The PSK Hub – Performance Sea Paddling Stuff
Day 7 – Morfa Dinlle – Llanfairfechan(ish) – 37 km We start our final day under a glorious sky, 0900 OTW and it’s a nice warm day – thin-cag time! There is a gentle, clean swell running in on the beach and we partake of a couple of easy runs up by South Sands, before …
Continue reading “The Coastal Counties Challenge – Gwynedd – Day 7”
Anglesey The Isle of Anglesey lies just off the coast of North Wales and is a popular spot in the UK sea kayaking world. The island brings many facets of sea kayaking: cliffs, sandy beaches, tidal rapids, overfalls, islands, sheltered waters, crossings and more. It also has some of the fastest tidal flows around, this …
Recently I posted a photo on the Strictly Sea Kayaking facebook page and this prompted a question from Steve Macfarlane on the subject of the rudder. I thought the reply may interest those rudder-equipped paddlers out there. Rudder Release. If you compare the photos we can see that the paddler has moved the boat rearward, …
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…
Easy Downwind Video. The Menai Strait is a natural tidal channel that separates the Isle of Anglesey from the mainland of North Wales. The tide runs through the channel at reasonable pace for a good few miles, and is quite fast in places. All of which gives a variety of options for moving water fun. …
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”