Performance Sea Kayak2

Circumnavigation:
Mersea Island

Route Distance: ~10.5 nm / 19.4 km
Prevailing direction: CCW
Record: 2024 - 01:29:09
Solo: 14
Team: 3

Image: Elizabeth Cannon

Mersea Island provides an interesting tidal challenge: at low water there is only mud in the creeks, at high water the island can be cut off from the 'Mainland' when the road floods. Local knowledge from Elizabeth Cannon: "The trick is to get to the road (known as “the Strood” at exactly high tide. That way, you get pulled up to the Strood by the tide, hopefully paddle over the road, then get pulled away from the Strood by the tide."
A little research to avoid a lot of mud perhaps!

Portages

It appears that Mersea is not necessarily 'lappable' without a portage due to fence repairs etc at The Strood causeway. So we've given a portage concession for Mersea Island laps. Here's the deal:
If you are going for a time or a record attempt then you may portage over The Strood if required to complete the lap. However your GPS track MUST overlap/cross-over to get a time - i.e. you can't start and finish on opposite sides of The Strood. You need to cross The Strood at some point, either paddling or portaging.
You will still need to plan the tides either way. This is the only island in the 1000 Islands Challenge where a portage is allowed (from 2024).

Detailed info courtesy of Elizabeth Cannon:
"In answer to your question:- It’s a bit complicated. Yes, you can paddle over, but not always. The Strood does not normally cover on neaps, unless there is a tidal surge, which is more common in the Winter months. The tide will definitely cover enough to paddle over if the tide height 5.2 metres or above, but on low air pressure days, or when there has been a strong north wind, which pushes the water in the North Sea down into the southern and narrower south end, when it can cover when the predicted tide height is as low as 4.8. But there is another problem. Unfortunately, the holes in the fence have now been repaired, so you have to use the north-western end of the strood. This has a gate with an opening in it on the southern side, which has a hole in it, which can take a kayak, and a a small paddler leaning back, if the water is at the right height. Otherwise, you would have to get out and lift it over. You can then get back in and paddle across the road, and through a permanent gap in the fence on the northern side. If anyone is a bit precious about their boat, it’s important to know that the rusty gate can leave scratches. For most paddlers, the situation now, is that with the fence repaired, they will have to at least get out of their boat to lift it through or over one gate, or fence, so Im not sure if that counts as a portage, and I would be pleased to red your ruling on that. If that counts as a portage, which I think it will, the only day you could now get points or a record would be the day they open the gate for the dinghy round the Island race, or on a lucky day when a friendly water skier from the water ski club opens the gate for you, which happens very rarely."

Circumnavigation: Mersea Island

Solo

Click column header to sort.

Posn.	K1W	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Boat	Tide	Dir	Note	Verified	Link1
1		K1M_Ski	Billy Butler	01:29:09	15-Feb-24	Epic V10	8.6	CCW		Yes
2		K1M_Ski	Doug Herbert	01:51:25	30-Sep-23	Epic V12		CW		Yes
3	(1)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	02:24:10	11-Oct-22	Rockpool Taran 16		CW		Yes
4	(2)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	02:30:58	29-Sep-22	Rockpool Taran 16		CW		Yes
5	(3)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	02:55:33	18-Oct-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CW		Yes
6	(4)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	02:55:34	21-Mar-22			CCW		Yes
7	(5)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	03:05:19	27-Aug-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		Yes
8	(6)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	03:05:45	22-Jul-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		Yes
9	(7)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	03:39:39	14-Jun-22			CCW		Yes
10	(8)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	03:58:02	24-Aug-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		Yes
11	(9)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	04:04:10	07-Oct-21	P+H Bahiya		CW		Yes
12	(10)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	04:18:59	08-Oct-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CW		Yes
13	(11)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	04:21:32	29-Jul-22			CW		Yes
14	(12)	K1W	Elizabeth Cannon	04:36:20	16-Apr-22			CCW		Yes

14 solo paddlers

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Teams

Click column header to sort.

Posn.	Cat	Paddler	Elapsed	Date	Boat	Tide	Dir	Note	Verified	Link1
1	Team	Elizabeth Cannon _ unnamed group	03:40:19	23-Aug-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		--	Link1
2	Team	Elizabeth Cannon + unnamed group	04:16:27	10-Jun-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		--	Link1
3	Team	Elizabeth Cannon _ unnamed group	04:36:35	17-Dec-21	Rockpool Bach Eto		CCW		--	Link1

3 Teams -- 6 Paddlers

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Notes

Billy Butler (15-Feb-24)
Billy portaged the road.

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Summary:

Circumnavigation: Mersea Island

Solo paddlers: 14
Team paddlers: 6
Teams: 3

Recorded Start Points:

• Brightlingsea (2)
• East Mersea (1)
• Mersea Flats (1)
• Mersea Stone (2)
• The Strood (1)
• West Mersea (10)