Puffin Island Seals

It is a very grey and rainy day. A difficult call for going out to paddle. It is the second day for a Dutch group of paddlers. Yesterday was fine, a trip from Porth Dafarch to Rhoscolyn. What to do? It is neaps, so no real fun to be had in the Menai Strait, and no high winds to have some 'safe' excitement there. So far I was only 'grounded' at Anglesey with winds of 8 Beaufort (35 knots) or more. Stay inside and watch sea kayaking video's? No, let's go to Puffin Island! Changing into paddling clothes in the rain, launching in the rain. A very grey dull wet paddling day? Not quite! We are welcomed by very inquisitive seals off Puffin Island. They nibble at our toggles and give us lots of opportunity to make close-up photo's. On the south side of the Islands lots of guillemots, razorbills and yes, Puffins. More Puffins than I have seen there before; they are back! During lunch there is a glimpse of the sun, but soon the grey low cloud cover takes over again. It stops raining. A most memorable beautiful Anglesey grey seal paddling day.

Anglesey Sea Kayaking Symposium

From my first experience with tidal races and overfalls during my 2000 May visit, this year marks my seventh Anglesey symposium. Still I am amazed at the variety of conditions I am experiencing here. I can even consider these now to be my 'home waters', from the number of times I have paddled here above anywhere else. Have these waters changed over the years? Or is it my expanded knowledge of where to paddle when and seek out the variety by experience and improved sea kayak handling skills? Recognizing the anxiety on the faces of the 'first-timers'. I must have looked the same then, in 2000; the New York slanged voice of Bill still echoing: "When in doubt, paddle even harder!".

Friends from a previous life

While in San Diego I received an e-mail from a former colleague from my time working in IT. I did not have contact with any of them for about three years now. So reading the invitation triggered a massive flash back. I could only reply that chances would be very small that I could attend, being only in the Netherlands for just one week. But Harry was determined to get the most of us back together again for a meet, greet and dinner. So there I was yesterday in Amsterdam, amazed at the massive turnout. Scattered over employers all over Netherlands, but mostly still within the ING company. For ING, the 'Westland/Utrecht Hypotheekbank' company is effectively not existing anymore, only it's commercial 'product labels' remain. We should keep it quiet for ING then that the WU spirit still is very much alive! Small is beautiful!. Inquiring about every ones' children is the only clue to our physical aging... Thank you Harry for organizing and see you all next time!

Delta 1474

Into the blue sky out to the Pacific Ocean. Steeply banking into a full turn. The whole coastline between Point Loma and Mission Bay sweeps by: OB (Ocean Beach) Pier, the breakwater. La Jolla out of sight a little more North. I can even pinpoint the location of Aqua Adventures Kayak Centre. And the dock where the Auwana is moored; the wooden sailing yacht from Port Townsend, that was home during my stay in San Diego. Eddy, the cat, is now probably sleeping and purring above the reservation computer shelve. Natcho's old Mercedes diesel running on 'grease': just drive by any restaurant kitchen. Fantasizing about business models to even get paid for fuel consumption. The evening meals at the Ocean Beach main drag. My first glimpse of a 'flow rider' and it's big 'liability waiver billboard'. We never rode the historic wooden roller coaster. But is Life itself not the best roller coaster ride of all? Ups and downs, exhilarating rides, sharp turns. I have to get my feet back on the ground. First in Atlanta and finally in Amsterdam. Sea World, San Diego zoo, none of it all. Good times with friends, old and new. Thank you all.

Triak Sailing

Today Jen showed me the ropes on Triak kayak sailing. Yesterday I could talk with Jen, TR (owner) and Charlton (designer) over beer and dinner about the design. Triaks are made in San Diego; see www.triaksports.com. So it was fitting that I should try this out myself while at Aqua Adventures. This is my first go at sailing whatsoever, so it is OK to me that it is not very windy. I am amazed how easy it is to handle this craft and adjusting sail and spinnaker for the wind. Feeling the wind with my hands on ropes instead of feeling the water with my hands on a paddle. The same familiar proximity to the water. With an amber sunset we return to the Mission Bay Marina, past the 'patrolling' seal, under the bridge, and past the barking sea lions on the dock.

The Dharma Bums

Clouds drift away to reveal the full moon, dimming out Orion for the day. In a moon-grey lit Puerto Don Juan howling and barking breaks the silence. At night I dozed at slapping sounds on the water. Fish, but what kind? But these sounds now are unmistakably to be identified: a pack of coyote is singing to the moon on the west side of the bay. I had seen evidence of these elusive creatures the day before: tracks running along the lined-up kayaks detouring to every cockpit and back. In the low light I see that the tide is out and I can determine that the two cut-open plastic water jugs, holding the rest of yesterday's clam-dig, have fallen over and are now a foot apart. I rest a bit more and while the sunrise paints the mountains red, the student's camp awakes to a sharing the hearing of the coyote between those that heard it and those that slept through all of it. Good morning! The salt water filled clam jugs drained. A few clams are spread out on the sand. I put them back into the jug. But one of the escapees has proven immense will of survival and has dug itself almost completely in the sand. I move my hand towards it but decide to pull out before. I cannot take this one. Last I pick-up the blue cap of one of the jugs and put it back onto it. Not that this is necessary, the ex-water jugs already partly cut open beneath the top, but to keep the blue cap from escaping. Now I find out why the jugs had fallen over and away. Bite marks pierced the top of the jug and scratched the cap. Coyotes have adapted to the extremely harsh Sonoran desert climate and learned to open water jugs. I wonder if Coyotes know more about the full moon than humans do.

Yesterday, Mountain Classroom became tide-pool classroom when Jen talked about gravitational forces of earth, moon and sun. Notebooks of the paper era get filled with colour pencilled drawings of tide pool creatures. Brittle Stars, Sunflower starfish, Anemones, flatworms, a homeless Hermit crab, a Stingray and many more creatures making their living from the tides. Mid afternoon: high water springs. Gurgling and splashing noises, an immediate uproar in camp. Squid are moving into shallow water near the rocks and propel to the surface releasing jets of water. Colour changing red, yellow, grey, black, greenish, white. Black ink murks the water. Weaving into the rocks to beach themselves onto the sandy patches. The colour changes fade to grey. Staring into human like eyes. The squid are dying suicidal? Rescue the squid! Releasing some of the squid into deeper water has even more horrific consequences. Determined to beach themselves again, the squid propel themselves against rocks, tearing apart their skins and becoming less and less directional in their approach, but not less determined. They all find their way upon the tiny rock enclosed sand patches to die; a dozen in all. One swims away into deeper water... Nobody in camp knows at this time what this is all about. Why did the squid commit suicide? The beaching at a full moon high water springs cannot be just coincidence. A little later the teachers learn from the students of what has occurred in our little bay in the Sea of Cortez. I wonder if Squid know more about the full moon than humans do.

Returning to Bahia de Los Angeles two days later and getting back on board the Proctor Academy Mountain Classroom school bus. The solar powered inverter died and the students' i-pods die of exhaustion shortly after. I borrow Lucy's copy of a classic novel; their English reading on this trip. I heard about this American writer, but that is just about that. My appetite for reading was effectively 'killed' during my high school days by force-fed reading of indigestibles. At least it felt that way then. Yeah!, The Pearl indeed was that first (but only) gem. I became an artist of binary poetry instead. Some obscure Scottish poet had me once marvel at the power of the human language, interpretation and imagery: "Sheeted within the walkman wear the halo of distortion, aural contraceptive aborting pregnant conversation". How still fitting for the I pods, though NOT these bright kids! Later he wrote: "Read some Kerouac and that put me on the tracks to burn a little brighter now". I am on the road with the Dharma Bums.

I wonder what I really know about the moon and the tides...

Southwest Sea Kayak Symposium

From March 31 to April 2, Aqua Adventures Kayak Center hosted the annual Southwest Sea Kayaks Symposium at San Diego's Campland. On Friday I teamed-up with Fiona for an all-day incident management course out of Mission Bay. We had breaking tow-lines and capsizes. And Fiona even managed a 'Cleopatra's needle', but that took some 'sabotaging'.

Fiona gave an evening lecture about her 2004 circumnavigation of Great Britain and Ireland. I slowly realized an 'embarrassing moment' was upcoming... Argg... that picture of me with a banana; is it still in there? Yep! it is... On Saturday I almost had an another 'embarrassing moment' when a family of five showed up for my class that, when I asked: "Are there any questions?", replied: "What do we need?" With the instant help of Marc checking out kayaks and gear, I had this class running smoothly for the rest of the session. It was a 'foundation strokes' class and I should have known that the most basic thing to kayaking is kayak, paddle and PFD! On the Sunday I had the honour to work with Doug van Doren on a rolling session. His 'roll-o-man' gets full marks for getting the body movement for rolling clearly across; a perfect coaching tool. Latest developments on kayaks and camping equipment? Eleven dollar 'no-name-pull-out-instant-dome-tents' for the coaches to sleep in. And a solar-powered Nalgene night-light water bottle. Fiona got rewarded for pinning the wooden Pygmy kayak the other day, joining the Aqua Adventures 'rocking the tide-pool' club and received her own 'members only' t-shirt!

An early morning paddle

Today I have been paddling with Fiona, Jen, John, Ken, Matt and Nigel, from Mission Bay, where Aqua Adventures have their kayaking centre, to San Diego Bay. We are on the water by 7 AM. Rock Gardening along the way, Matt hit a cliff face with the bow of his Romany Elite and later got washed sideways on a big set that rolled in. But no damages, yet... The challenge of paddling along the coast dodging the occasional big sets over shallow reefs. Off Point Loma is a reef break.

We spent hours surfing perfect long ride waves, in the sun. Fiona is apparently practicing for Friday's incident management course by pinning John's wooden Pygmy kayak mid-ships. I heard the sound of impact from a fifty meters away. It takes a few moments before the two kayaks are separated and Fiona skillfully applies Denzo tape onto the hole. This is the first time ever I have seen Denzo tape used. We surf for another hour until we are all tired. We have seen dolphins and jumping chasing sea lions. Jen had said that this was an early morning paddle. Because of all the good time spent on surfing this turned into a day paddle in the morning.

Winter Time

I am back home for the Winter and catching up with backlogs. People ask me "Why is your website not updated?" I think I have you spoiled. All that travelling keeps me away from my computer at home. But today I finally caught up! And I watched the brand new DVD "This is the Sea two". Highly recommended, although one could argue that I am somewhat biased... I will be off again soon (Northern Ireland) and far away from my home computer for a bit.

Walked by hand, runs by itself

A circle of teeth rotates slowly,
preparing all that is in it's mouth for deadly impact

Cuts grass, weeds,
Slashes reed,
Chops blackberry vines,
Hacks hidden garden hose,
Rips scars in uneven soil,

Severs unfortunate caterpillars,
Terrorizes fleeing vole...

Wounds, field dressed by falling leaves
Autumn rain sheets
Winter snow blankets

Green, the colour of Spring
Yellow, the colour of Summer

Stones and concealed wire fence will bring the violence to a temporary halt,
so does running out of gasoline...

Switching off the running,
the farm girl stops walking...

"the grim reaper"

on a Puget Island Washington farm

Bodega Bay

The 2005 Northern California BCU Skills Symposium was held on Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco from 14 until 16 October and BCU courses in the week thereafter. On the 13th there was a BCU 4* surf assessment run by Ray O Brien for Ginni Callahan and me at Bolinas.
I had definitively more trouble with the assessment than Ginni. But every now and then Buck Johnson gave a thumbs up after a good ride to encourage me to keep trying to get my top turns right. Buck is a kayak surfer that knows every surf hot spot in the wider area. I did everything from bottom turns to a loop, a pop out, flat spins and many of a roll in the foam pile. But those top turns where hard to get right; for me it is a freshly acquired skill. But when I finally consistently got it right I felt really good but I was somewhat surprised that I actually passed the assessment also. Those ten days in Baja surf camp really paid... The weekend was filled with a wide range of 2 or 3 hour skills classes. Monday and Tuesday I assisted Bryan Smith with a BCU 4* sea training. With the potential huge Pacific swell it is hard to find a spot that has suitable surf conditions for 4* sea. On Tuesday we went to Goat Rock. There, swell generated surf pounded the beach. Timing the sets is of major importance here. The minimum surf is probably already on the upper remit for BCU 4* sea. Alaskan Mike got the credit for most spectacular landings. His timing was off or he was just unlucky; but Alaskans are tough, that he certainly proved.

Baja Surf Camp

Before attending the 2005 Northern California BCU Skills Symposium at Bodega Bay, north of San Francisco, Ginni took us (Gemma, Jim, Tim and Axel) to her favorite surf spot on the Pacific coast of Baja California (Mexico). We had a great time surfing and playing in rock gardens. I now know the difference between a 'point break' and a 'beach break'. At first I did not understand why Ginni 'looked down' on 'beach break' where I just had great fun because that surf was already much cleaner than the mushy surf that I am used to in the Netherlands. Surfing a peeling point break is magical. And I learned a lot that came to great use later at the symposium. In the rock gardens, Tim had the habit of being in the wrong spot at the wrong moment. For photo opportunities, Tim was exactly in the right spot at the right moment. Jim was talked into paddling over a pour-over by Gemma. Thus Jim takes home this year's Baja Surf Camp rock gardening award. Gemma paddled her Rockpool Alaw Bach sea kayak, the first one in the Americas. All of us tried it out in surf and we liked the performance of it. But Gemma allowed nobody but herself near rocks in this glass fiber sea kayak. So we do not know at this moment if it is Gemma's skill and/or the kayak that perform so well near rocks. But then, it is a 'Rockpool' kayak. More and pictures to follow...

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.

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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Travels with Paddles

Welcome to my new web journal. This journal will be used during my sea kayaking travels. This web journal replaces my previous News page. More stories and pictures can be found at www.seakayaker.nl

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I have posted many of a trip report over the years. You can search for a specific article on my website by using the search box.

This journal shows a different photo every time it is (re-)loaded. You can cycle through all the available photo's in a chronological order by clicking on the picture.

Click here to view some film footage of me paddling at the Penrhyn Mawr tidal race in Wales.

If you want to learn more about the country that I live in, the Netherlands, then click here.