Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Just Messin'

After 3 weeks away working it was good to be back in the Isle of Man. A month without paddling needed correcting and so Ian and I paddled from Laxey to Port Cornaa and back. Only the light winds and tame tides let us down and although the scenery was stunning, the paddle lacked excitement. To compensate it was decided that my 3 piece kayak should be dismantled with me still in it! The Rockpool rough water sea kayak was converted into an extremely unstable, snub nosed play boat which was surprisingly fun to paddle. Meanwhile, Ian's attempts to stand up in his boat ended up predictably.

Next weekend we have spring tides and so it'll be down to the races for more familiar kayaking action.

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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Surge Rapids.

As you can see, Ian, Jess and myself spent today in the Manx tidal races. Regular viewers of this blog will quickly realise that there is nothing unusual in that. The three of us spend most of our paddling time surfing the Calf Sound tides.
KAYAK.im Blog is read by kayakers from around the World and I'm hoping that a few Canadian paddlers might view this post. In July and August I'll be headed off again to Vancouver Island in British Colombia. Unlike the last time I went, I won't be taking my Rockpool 3 piece kayak; it's just too difficult to get it there these days, and last time it got badly damaged in transit! Instead I'm going to rent boats, in particular in Tofino, Port Hardy and Quadra Island. I already know where I can lease boats from, but I really would like a British style boat such as a Nigel Denis Explorer or something similar. If you rent out such kayaks in any of the places listed above then please contact me here Finally, I would really like to paddle the infamous Surge Rapids off Quadra Island in a sea kayak. If any paddling companies based in the area provide organised trips to these tidal races then please contact me again here.
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - A Different Race.

Not all tidal races are the same. Nor is any particular tidal race the same the whole time. Much depends on what's causing them and when you go. The top photograph is of me in the small tidal race between the Isle of Man and Kitterland, just below the Calf Sound Cafe. The lower two pictures are of Ian in a race much further around the back of the Calf just beyond the Stack, on the South West corner of the island. This race is produced by tide gushing over submerged, irregular rocks as it wraps it's way around the Calf and smashes into opposing currents. This produces a swirling, gnarly mass of waves, eddys and currents heading in seemingly random directions. When a tidal race is like this it really isn't worth playing in, and entry becomes more an exercise in survival. It is not unusual to have 3 or 4 waves crashing into your boat from all directions making choosing which one to brace upon an impossible decision. Get it wrong and you are going over. The first race however in the top picture, although on this occasion slightly bigger, is much more manageable. Predictable standing waves move in a uniform direction allowing easy surfing. This race is produced by tide flowing through a narrow, shallow gap between two islands. This causes the water to speed up resulting in turbulence and uniform, constant waves.
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Rusty

I had paddled only once before in the last two months. It's usually work that is to blame. Of late I've worked in hospitals miles away from the sea. More recently I've been out in Gibraltar. Kayaking facilities out there are extremely limited. Should you find yourself in Gibraltar and wish to paddle try Googling "Nigel Jeffries" and the "Gibraltar Canoe Club" for contact details. Unfortunately, despite contacting Nigel, who was extremely helpful, my shift patterns conspired against me and I didn't get to paddle around the Rock.
And so it was the case that I was extremely rusty as I entered the small tidal race down at the Calf Sound with Jess. Despite that we both had a great time and snapped the photos above between us.
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Lofoten Cod.

Not everything in Lofoten can be stunningly beautiful. Certainly the remnants of the annual cod slaughter, with fish heads and deeply blood stained snow, go some way to introduce a sense of reality to this fairy tale landscape. But there is something fascinating about this very uniquely Lofoten tradition of hanging up the salt cod in the Winter. This year the whole process has been delayed and many of the racks lie empty. All this despite there being huge numbers of cod available to catch off this chain of islands. A combination of snow and freezing weather has delayed the salting and hanging process. One local told me that too much frost on the fish ruins the quality. Nor has the fishing industry escaped the global financial crisis with markets and prices down! But for the first time today Spring has arrived, a thaw is in progress and all over the Lofoten Archipelago men are hanging salted cod.
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - More Lofoten Photos.

A few more Lofoten pictures snapped on a glorious day yesterday. You can read about getting to Norway and paddling in Lofoten here.
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Sea Kayaking Isle of Man - Winter.

We didn't feel that the Winter weather back in the British Isles had been harsh enough! To rectify this we've travelled up to Arctic Norway; the Lofoten Islands to be precise. We've been here and written about Lofoten many times before and so I won't repeat myself. We just wanted to experience these Islands in all their frozen glory!
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