Kayaking Isle of Man - Swim!

It’s hectic at work at the moment with the Manx Grand Prix motorcycle races about to begin. I grabbed the chance to take a quick paddle from Port Erin Beach yesterday. I didn’t have time to arrange company and so I headed out to the choppy waters off Bradda Head alone. I passed the dinghies of 7th Wave weaving back and forth across the bay, and waved at their fleet of sit upon kayaks hugging the shore line. But once around the corner, below Bradda Tower, I was alone in the disturbed and sometimes frantically choppy sea. It was here that my recklessness began. It started with left and right roles, one after the other. A bit of sculling for good measure soon progressed to an attempt at extreme photography. In the interest of providing my readers with an unusual and interesting photograph I inverted myself and attempted to take a photograph of the underside of my now up turned kayak. I guess I’m not as athletic as I thought and my spray deck popped and with the choppy water rebounding off the cliffs, I parted company with my kayak. It was at this point I was grateful for the hours of time I have spent in tidal races practicing wet re-entry. Without this I may have met a watery end on the shear cliffs beneath the old mine workings. But within 30 seconds I was back in the boat, all be it with a cockpit full of water. My recklessness continued as I opted not to re-apply my spray deck and I played with the swell with my slowly submerging kayak. The cockpit now completely filled, every wave had to be braced and played. Any speed I might have achieved was gone as my heavy boat writhed, tipped and tried it’s best to expel me. Eventually, beneath Port Erin Life Boat station, I jumped out, expelled the water and re-entered to paddle home. Well, sometimes you have to make your own fun!
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Bits.

The next few weeks will see a flurry of kayaking activity here on the Isle of Man. On the 16th August 2008 Gordin Warner arrives on the Island in preparation for his circumnavigation of the Isle of Man. The 5 day trip is in aid of a cure for cancer and you can donate here. One day earlier on the 15th August, two kayakers supported by David Grieves in a yacht, will attempt to cross from Whitehaven in Cumbria, to Ramsay on the Isle of Man. The journey has been completed before, but at 53 km across the busy Irish Sea, this represents a formidable open crossing. They hope to arrive approximately 2 hours after low tide at the beach below the lifeboat station in Ramsay. From the 14th to 18th of August is the annual Isle of Man Sea Kayaking Symposium which in the past has attracted some internationally recognised kayaking coaches (photo above 2007 Isle of Man Symposium).
The lower photo above shows some of the damage my 3 piece kayak suffered on its way back from Vancouver to Manchester Airport. As you can see the gelcoat has flaked away from the fibreglass on the lower hull. Unfortunately there is further damage to the gelcoat on the upper deck around the cockpit. It seems to me that some kindly baggage handler has dropped this segment onto its port side from some height. Either way Mike Webb of Rockpool Kayaks is currently making repairs to this segment. He described the task as "difficult". I'm not sure whether the boat will be back in time for my next trip to the Lofoten Islands, Norway, in September. Either way I can always rent a kayak. I particularly like the following quote from Lofoten Kayaks: "Kayaks are available for hire to anyone who can demonstrate an Eskimo roll technique with equipment in the boats". I think that's exactly how things should be!
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Familiar Waters.

I didn't plan to paddle out of Port Moar yesterday, but a dark cloud hung over Laxey and I drove on up the coast for a few miles. It was the first outing for my new car with a kayak on board. In particular I've installed two sets of the new Thule 837 Hull-A-Port Pro Kayak Carriers. They are a development of Thule's previous J bars. The main improvements include better padding, a slightly more horizontal lower bar making loading more easy, and of course they now have a hinge allowing the upper bar to be lowered. Having been excluded from may car parks by the height of my previous vehicle with it's J bars, this latter point certainly seems to be an important improvement. My only concern is that being fairly absent minded, I may forget to lower the bars and pull the roof off my car!
All that aside it was a great paddle. There was no sign of the Venture Centre lads whose kayaks and gear I parked next to at Port Moar. I had the sea to myself. There was just enough bounce and wave break off the headlands to provide entertainment on my trip to and from Port Cornaa. The water is different here to Vancouver Island, and this was a comfort as I was paddling alone. The waves were sharper, more widespread and unpredictable and you have to keep one eye over your shoulder. But today at least, they lacked the brutal power and ferocity of those I'd become familiar with off the West Coast of Vancouver Island.
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Kayaking Isle of Man - Isle of Man Circumnavigation.

I received an email from Gordin Warner this morning. He is finally on his way to the UK, followed by the Isle of Man, arriving here on the 16th of August ready for his circumnavigation in aid of a cure for cancer. He has already raised over $5,000 for this cause and you can donate here.
I wonder what he will make of the Isle of Man? How will he contrast it to Vancouver Island where he lives? Having spent well over a month in B.C. myself I feel that these two Islands are very different. I really love both the Isle of Man and Vancouver Island, but in very different ways.Vancouver Island is 286 miles long, 50 miles wide and has a population of over 700,000. The Isle of Man is just over 30 miles long, 13 miles wide and has a population of approximately 80,000. The following is my impression of Vancouver Island.
Draw a line from just south of Port Renfrew to just south of Port Hardy. The line will be almost vertical but not quite. To the right of the line are the main population centres, industry and large conurbations. Some of these locations are stunning, and incorporate the Sunshine Coast and Gulf Islands. But they are organised and shaped. The tourists have taken over and there are vast Malls, billboards and wide streets. To the left of the line is the rugged, mountainous, sparsely populated, and densely forested Pacific Coastline. Many native people live here on the numerous reserves and large areas have changed little over the years. Transport and communications are not easy out here , logging roads and zero mobile coverage being the norm. But make the effort and the most stunning untouched locations can be reached and you can experience a peace and solitude that is hard to find in 2008. There is a sense of past and history. It is possible to appreciate a little of the isolation the early settlers must have experienced as there are areas here where communications and access to medical and other services are not present. You really are on your own. This may cause discomfort to many, but it is a feeling that is difficult to achieve in the British Isles. This is what I found very special about this amazing place.
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Kayaking Isle of Man - Broken!

We've been back from Vancouver Island for a week. This kayaking bonanza took a great deal of planning and effort to organise, and a lot of physical and mental energy to execute. It had been part of our lives for many months and now it's over. It's been quite difficult to settle back into the mundane routine of home and work. This has been especially so as this week has presented me with one or two difficulties.
Firstly I discovered that my three piece kayak had been damaged during it's journey back from Vancouver, and one third of it has been returned to Rockpool for repairs. I then lost my Palm computer containing much important data and I discovered later that the hospital laundry had washed it for me, (my fault, I left it in my theatre blues). It is now very clean but completely dead. Continuing the "washing" theme, I accidentally dropped my Pentax SLR digital camera into a tub of water whilst washing my kayaking gear. This camera is not water proof and now it too is dead! My new car arrived, I traded in my old one which then immediately broke down - I think the garage think I pushed it into the dealership prior to collecting my new car. My new car arrived from the factory minus it's pre-ordered roof rack and put an end to several planned paddles. On returning to work I found the Anaesthetic Department was also broken, once again at war with itself over private work! (luckily I don't do private work any more). Finally, I did manage to paddle on Sunday with Ian who very kindly gave me and my kayak a lift to Fenella Beach. During the paddle to Glen Maye and back we sadly came across a dead porpoise floating on the surface. Hopefully next week will be a little better?
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Kayaking Isle of Man - Intercontinental Kayak 2.

4 weeks ago I took a 3 piece Rockpool Alaw Bach and kayaking gear from the Isle of Man to Vancouver Island, Canada! The Rockpool has just returned home after its epic 10,000 mile journey - so how did this go?
We were booked to fly from the Isle of Man to Manchester airport with FlyBE in order to pick up our connection to Vancouver. FlyBE would not even discuss carrying the kayak on board their plane. At a loss for a while I eventually discovered FCX on the Isle of Man. They were brilliant and took the utmost care with my boat. They delivered it bang on time to Terminal 2 at Manchester to meet us for our connecting flight. Total cost for carrying it to and from the Island - £100.
Having picked up the 3 pieces we presented them to Zoom, the low cost Canadian airline. We knew beforehand that they would take kayaks at a cost of £60 each way. We did not have to pre-book and there were no size or weight limits specified in their information pack. Nervously I explained that the bubble wrapped 3 piece sea kayak, which assembled measured over 17 feet, and with my kayaking gear stuffed inside weighed 35 kg, was a single kayak and not 3 kayaks. They clearly had not been confronted by such a colossus before. Like FCX they were also brilliant, and without question checked in my boat and posted it off down the priority/fragile ramp. They charged me £60!
The kayak arrived in a special area of Vancouver Airport completely in tact. It spent the next three weeks being transported around Vancouver Island in the back of a Ford Explorer where it fitted perfectly disassembled, with the rear car seats down. It spent many nights in our hotel rooms and was used on average every other day for about 3 hours in many different stunning locations.
On our return from Vancouver Zoom were equally obliging, charging me $100 for the transfer. FCX were also equally efficient collecting the boat from Terminal 2 Manchester and delivering it to the Island the following day and with the utmost care. Unfortunately the same care that Vancouver Airport showed my fragile kayak was not extended to the boat by Manchester Airport. I do not know if it is usual for them to place fragile priority packages on the standard suite case conveyor belt but that is what they did. My girlfriends suite case was badly ripped on arrival at Manchester and unfortunately I have discovered significant but repairable damage to the cockpit gel coat. It looks like this section has been dropped heavily on its side.
So is it worth it? Well total transfer costs were about £220. It costs about £25 to hire a kayak on Vancouver Island for the day. I used my kayak for 8 trips which would have cost £200. Clearly on top of carriage I had packaging (£60), the kayak ( £2400) and now damage repairs/insurance to pay for. On a purely financial basis it is not worth it. But the privilege of paddling such a great kayak in fantastic locations made it worthwhile it to me and yes, I would do it all again!
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Ronning's Garden.

Imagine driving 50 km along rugged logging roads through dense forest to the remote logging inlet of Holberg and then on another 20 km on the worst, most pot holed road encountered so far, all to reach the very well named Cape Scott Provincial Park. Not far from your destination, and praying the 4 by 4 holds together, desperate to avoid punctures by the razor sharp stones, you see a sign for "Ronnings Garden"!
Bernt Ronning was a Danish settler who established his remote homestead in 1910. Most of his countrymen abandoned their Cape Scott settlement when the promised access road was not completed. The reclusive Ronning stayed on earning a meager living as a trapper, fisherman and camp cook. He sent for cuttings and seeds by mail from all around the world, cleared 5 acres of rain forest and planted the unexpected and lovely garden we found today. The garden fell into disrepair when Ronning died in 1963, but has largely been revived by Ron and Julia Moe who own it today. The garden is best known for its male and female monkey puzzle trees found at the entrance to the garden. They are some of the largest and oldest in B.C. and are one of the few pairs in North America that produce viable seeds.
..... oh and there's been kayaking too .....
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