I launched in the dark…

…and nearly thirteen hours later, I landed in the dark. In between I paddled round the Isle of Wight, a distance of 92km. The Cetus LV was fast, and most importantly after such a long paddle it was still comfortable. I love it!

On the last day the sun came out, the temps reached into the low 60s and the wind was above 18 knots. What a great day!

I had been watching the Olympics on TV and noticed how the skiers always held their skies up for the pictures after each run. I sensed a photo opportunity there at the fair, and decided to do the same thing to show off our Scorpios. Donna went along with the idea, and with the help of a quite stout friend, we were ready.

Don & Donna posing like Olympic skiers.

If you look carefully you will see parts of a large man hiding behind Donna’s kayak. Being quite windy, he was there to save anyone who might be in the landing zone should a gust of wind knock the kayak away from Donna. Little did he know, that Donna is more stable than I am. He should have been behind my kayak.

Getting set for "the shot".

Snow skiers don’t have to work this hard for their photo. Notice the flags blowing out straight.  The wind was so strong (how strong was it?) that the camera person couldn’t even keep the camera level.

The Baltic sea is freezing and melting here by turns. That leaves the shore pretty interesting at places:

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Another friend, Michael McGoldrick let us use some of the music from his albums: ‘Morning Rory’ and ‘Fused’.

The 12 minute film will be featured at the increasingly popular Sheffield Adventure Film Festival in one of the ‘On the Edge’ evenings. Kayak Coast 2 Coast can be viewed at ‘Cafe Euro’ 7.00pm Saturday 6th March.

Touring paddling is growing here like crazy, mostly people paddling on the lakes in our country, but some really get bitten by the sea bug too! Of course many people grin when I say I am a Sea Kayaker from Switzerland. The sea is actually closer to us than for many Germans who have ther “own” coastline – the Italian Medeteranian is approx 350 km from where I live in Central Switzerland. Ok, you lot in England can just laugh at that … but Sardinia and Corsica are fantastic areas easy to get to for a few good days paddling. Apart from that, various lakes in Switzerland offer great scenery. I live within walking distance to lake Zug, on which you get  good views of the Alps most days. I love being out there, just outside my front door so to speak,  playing around in my kayak, getting turning strokes as efficient as possible, or powering along in a training session.

I’ve been paddling a P&H Sea Kayak since I first sat in one on Skye about 5 years ago. It was a rental kayak I used on a course with Gordon Brown. I went home and ordered myself a Quest! I began teaching kayaking at that time, and was fascinated by the handling of the Quest on edge, also how comfortable the seat was over long periods of sitting. The Quest is actually too big for me, so when the Cetus came on the scene, with a slightly lower cockpit and even finer responses to edging, that was my boat. We have various brands of sea kayaks in our testcenter, but I still find the P&H Sea Kayaks the best choice for myself.
Last Oktober I sat in the prototype of the Cetus MV, which fits me even better, still leaving enough boat volume around for bigger water.

More about that here soon!

It keeps getting colder down here in, usually, sunny Florida. We left from the Isle of Capri today with dry suits on again. The air temperature reached a high of 43 degrees and the water was right around 55 degrees. I know you P&H Paddlers up North will laugh at us but it was actually fun getting suited up for “cold weather” for a change

Small craft advisory was posted today and will last the next two days. Seas were predicted to be 3-5 but were more in the 2-4 range. Long intervals lead to some good runs down the 4 footers but 20knt winds kept blowing us out of the sweet spot.

Did two rolls with my balaclava on and thank god for that because Chris was complaining about his head temperature most of the trip:) Spent 2 hours playing in the waves and decided to head in.

Stayed warm the entire trip until back at the beach where my hands started to freeze. Forecasted 25knt winds and 5-7 surf tomorrow. Hopefully it actually comes through for some more reports from the Gulf Coast of Florida.

Decided to test out our new drysuits from NRS since even Southwest Florida is feeling a little frosty lately. Air near 48 and water at 55 made for a brisk morning for us Southern paddlers.

Two weeks of lousy weather was limiting our paddling so we manned up for some much needed practice at our local Lake named Lake Avalon. Chris Boland (Owner of Saltwater Sports) and I practiced high braces emphasizing on our weaker sides along with multiple types of rolls.

I was pleased to see that even in a dry suit I was able to hand roll almost effortlessly in my Cetus LV. It is such a wonderful boat to roll, I am thrilled with it. After that we practiced some solo rescues and went for a brisk 1 mile sprint around the lake. Wonderful way to start a Florida morning. My Team Boat is being made as I type and I am stoked!

Amazing what a stable platform the Cetus line is….

2010 holds a lot of promise for fun, adventure and good coaching opportunities…first, Golden Gate Symposium will be excellent and I’m looking forward to doing my bit to help make it a success, as well as Tom Pogson’s Alaska Kayak School symposium in May–a chance to paddle waters I love, coach with other good folks, and visit home where my parents still live.

Point Reyes is the windiest spot on the US Coast and the second foggiest. Winter time is perhaps the best time to kayak out to Point Reyes. The average temperature is only 5 degrees cooler in winter and it is normally much less foggy and windy than the summer months. Of course winter does bring with it big swell and this was what we had to contend with on this day.

The headland of Point Reyes sticks out like a raised fist to the Pacific swell. Unique in its geology and ecology, it is the jewel in the crown of marine national parks that adorn the coast of California. Point Reyes National Seashore includes Tomales Bay and Drakes Estero, both wonderful places to explore by kayak, but for the more adventurous, the lighthouse perched precariously on the crumbling granite cliffs is a ‘must see’ from the cockpit of a kayak.

Punching through a solid three foot surf on Drakes Beach woke us up for the 2 mile paddle south across Drakes Bay to Chimney Rock. Suitably warmed up we gave the huge waves breaking on barely submerged reefs a wide berth as we swung west to follow the line of towering cliffs that would lead us to the lighthouse. Every golden sand pocket beach is occupied by elephant seals this time of year, the deep guttural call of the males an acoustic match to the booming surf.

The myriad of wave carved stacks, arches and enticing gulleys makes this section of coast a rock gardening heaven, but the powerful swell determined that we could only be spectators to the death throes of the waves that pounded and pummeled the reefs, whilst elephant seal pups slept soundly just feet from the carnage.

Another two species of pinnipeds make this inhospitable two and a half miles of coastline their home. Common Seals occupy a rather stony beach and California Sea Lions seem to have drawn the short straw, making do with granite boulders and a large, dark cave awash at high tide. Their constant noisy protests just add to the cacophony of wind and waves. Soon enough the lighthouse adds man’s endeavors to the mix. Built in 1870 and retired in 1975, it provides one of the best viewpoints to watch the migration of gray whales (unknown to me the southward migration had started and several whales were spotted that same day).

For a while the swell seemed to have subsided as we retraced our route back to Chimney Rock, encouraging me shorewards in a vain attempt to find somewhere to play in amongst the reefs. And then, just before I got too cocky a huge rolling monolith reared up behind us and as the crest feathered, we slid of the back, getting showered by spray just before the 20ft wall of water pitched over in a perfect barrel and exploded on the now exposed rocks. Even well outside the break zone, swirling boils indicated hidden rocks that had the potential to cause the biggest waves to collapse with little warning and I stayed alert looking over my right shoulder trying to judge if any wave had evil intent.

Finally we reached the fringing reefs at Chimney Rock and I just couldn’t resist the temptation to pass as close as I dare to the rocks now exposed by the fallen tide. The others were more prudent and swung out wide only to have a rogue swell rear up behind them and give them a exhilarating few moments. Disappointed at not getting a decent surf ride myself I turned and punched through the walls of whitewater rolling around the corner of Chimney Rock and succeeded in getting a couple of good rides as well as a bit of rescue practice as the others joined in!

After a spot of lunch we followed the shoreline back to the put-in, enjoying some surf zone practice in the growing surf as we worked our way NE trying not to disturb the slumbering elephant seal behemoths looking like huge black boulders on an otherwise sandy shore.

In my humble opinion, the paddle to Point Reyes from Drakes Beach is one of the best in an area that offers some of the finest sea kayaking in California. I hope to be offering guided trips throughout the Point Reyes National Sea Shore, as well as the Golden Gate National Recreation Area in 2010. Please email me if you are interested in learning the knowledge and skills necessary to explore these areas safely by kayak.

You can see my photos of our day on the water and the spectacular sunset that followed by visiting my Flickr page.