Sea Kayaking in Pembrokeshire August 2013 with Canoe Kayak Trader

Sea Kayaking in Pembrokeshire August 2013 with Canoe Kayak Trader 

What a cracking 2 days of sea kayaking ! Sun, sea, seals, cliffs, caves & even the notorious bitches tide race! 

Many thanks to you all for coming along & staying in your boats ! 

Day 1. Fishguard Harbour to Dinas Head

Sunshine & a flat calm sea! Just what Sammy ordered. We practised a few warm up skills in the harbour, dodged the Stena line ferry from Ireland then crossed over to the cliffs near Dinas Head. Tide too low to paddle through the archway but a following F2 to 3 led us to a nice lunch spot. 

The day before the swell & tide race would have put Dinas Head out of reach but today we made it comfortably round to the caves & the geological treats. Harder work coming back into the wind but we hugged the coast line & explored the fantastic caves & arches along the way. 

Has anyone seen Rich?

Day 2 . Whitesands to Ramsey Island. 

Probably my best sea trip this year so far. Sunshine, tide races, good company, & a beautiful picnic on Ramsey Island. 

Well done guys for plunging in the deep end & making it to the other side! 

We set off from Whitesands in between the body boards & windbreaks... had a little surf too warm up (or get wet !!) 

then headed out of the bay to practice some break in & outs & to get a feel for the famous tide race! 

Running on a 4 m tide heading towards neaps it was all a new experience but manageable. 

Paddled round the headland into one of the biggest back eddies you will ever enjoy & had a glimpse of the new Fishguard lifeboat. Waiting for a new bigger & boat house for it to fit into! 

Then it was up to the southern headland ready to cross to Ramsey Island. There was still at least 2 to 3 knots of water racing north between the headland & island even in the final hour of the tidal stream (The tide here runs for 2 and a half hours after high water on the flood !!) 

Despite the anxiety it was a relatively easy crossing & rather than dive for the eddy at the harbour, everyone was soon enjoying the small waves forming behind the famous bitches rocks. 

One of the best lunch spots ever on the RSPB's Ramsey Island ... fantastic views & the warm sun all added to the glowing feeling that we had made the crossing ourselves! The RSPB staff were also very welcoming & informative.

The tide went slack as we snacked & within minutes the ebbing tide was rolling back the opposite way!

How many rapids are there where you can paddle them downstream one minute then upstream the next ?!  Magic ! 

Thankfully everyone, including the instructors made it back through the rocks or it could have been a tough towing session! 

We explored the beautiful caves & arches on the sheltered side of the island & got to paddle all the way through one stunning cave right under the headland.  (We were met by a tourist boat poking his nose in the other end!). With the female seals coming on shore ready to calf we kept our distance whilst observing them sunbathing. 

Then it was time to make the final crossing back to the mainland before the tide race picked up. With no problems crossing we headed into the bay to practise our rolls & rescues.  Despite the size of the sea kayaks, i think everyone was pleased to successfully demonstrate a roll with no problems & finish off their 3 star skills. 

If you would like more information about any of our sea kayaking trips please get in touch. 

regards to you all 

Matt Bishop

Canoe Kayak Trader and Training Ltd

Leam Boat Centre

Mill Gardens

Mill Road,

Leamington Spa

CV31 1BE

01926 88 99 28

CKT Midlands Canoe Show 2013

Its that time of year again and we are getting ready for this year CKT Midlands Canoe Show and the Nene White Water Centre. We have now confirmed the date of 21st April 2013  running from 10:30am - 18:00pm and have put the times up for the sessions we are running (list can be found here) We also have a new facebook page for the event set up so please take a look as we will be keep this up to date with the latest information about the show.

The team at Canoe Kayak Trader

 

River Conwy Trip

Last Friday begin  with a early start for me as I was running a white water trip on the Conwy with a group of youths we have been developing over the last couple of years. When I meet the group they all seemed very excited with a little hint of nerves as they have never paddle this river before. After finishing the last part of the journey in convoy and sorting out shuttles the morning frost had started to melt just in time for us to get on the river. 

After paddling down the first section of the river there was smiles all round and the nerves had gone.As we travelled down the river we found some great spots to practices making lines, making hard eddies and even a chance to practice boofing.

All in all a great trip for a group looking for the next challenge on the water. would like to say a well done to all the guys on the course

Cheers 

Alex  and Pete  

Staff Trip Away to Wales

                                     
 Last week was an interesting week here at Canoe Kayak Trader due to the fact that we all went on a long over due staff trip away! The week started of with the guys from Pyranha inviting us up to there factory for the day, this was a great opportunity for us to have a look at all the new exciting products and have a tour around the factory. After a day looking at boats it was time for us to head for our 1st bunk house on our tour of Wales, for some tips on outfitting, and a lovely dinner of bangers and mash cooked by Chris.

The second day Pyranha had organised a day out on the Tryweryn with team paddlers Chris and Dan, as well as Dave from the sales team. We got to paddle all the boats we had spent the day before discussing, giving us a great chance to try all the different boats back to back on the same stretch of water. We were all excited about having a first go in the Nano - which turned out to be favourite among some of our staff, and lots of time was spent in the loki too - pyranha's classic river playboat - which was awesome boat for the Tryweryn. After a lunch break we split the group up with half heading down the lower T and Matt, Pete and Me heading down the Conway to try out the burn Everest and the Shiva. After a great little paddle it was time to head to our next bunk house in Anglesey for a spot of sea kayaking.

We woke up Thursday morning to a very windy and wet Anglesey cost line so we all decided to go for a walk along the cost and look at the massive swell that was hitting Holyhead. After a morning of getting blown around we all decided to split in to groups and go of on mini adventures. I had the great idea about going for a swim in the sea forgetting that the others all had wetsuits and only had boardshorts but it was nice to get back in the sea. Some of the others went for a walk to South and North Stacks, and up Holy Mountain - after enjoying a great view from the top they had a interesting time planning a route back down.We all headed back to the bunk house were Jenna then cooked us a lovely warm meal.

The next morning was completely different from the day before - the wind had died down and so had the swell so couldn't resisted a sea kayaking adventure. We paddled from Treaddur bay, teaching the ww paddling staff some sea kayak techniques, and then had a fantastic trip out and back along the coast, with  lots of rock hopping, some cave exploring, and a little bit of surfing. Turns out some of our ww paddling staff get sea sick... mentioning no names.... After a great day out on the sea, it was time to load the trailer and most of the staff had the joy of the long drive home, while Matt and myself got to stay in Anglesey for another beautiful couple of day sea kayaking with Hinkley canoe club (Blog post below this one).

All in all a great trip was had all round, Would like to say a big thanks to the guys at Pyranha and all the staff at Canoe kayak trader for making it a great trip, and Matt for letting us all out for a week and taking us on a holiday!

Alex