Wednesday 22nd May
Sea Kayak Improvers Trip.
Giles Wilson, Graeme Wild , John Speakman (leading) Kenny Smyth, George Waimann
With a county-wide yellow warning of rain threatening we set off 1 hour before High Tide at a deserted St. Parks Beach Car Park.
The ‘Jesus’ cliff gave us nice shelter from the north wind. Hugging the coast and after a brief stop at Fleswick Bay, we tentatively put our noses round St. Bees Head itself. This is the western-most point of North England and the converging tidal streams create some interesting chop and swell.
Thousands of Guillemots Razorbills and Kittiwakes are now nesting on the cliff ledges and are not the least but shy about swimming and diving around our boats. There was a manageable headwind and only slight drizzle so we kept on, the murky disused mineworks above Whitehaven in the distance.
Just 2km shy of the Whitehaven, I did a wobbly solo landing to relieve my cramped legs. In my rush, not noticing the fine gravel on the beach.
Some tricky chop around the harbour wall and we landed on the smooth muddy sand. No-one really felt like wandering into town for an ice-cream. The sky was beginning to look grim and Whitehaven was not looking at its best. An abandoned push-chair flapped in the breeze.
Rain-hoods up for the return journey, we sensibly took the harbour wall wide this time. The wind more or less behind us now, we made good progress but it was 2 hours after HW and there was much more movement in the water around the St. Bees Head. This made for a challenging 45mins in the waves. Everyone handled themselves well and we kept a nice close group. I missed a functioning skeg here, having not checked it after lunch!
Back at Fleswick bay, everyone was ready for a brief stop and I scooped the gravel out of my skeg. Helmets on, mainly for another layer of warmth, we tucked in close to the rocks for the last couple of km.
Within minutes of loading up, the rain began to hammer down for the return drive. We definitely made good use of the day.
Giles
Lakeland Canoe Club 