The PSK Hub – Performance Sea Paddling Stuff
The Boss and myself have an early start to make the tide for a play session in the Swellies. This time we are joined by Roger Chandler of Coastal Spirit. We start with a play on ‘Boily Wave’ for a wake-up and then move on to ‘Snowdonia Rapid’ which is running quite nicely. Then as …
Continue reading “Video – Early Doors – Surfing The Swellies”
by John Willacy Relaxing on the Cardinal Wave, post-training with The Boss. After a sess around The Arches, on the Menai Suspension Bridge, we dropped down for a warm-down surf on The Cardinal. The Cardinal Post creates a strong v-wave on the ebb, with a second wave perpendicular to the flow sitting behind. The V-wave …
A gentle surf of the Swelly Rock wave in The Swellies, Menai Strait, North Wales. The rock is positioned mid-flow in the channel, and on the early part of the flood provides a nice surf wave. The wave rises and falls through a regular ‘surge’, and steadily changes as the tide fills the channel, until …
As Storm Eunice caused mischief across the UK, we found ourselves experiencing unusually high water levels at Menai Bridge. So it was time to go for a nosey around the place, dodging the wind along the way…
I didn’t have to go into the ‘office’ this morning so I popped over to the ‘gym’ instead, for a session on ‘Climbs’. This is a regular part of training sessions here, it develops a combination of boat positioning, timing, precision and of course, consistency. Get it right and it’s rewarding, get it wrong and you need new knuckles.
An easy training week coincided with spring tides and a little sunshine. A pleasant combination. This is the Swelly Rock wave in the Menai Straits, North Wales. Here the flood tide is squeezed through a narrow channel, increasing the flow speed. And as it runs over the top of the Swelly Rock a wave is …
by John Willacy This gives you an idea of one of my training sessions in the Swellies. Today it is a low-intensity session working the technical aspects of Taran boat handling on moving water – ferry glides, breakouts, crosses, climbs and surfing. The aim running throughout the session is accurate positioning on all of these …
Continue reading “Video – On The Ebb 360 – Training in The Swellies”
The Menai Straits: Back in July 2020, someone decided to celebrate the NHS by lighting up the Menai Straits bridges for an evening. A worthy idea for a fantastic organisation no doubt, though just after the longest day seemed a little strange scheduling. Of course this was a unique paddling opportunity for an unusual perspective. …
Continue reading “Video – Midnight Climbs and Menai Illuminations”
In the Menia Straits once again, this time to surf the Swelly Rock Wave. Today, for a change, I chose the Rockpool Taran 16 over my usual Taran 18. The 9.9m spring tide meant a rapid level rise and constantly changing conditions, a great way to get the day off to a start. YouTube: Facebook:
More Swellies-Surf action, this time I’m joined by The Boss.