have had a happy life!

NZ premiere and FREE WORLDWIDE POSTAGE

2008-12-03T13:09:00.002Z

The New Zealand premiere of "This is the Sea 4" was a great success last week. Thanks a lot to Sarah Wilson from Adventure Coaching for organizing the event at the Spectrum Theatre in Wellington. I couldn't be there ( in case I was tempted to keep kayaking around the North island!) but Sarah tells me that 100 eager kayakers and adventurers turned up. They "broke the rules" and watched the first part of the premiere disk but instead of watching the 25minute version of the NZ film that's on that disc, they watched the whole 48 minute film! Sarah's verdict, "It is winna mate!" The premiere also raised around $500 for a project that supports teenagers learning through adventure - called Project K.

There's one more premiere planned in Toronto this Saturday on 6th December, organised by the Complete Paddler and Gerald Croney. If anyone else is interested in organising a premiere event then please get in touch - I can provide an hour long version of the DVD.

With over 2 and a half hours of award-winning films, "This is the Sea 4" makes a great Christmas gift!. If you've already got it then there are 3 previous DVDs in stock for anyone who has any 'gaps in their collection' that need filling!

Remember that if you buy from our on-line store then SHIPPING IS FREE TO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!
Orders are usually posted within 24 hours, and often go the same day.

(in the UK/ Europe/Australia/Asia store, there is a small postage charge for buying multiple DVDs, but postage is free for single DVDs. In the USA/ Canada store all shipping is free)