Travels with Paddles

a sea kayaking journal

Axel Schoevers (Photo: A. de Krook) Name:
Axel Schoevers
Location:
Rijswijk, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

Saturday, September 24, 2005

Anglesey Splash

After the Isle of Man Symposium I spent a week in Anglesey for another 'splash' in the tidal races. South Stack race was big. Skerries very windy. Penrhyn Mawr was again running huge at neaps of the bigger September tides, kicked-up considerably because of the swell. This time I knew when it was time to stop playing when my left arm could not hold a low brace long enough in a bongo slide and I was rather weakly performing the neccessary roll. Simon made a perfect tidal race pop-out and landing without capsizing! Matt let by mistake run his helmet mounted digital camera until it ran out of memory. One of the better mistakes one can make as it turned out to contain impressive footage of the roughness of the race and Matt having to roll.
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Sunday, September 18, 2005

Isle of Man Sea Kayak Symposium

My first visit to the Isle of Man was a good one. Beautiful coastline, surf beaches, caves and arches and... All around the Calf of Man are first class tidal races to play in. We did rock ledge landings of the kind that up until now I only read about in books. OK, I did not manage a perfect timing of the the surge to be flushed onto the one meter high ledge. At a 45 degree angle I just barely was prevented from being flushed back to sea. Whenever the pictures of this gets on-line I have to add "No paddlers got injured or kayaks got damaged during these training sessions". The sea kayak symposium is hosted by "Adventurous Experiences"
(www.adventurousexperiences.com) and is part of the annual Isle of Man Adventure week.
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