Kayaking Isle of Man - Ice Cream!

Lower 3 photos by Jessica Egelnick (www.BlackSpotKayaking.com)
Jess and I paddled from Port Erin to the Calf Sound tidal races yesterday. As you can see from the photos above there was quite a bit of flow. The absence of wind did not seem to matter as the sea hurtled through the gap between the Isle of Man and Kitterland. I’ve noticed before that when this race runs to the North West it is much more gnarly and turbulent. It fools you into surfing a clean, steep, standing wave, which, once you have committed, spikes and breaks on you. Support for bracing is offered and then snatched away and several times it was only quick reactions which stopped me capsizing. It was great fun and after about 2 hours Jess and I were exhausted as we paddled back to Port Erin for ice cream.
A sizable crowd had been watching us perform. We thought that they’d be impressed by our rough water skills. Three elderly women who had been in the crowd approached us at Port Erin. They thought that we’d spent two hours trying to cross the race but that we’d had to give up due to the speed of the tide. When I explained that we were in fact in the race for fun, the blood seamed to drain from their faces, and they appeared uncomfortable and walked away! Still, I guess when I’m 80 and use a walking stick I won’t be up for extreme paddling either.
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