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Monday 19 November 2012

Destination Yarmouth


Although this must be the closest OCSC meet I have attended, the last time I had visited the New Forest I was about 5 years old and on a disastrous pony trekking week with my horse obsessed sister who could only of been 9 herself, I remember being terrified when my pony reared up on its hind legs at something that spooked it and me clinging on to its neck for dear life. The holiday ended abruptly with my sister running away from the pony trekking centre terribly homesick after only a couple of days or so to a nearby phone box to beg for my parents to come and take us home!

 It was not homesickness but pressure of work which meant I could only spend a similar amount of time at this meet organised by Gavin, recently returned home from his round Britain odyssey. I arrived very early on Saturday almost everyone else was still in bed however I bumped into Graham and after gaining the codes to unlock the various gates unloaded my canoe and trundled it into the fabulous Bucklers Hard Museum site. Here is a perfectly preserved Georgian village, a pre industrial era shipyard situated with chocolate box perfection between its raw materials, the mighty oaks of the New Forest and its market The English Channel, the centre of the super power rivalry between England and Napoleonic France. What excited my imagination most about the site was not so much the Georgian buildings, but the remnants of the slipways; V shaped grooves cut into the banks where ships of the line were built and launched. 
Launching from the original slipways

Returning to the campsite there was now more activity as people breakfasted and got ready for a 9am briefing from Gavin. Our destination for the day was Yarmouth on the North West coast of The Isle of Wight. An ebbing tide would pull us down the Beaulieu river out into the Solent were the tide would push us toward our destination. The OCSG fleet launched under clear blue skies and sheltered westerly winds. We ran down the river, as the forest closed in, the winds became lighter and we relied on the ebbing tide to takes us along until the forest receded and the coast was reached.
The Commodore expects every man to.... hurry up.


The fleet beats west .
 The wind picked up strongly as we headed out of the mouth of the river running before it. We were able to cut across the Beaulieu spit thanks to the height of the tide and start beating our way westward along the Hampshire shore, keeping well north of the marked channel to avoid any larger vessels and close to the shoreline while we assessed the conditions. The fleet of 9 canoes  was in three groups I was with Graham, Andy and Geoff and Eleen, Gavin sailed with John onboard his  in company with Chris. Keith was with the Bloor twins. 

The wind was F4 with stronger gusts on occasion the tide was assisting us at around two knots. In the briefing Gavin had given lots of information and detailed maps of Yarmouth with the warning to avoid being swept past and out to the English Channel proper. The best way I found to identify Yarmouth was to look out for the big white sided ferries that endlessly made the crossing between it and Lymington on the mainland. After an hour or so of beating upwind it was deemed time to make the crossing. 
Crossing the Solent

Everyone was sailing with outriggers on, I had being messing about with my jib during the downwind sail on the Beaulieu but had dropped it for the beat up the Solent, it remained down for the crossing but my main sail was fully unfurled and pulling maximum power with the full draft left in. As we made our way across the channel a careful eye was needed on the numerous sailing craft coming from seemingly all directions. The further towards the middle of the Solent the stronger the wind became; there was wind over tide and the narrowing channel combined to create a confused sea with short sharp peaks. The bow of the canoe started to take occasional  water over the top of my experimental bow deck, this is short in length and without a wave deflector, my Atwood pump was great in keeping the water level down. However the further I went on crossing the channel the worse the sea conditions became, not really helped by the passing very close of a massive speed boat on the plane and the accompanying wake. At this point I think I went into what I call “tunnel vision” mode, it was obvious the water was breaking into the canoe more often, and the pump was now not keeping up with the ingress. I was starting to feel uncomfortable, a little frightened even.
 It should have been clear the canoe was been driven with  too much power into the waves, hoving to, reefing in a turn or two and depowering the sail by flatting it was the obvious solution with hindsight. However all I wanted to do was get across the channel and closer to the perceived safety of the Isle of Wight shoreline. Like I said; tunnel vision. For a minute or two it got progressively worse, I realised that I was in danger of sailing my canoe under the waves. The rest of my party were now some way in front of me, however glancing behind to watch for shipping I saw Gavin was just behind me; reassurance that another canoe was close by, and, to be honest, embarrassment that I was in danger of sailing myself into a situation in front of one of the most experienced members of the club snapped me out of my stasis. I hove to, reefed and flattened the sail. Crisis? What crisis? The waves stopped breaking over the bow, the pump started to get the better of the bilge water, aided by my scoop bailer. Of course the sea still demanded its prize or part of it; at that point my hat blew off! It seemed a small price to pay then what might have been. The entrance to Yarmouth harbour drew closer, I had been heading to a point up-tide of it. There was a pier on the left hand, up-tide side of the harbour mouth, and directly next to that just inside was the ferry dock. I wasn’t keen to enter the harbour by cutting across in front of the ferry in case it started to depart, so I aimed my canoe to the right hand side of the harbour entrance, which is pretty small really, for a few worrying moments I was concerned the tide would sweep me past the entrance, but I made it in without too much problem. The sail was duly fully furled and I paddled the short distance to the slipway, I jumped into the water at waist height to make land only to make a terrible discovery. My dry suit fly zip was wide open, freezing cold water poured in where it should only pour out! Soon the fleet was all ashore, either landed the harbour or on a beach just west of it. Being lovely and sunny I took the opportunity to strip out of my dry suit ,turn it inside out and walk around trying to dry off my thermal underwear while eating my sandwiches. Sorry about that Isle of Wight
Yarmouth Harbour

Once everyone had assembled the next obvious destination was of course the Pub! I took the opportunity to visit Yarmouth chandlers to purchase a new hat. Returning to the canoes and looking outside the harbour we could see that the tide had changed, the white horses of the troubled water earlier had smoothed out with as the wind and tide travelled in the same direction. Although the conditions were improved I departed the harbour with a reef in but the conditions didn’t merit it and once out in the middle of the channel it was necessary to unfurl the sail to remain in contact with the rest of the group. 
Geoff & Eleen

Once on the Northern shore we ran with the wind and tide back toward the mouth of the Beaulieu , the tide height was lower the when we departed so it was necessary to run some way down the Solent parallel to the mouth of the river before we could find enough draught to cross the spit safely. In doing so we turned 180 degrees into the wind and needed to beat our way up the river mouth. 
Heading back to the mainland

Somewhere along here I lost my VHF radio. As I entered the river mouth I had radioed the rest of the group and then clipped  my VHF back onto my buoyancy aid. It was also tied on with a foot or so of lanyard, or so I thought. While beating to wind I was hiking out quite a lot in the calmer waters of the Beaulieu I can only think that it fell from my jacket (it was clipped under my arm) and into the water the force of which pulled free my most likely shabbily tied knot. I only realised later on further up the river when the wind died off, once again sheltered by the trees of the forest, a serene mile or so of sail paddling ensued in the evening gloom, a gentle and tranquil contrast to the exciting conditions earlier in the day. After coming ashore and after a quick change the group reassembled in the pub for food and a few pints. It had been a long day so I didn’t hang around too long before I headed to bed

All in all there was a lot packed into one days sailing; some heart ache at my equipment losses, some scary bits, some important lessons learnt and experience gained, but mostly a great days sailing in beautiful surrounding and super company. I hope the club plans to return to the New Forest again next year, unlike my last visit I didn’t get homesick once and although I might of got a little frightened the old adage that if you fall off a horse its best to get straight back in the saddle proved true.

Back to the Medway! 29th September 2012




I attended the OCSG meet at Ullswater back in July and this was to be the last of my summer sailing for 2012.A month in Ireland then a return to the UK straight into a new job put paid to that.
However Saturday's weather forecast looked promising a F4 Westerly predicted. At 8am I was still undecided and I didn't even know what the tide was doing, a look on the internet showed high water around 11.30 am. If I put in at high water at Queenborough I could reach up the Swale to the estuary and  tack down it in slack water then motor back with wind and tide.Game on!
 Inevitably getting the canoe loaded took longer then anticipated as did remembering how to get to Queenborough and getting the canoe ready. This was the first time I was using the outriggers on a solo trip so they needed attachment as did my foredeck and the airbags need re inflation so a little more faff then normal. I was on the water for high tide.
On the slip at Queenborough

A pleasant reach up the Swale against the incoming tide soon took me to the Estuary proper, I passed the mouth of Sheppard Creek on the way up the Swale, this is a little short cut across Deadman's Island, only accessible at high tide. I toyed with the idea of using it but as its relatively narrow and was directly into the wind I pressed on the short distance up the Swale to the estuary proper.


The Swale meets the Medway








looking back to Queenborough
It was a great day for sailing on the Medway, lovely clean winds, with little wave height, and unlike last time quite a few sailboats taking advantage of the conditions.I hadn't really any planned destination in mind and in my haste to get on the water I had neglected to bring any provisions, a themos of coffee would of been welcome,as It was I decided to sail more or less the same route as my last visit. I beat up into the estuary; the wind  was  creating a little swell and some confused water around the mouth of Stangate creek,I reached back and forth on this patch for a while, a massive barge stood guard at the creek mouth.
Moored Barge
 Eventually for want of a destination to aim for  I  decided to land on Burntwick Island, close to the remains of a WW2 barrack block that sits on the mouth of Stangate creek. This is awash at high water, a testament to the fact that this and other islands in the estuary are gradually being submerged into the waters, whether this is due to human intervention or due to lack of it I have no idea but it does threaten nesting sites for the birdlife. As I made my way to a small beach next to the blockhouse to land a Curlew, my canoes namesake took flight.
Barrack block on Burntwick
I landed for a short while again regretful that I had brought neither food or drink.The tide was turning so I decided to investigate further down the creek. I sailed on to the mouth of Sharfleet creek, this snakes along the south side of Burntwick Island. By now the tide was well on the turn and was racing through the creek being squeezed by Burntwick Island to the North and Green Borough Marshes to the South creating turbulent currents. I reach a few times back along the upper Stangate, a few other sailboats passing by.


I met the skipper of this yacht back at Queenborough, he told me  that Stangate creek is the local sailors favourite spot when there's a bit of a westerly blow on as it makes for terrific reaching on calm waters.
eventually I headed back to the main estuary for the run back to the Swale, I had my jib up at this point, rather unnecessarily really, up ahead I spotted a massive mooring buoy in front on me  and made a mental note to gybe only once I was passed it, a few moments later I was fiddling around with the jib and wondering wether to sail on down the Estuary a bit longer or head for home. I decided to gybe to head in towards the swale, I did so only to only to realise that I had done so right in front of the buoy;only 30 feet on so uptide of it! This really shook me up,  a couple of seconds later and  I would of been pushed onto it by the tide during or just after the gybe, and such was the size of the buoy it would of rolled the canoe right under it. I decided that this mistake was partly due my jib  obscuring forward vison somewhat and hiding the buoy, but as I'd spotted and noted it as  potential hazard only a minute or two earlier how come I sailed myself in to that potential danger?  I was bimbling about on a stretch of water not sure or particularly bothered as to which direction to take. Perhaps waters like this  really warrant  a bit more thought about where you are heading to and better realisation of what the hazards are:
I didn't really have a passage plan.
Suitably self chastened I heading back down the Swale toward the Queenborough slipway. Landing on the slip was a little tricky as its only 12 foot or so wide and had a fairly strong current running over it.A wrong step and it would easy to find oneself in deep water.I landed without problems.
Back on the slip

it was my second time on the Medway, it warrants further exploration and maybe a day isn't long enough to do it justice.I'm planning an overnight camp there in the new year and hope to get further down into the estuary.





Some footage from the day:



Monday 16 July 2012

Roadford Lake Devon


The alarm going off at ridiculous hour in the morning can only mean one thing: Its another  canoe-sailing day. I  strapped my canoe onto my pre-loaded car and I set off from London at 5am ish for the trip to Roadford Lake in Devon. Arriving  at around 10.30am  It was great to see again Warin Kelly and his wife already there along with Bernie Hoffmann from the Song of the Paddle forum who has come along with his daughter and his canoe which he was wanted to know if it was suitable for sailing. There were no more participants for the days sailing which was half expected but never mind, the meet had given Warin an excuse to sail for the first time this year he said and for me Roadford lake is the most secure and safest place to sail due to the abundance of rescue boats etc so its an excellent place for people (Bernie ) to try out sailing a canoe for the first time, the fresh water rather then salt is a nice change too. After setting up the canoe I briefly pondered whether to wear my newly purchased Typhoon extreme drysuit or don 3mm farmer john style wetsuit. When I brought my drysuit I was a little concerned that it might be uncomfortably hot to wear during the summer months when most of my sailing is done. Thankfully(?) this has not been a problem this year! The day was mostly dry and there was a stiff F4 westerly blowing with low clouds ripping by, which makes it a good summers day by this years standards. I started off with a couple of turns on the mast to reef the sail in a bit, Warin has no concerns and is flying around  with his lugsail ketch setup.As the morning progresses I am eventually sailing along under full sail the wind having eased a little as the morning progressed. I sailed across the lake to the hill top café for lunch. After some food  I decided to deploy my jib


Jibtastic



This may have been pushing it somewhat as the  wind got brisker coming in fits and bursts and somehow I managed to muck up a tack and the canoe gunnell went well underwater filling the canoe about a third full. My Atwood battery operated pump got the water out eventually but it was completely underwater to start with, really I should of hove-to and used my bucket but it was a good experiment to see the limitations of how much water a pump like this can deal with. While the pump dealt with the water I dealt with the jib and took it down. I made my way back to the sailing club side of the lake and offered to take Bernie out for a spin in my canoe. After removing the jib halyard fairlead and cleat from the mast thwart I attached my outriggers, got Bernie to sit in front of the seat and I sat behind it, I handed the sheet and the rudder stick to Bernie and we were off.


Taking a back seat for a change

 This was the first time I’ve been in any of my sailing canoes and, due to my confidence in Bernie but also due to the presence of the outriggers, been able to be a total passenger! It was great! I really enjoyed it, it was a really nice change not having to do anything but check out the view and enjoy the ride. We headed to the little jetty beneath the cafe across the lake, the wind picking up at this point,  Warin decided not to venture further out in to the lake and headed back to more sheltered parts. I jumped out of the canoe and let Bernie have a try out for himself.
Bernie at the controls

 He seemed to have a blast out on the lake after he collected me we sailed back for the last time. As we returned to the sailing club we saw a ambulance at the jetty, there had been a lot of dinghy capsizes during the afternoon due to the gusty nature of the wind, it soon became apparent that someone had received a head injury perhaps by a boom? We didn't know, the staff asked us to move our cars to make space for the air ambulance which arrived shortly, hopefully the casualty has made a swift recovery! I set off to South Devon across a rain swept Dartmoor to my mum's house, the following day I headed back to London but stopped on the way to look at the Dart. I've never seen the Dart this full in summer, the continual rain this summer most likely having saturated the moors.
The Dart at Buckfastleigh






Thursday 14 June 2012

Canoe Sailing on the upper Dart Estuary 3rd 4th June


After being sick off work for three days with a bad cold, I have made my way to Devon and am faced with a choice of taking it easy and watching other people on boats in the rain on TV or risking it and  going myself on a boat in the rain.Not a tough decision really.
Being a blustery day with F4 NWish winds I decided to launch from Totnes and sail down the upper reaches of the Dart and see where I get to. I drove the car into town and down to the steamer quay car park where you can park all day for £6 (bring coinage)  It also benefits from having a public slipway which is accessible at almost all states of the tide although there is mud at the very bottom of the tide. The slipway is also used by the rowing club in Totnes and an eye must be kept on them on the first part of the Dart. Opposite the slip on the other side of the river is Baltic wharf, birthplace of Peter Goss' ill fated experimental catamaran Team Philips. Just as I was getting ready to put my boat in the water two huge trailer loads of canoes and accompanying hordes of kids turned up all getting set to get out on the river, which spurred me to get on the water pronto.I pushed the canoe out into the middle of the stream which was less then a foot deep and climbed aboard.I'm off!


The first part of the Dart I'm on, called Home reach, is more or less straight for the first mile, as stated the major hazard will be rowers as any thing larger then the smallest tender  will be waiting for a higher tide before it can venture this high up the estuary.Although even at low tide there is plenty of room.
Home Reach


 After this the hills press in close and the river bends every which way so the winds can be fickle and unpredictable.
Fleet Mill Reach


one moment you're racing along the next the wind dies off or is suddenly on the head, what this does allow for through during the slacker moments is to enjoy the beauty of the surroundings; oak tree forests line the steep hills, the branches and roots dipping into the water at high tide, 

pastoral scenes glide by; deserted barns  outlined on the hill tops, brown cows munching on green fields, grey herons standing sentry on the muddy banks as you slide past . After a few twists and turns I arrive on Sharpham Reach, Sharpham House becomes apparent on the right hand bank, standing high on the brow of the hill. Sharpham boathouse is passed, in an idillic setting nestling in the trees in the corner of a bend. To the right of the boathouse on the southern slope of the hill are the vineyards of Sharpham winery.
Sharpham Reach

As the wind funnels down the hills and estuary the sail fills, the canoe lifts her bows and flies down the estuary.Soon I am turning the corner from Ham reach to Duncannon reach.On my right hand side is Ashprington point, the site of the field I have booked from the Sharpham estate for a OCSG local meet in August. I stop to reef in the sail a little as beyond here the estuary widens out for the next three miles or so down to Dittisham and the wind is increasing in strength, what little blasts of sunlight there was earlier in the morning have now gone and its started to rain.Rounding the next turn in the river Bow creek stretch off to my right, a mile or so up it is the small village of Tuckenhay and its riverside pub  The Malster's Arms, a good paddling destination and launch place of  Canoe Adventures, who's giant Voyager canoes are always seen on the river;this picture was from last summer. 

I sailed on a run down the Dart, Stoke Gabriel village was on my left with Dittisham a few miles further on, I toyed with the idea of a pint of Doom Bar at the Ferry inn at Dittisham  but then thought about the run back up to Totnes, it would be on a rising tide but against the wind a fair amount of the way, I decided to put in at Stoke and consider my options, as the tide was still very low there was no point in going up Stoke Creek itself, there is a pontoon at the head of the creek by the mill pond wall but an hour or so either side of low tide it dries out. So I put in at Mill Head at the mouth of Stoke Gabriel, (and home to Stoke Gabriel Boating Association) opened my flask of coffee, had a bite to eat and considered what to do, then a flash of inspiration hit ! : I called my mum! She's downsizing her house and has an eye on a property in Stoke so I thought this wold be a good opportunity to take a gander at that, get a lift back to my car in Totnes and drive myself back to Stoke and pick up the canoe. Bit of a cope out I know but it  was  cold and raining  and unlike the royal family no one cares if I decided to bail out.
After I pick up my car I returned to Stoke and parked at the Mill Quay.The rain had stopped and the tide had risen the wind had died off a bit so I decided to sail back up to Ashprington Point and take a look at the camping field again.

It really is in an ideal spot ,at the head of the best part of the Dart for sailing with three miles or so of wide open estuary between it and the Dittisham Narrows, with the option of a 1 mile trip up to Tuckenhay or a 3.5 mile excursion up to Totnes.

I sail back to Stoke Gabriel , the tide is now high enough to allow me to sail right up to the slipway next to the quay and wheel the canoe a few feet to my car.

On Sunday i decided to go for a quick sail on the Dart again! The wind was very light F2 South Westerly at most. Stoke Gabriel is my favourite put in place for the Dart, the parking is cheap: £3.20 for the day and it s on the best part of the estuary. In the car park at the Quay I fitted the cleat back onto my sail thwart to enable my little jib to be fitted, using this set up isn't ideal as reefing the main is a bit messy but it was very unlikely to be an issue today. my main camera's battery had gone flat so I used the camera on my video camera which isn't too bad. I parked my car on the mill pond

The quay across the creek not only creates the mill pond but is a very popular destination for crabbing!During the summer it gets chock-a-block with young families out crabbing, I wonder how many times the crabs in Stoke Gabriel spend their summer days in kids buckets!
Next to the quay is the brillant River shack selling quality local produced food and drink





This photo is looking out to the Stoke Gabriel creek to the main estuary beyond.The end of the pontoon dries out at low tide, on the right hand side of the creek except at high tide there is access along the Mill head and the boating club, where there is always mud free put in at all states of the tide


Walking along to Mill Head

Mill Head looking towards Dittisham
Once launched on the Dart I hoisted my jib and headed down to Dittisham.I thought I would get to the Ferry Inn pub and get that pint of Doom Bar I had missed from the day before. The wind was light and patchy, occasionally leaving me becalmed on the water, a river pagneant down in Dartmouth earlier in the day meant there where a few more boats on the water then would be expected on such an overcast day, although even in the best weather the Dart is never busy much above Dittisham. The tourist ferry came down river from Totnes, normally when I see it coming I head for the edge of the estuary as it follows the channel and it can make unexpected turns, today it came upon me during a becalming so I was content to just sit there and let it pass close by.


Looking back North over the moors the storm clouds were gathering

In the end I got as far as Lower Gurrow Point just above Dittisham , but a family BBQ was in the offing so I turned around and reached back up to Stoke, once back there on a high tide the best sailing of the day was had in the little creek, the wind blowing directly into it and  funneled by the hills either side, after tacking up and down the creek a few times I was able to land the canoe right by the quayside again like yesterday. In less then half an hour I was heading home, but there's still an unclaimed pint of Doom Bar with my name on it at the ferry Inn! I intend to claim that very soon!








Monday 7 May 2012

Canoe Sailing on Loch Sunart 26-29th April 2012


In early spring 2012 the opportunity arose to attend a OCSG local meeting on Loch Sunart in Ardnamurchan. I have only been to Scotland once before and it was to the same area over a new year period when sunlight was in limited supply, which meant visiting the 'famous' whispering sands by mountain bike in pitch black on a stormy, moonless night, (I didn’t see ‘em and I didn’t hear ‘em.) and after taking a lone mountain walk on new years eve finding, as daylight rapidly fell, that I would have to run (stumble) the last two miles to the roadway in the dusk to avoid being lost on the moor overnight. (no torch, no anything…) I don’t think I’ll even mention how my friends and I got caught out a day or so later on Loch Moidart in Dancer kayaks when a massive gale blew up…So I have some history with the place but was frustrated  by the  lack of good weather and daylight in my ability to enjoy its stunning beauty during my first visit .
So when Chris Wheeler, fellow member of the OCSG let it be known that he was organising a “local” club meet on Ardnamurchan on loch Sunart I didn’t really stop to consider the practical or financial implications of attending a Canoe sailing meet over 500 miles away. I booked the time off work and I was going!
I had promised myself that I would attend some OCSG meets in 2012, as my sailing canoe was now in London rather then kept down in Devon this was a more realistic possibility. I had also promised that at least one of the sailing trips would be in Scotland so this was going to be  it! Wednesday night saw me wheel barrowing all the work related crap out of my car and fill it with useful things like food, beer, tents, tarp and assorted sailing paraphernalia, all topped off with a Solway Dory Sailing Canoe on the roof. The alarm was set and a few hours later it  went off at 3.00 am :I got up like a shot at 3.45 after dozing back off to sleep. After a quick breakfast, a final check and after strapping the mast and sail onto the car roof and I was off through the dark, quiet streets of South London across the river, up the Edgware road onto the M1: On route and ready to “Hit the North” as Mark E Smith once said.
The trip was mostly uneventful except for a constant headwind, which hurt the fuel costs; a craving for hot sausage rolls which was never consummated and the dawning realisation that although I had packed three pairs of shoes and boots none of them were waterproof. The rain and then drizzle persisted past Glasgow and across Glencoe. I was convinced my feet were going to be sodden all weekend, I even diverted into Fort William with the intention of finding somewhere to buy wellington boots but to no avail. I drove back to the Corran ferry and was soon across and driving on the narrow one-track roads that are a feature of the Ardnamurchan peninsula.

On arriving at the Resipole camp site I was surprised at how posh and kempt it was, not the boggy morass my feet had been dreading but more like a tiny patch of suburbia in a Highland surround, with manicured grass and well made roadways and hard standing-great! The campsite shop even took my order for the Saturday Guardian to be reserved, I was a little disappoint, however, to realise the man wouldn’t be delivering it personally to my tent…

I put up my little expedition tent and put my Decathlon tarp over the top of that,both for the first time in anger. It was excellent combo; the tarp creating a walk-in shelter at the front immune from the occasional shower burst that fell on Thursday night, the rear of it sloped down in the direction of the prevailing wind. I spent an hour or so setting up camp and admiring the view over the loch.

Thoughts soon turned to food and I had just realised that I hadn’t brought any matches but that the well stocked campsite shop would have them in time to see the man close the door, lock up and go home, an evening of hunger and darkness loomed, luckily a friendly caravanning couple walked by and I was able to blag a box of matches from them, have some food and a beer and hit the sack, it had been a long day but I was there...

Friday morning broke and revealed a heavy ground frost; the night had been clear and the starscape was amazing compared to what can be seen in London. After breakfast a morning of tinkering ensued, I had been making a bow deck for my canoe and it needed a few final fettles to get it to fit, I had also brought front and rear airbags which needed inflation and all the canoe fittings needed reattachment after a Easter spent sanding, varnishing and oiling the woodwork. During the morning Chris W arrived after spending the night in Glencoe on route, not long after Graham and Andy arrived followed by Tom and Dave Stubbs of Solway Dory, his car filled with assorted bits ordered by various members of the party.

 For me he had a set of the gull wing outriggers, in the past I had been rather unwilling to consider such appendages to my canoe. However as I had been spending the winter thinking of ways to make my open canoe more seaworthy and as I intended to sail in OCSG company more often, where the use of outriggers is commonplace and as I contemplate more adventurous solo trips the logical of having a pair of them could not be denied. Solway Dory’s latest version has wooden decks that complimented the wooden parts of my canoe beautifully. The fitment of the outriggers, of course, meant more tinkering, as did the attempted fitting of my jib halyard which I couldn’t sort out in time , so left for another day.

 Everyone around me efficiently got down to putting up their camp and sorting their canoes. We assembled around Chris’ tent for a group meet and decided to have a bite to eat and then sail just in front of the campsite for Friday’s afternoon’s sail. At this point I managed to rip the valves out of both my trolley wheels, this was due to them becoming under inflated over winter and my failure to check and pump them up regularly. Thankfully Chris’s trolley wheels were of the same size so I became adept at F1 style wheels changes from his trolley to mine over the weekend when launching and recovering the canoes from the campsite slipway. This is a lesson learnt though because if that happened when I was on my own it would prove tricky indeed. What it also did was make me last in launching my canoe on the water and in my eagerness to keep up with the group I made a couple of mistakes when launching my canoe. The first was to route the steering stick on the outside of the bridle rope, the second was to start sailing with my buoyancy aid not on me but in the back of the boat, both these issues soon became apparent, I tried but failed to put the BA on while in the canoe, I have recently purchased a dry suit with rear zip and I couldn’t get the BA past that, I decided to return to the slip and sort myself out, that’s when I realised the bridle rope was making it difficult for me to tack about. Both the issues were soon sorted out: I rerouted the steering stick after heaving to, returned to the shore and eventually managed to put on my BA (I hadn’t unclipped the bottom buckle) What is interesting is that I had been rushed by self imposed group pressure to get on the water asap and that lead to my mistakes. That is to say it wasn’t the rest of the group who were in any way urging me to get a move on and get on the water but my own reluctance to be seen as slow and lingering that lead me to set off before I was ready. My canoe was slight different in setting up and handling due to the fitting of the outriggers and because of my lack of trolley and new drysuit I altered the way I normally get ready to set off. Another valuable lesson learnt.
Once all sorted out the sailing on Friday was fantastic, strong winds meant we were sailing with reefs, the outriggers allowed me to be much less conservative in my hiking out, the bow deck did presumably deflecting some water but my altwood pump kept the shipped water to a mere puddle at the bottom. We crossed the width of the Loch, tacked round a small protruding headland then crossed back again and headed up a small inlet to the hamlet of Salem. The objective I discovered was the pub! Brilliant! After tying the canoe to a suitably large rock to secure it against the incoming tide we walked up to the Saleen Inn, Dave brought me a pint; we booked a table for the following night for dinner and returned to the canoes.
The return sail was brisk,  I had the sail unfurled fully to experience the benefit of the outriggers, the mere psychological benifit in having a larger (wider) presence on the water was confidence building, Dave explained that the weight and leverage of the outriggers, who’s normal position even in stronger winds is to be out of the water most of the time, act as a dampener to the canoe, slowing down its roll rate. The other benefit of the outriggers is that when hiking out and the wind dies suddenly the canoe can become unbalanced by your own weight and you can fall out backward, with the outriggers the leeward outrigger will provide enough buoyancy to help prevent this from happening. Back at the slip I decided to try a capsize to test out my canoe, with the outriggers and additional airbags I found it almost impossible to turn the canoe beyond 90 degrees, only by standing on the outrigger and submerging it and reaching up a pulling down on the mast could I get the gunnel to submerge and fill the canoe with some water, getting back in was effortless. However when I went to untie the bailing bucket from it’s rope I found the tight knot hard to undo with my cold fingers, in a more realistic situation with rougher water this could of proven to be a serious problem and I immediately changed its attachment from a rope knot to a carabineer, another good lesson learnt. After changing, cooking up some curry and rice I joined the others who had assembled in Chris's well resourced tent, resplendent with icebox (unnecessary!) and fan heater (necessary!) beers, spirits and yarns were passed around until tiredness took over and everyone hit the sack.

Dawn with her rosy red fingers shone once more on the day of our Odyssey down Loch Sunart. Tom’s cousin arrived with a trailer carrying a Solway Dory Osprey; a large sailing canoe trimaran. We were on the water by ten the wind was much more moderate then Friday, we ran before it down the loch heading west. David left his trimaran on the trailer and took out Graham’s new kayak instead.

 I thought he did this because the winds were too light but I later found out some vital part of the set up had fallen off the trailer on route to Loch Sunart. He had no problem in keeping up though, indeed he and Tom, who had a paddle sailing set up were able to forge ahead of most of the dedicated sailing canoes until David turned back just before we reached the island of Carna. Tom’s paddle sailing was an eye opener for me this weekend.

 The benefits and elegance of which I only begin to fully appreciated now. Other members of the OCSG have being banging on about the importance of paddle sailing incessantly but really you have to experience it to belief it.

Most of my previous tidal sailing on the Dart or Salcombe/Kingsbridge estuaries I will sail with the tide direction so if light winds are experienced I still have the tidal assistance, that means I can mostly avoid paddling or if I have to paddle my poor paddling skills are masked by the tide flow. On Saturday the tide was against us most of the day and light flukey winds and periods of no wind meant there was no avoiding the use of the paddle if one wanted to get home before dark.

Meanwhile I left it to others to know exactly where we were and what route to take, due to the light winds and the prospect of a long paddle back to Resipole we circumnavigated the island of Carna rather then press on further along loch Sunart, this brought us into the mouth of Loch Teacuis, a loch that spurs off of Sunart.  We beached for lunch, I had brought my 60 litre barrel on the trip as a try out, it attached to two D rings I glued into the hull of the canoe behind the seat and will carry camping gear on future camping expeditions, today it just carried my lunch and newspaper.

 During some of the brisker downwind sailing in the morning I was able to use the barrel as an extension of my seat and slid my weight back onto it in order to lift the bows of the canoe up, whether this will do much for its water tightness is another matter however. I was starting to feel a bit sunburnt, another lesson, as I hadn’t brought any sunscreen with me. After eating lunch and playing with Andy’s lovely dog Lula for a while we boarded back and started the journey back to Resipole.

This initially involved beating into the wind against the tide was last to leave the beach and the group spread out somewhat due to flukey winds. Initially I was determined not to paddle but as the wind dropped or disappeared for long periods of time that was not an option so out came the paddle. I tried some different techniques, paddling with the rudder lifted, gentle paddling that I stopped as soon as the wind dropped and tried to sail at any opportunity. Eventually I arrived at a solution which worked for me; the rudder stick I held behind my knee, correcting the steering by moving my leg forwards or backwards, the sheet I held by my other foot allowing me to release it instantly, rather then attempt the gentle graceful paddle style I had seen Tom and others use I decided that the all or nothing approach would be best, getting the canoe up to a reasonable speed and maintaining it by brute force when there was no wind and carrying on regardless when it did pick up, it wasn’t pretty but it worked, at the end of the day I was quite getting into it but I must admit there were periods of paddling with the boom bouncing against my head and the tiny speck of the camp site far, far away that it felt a bit desperate.

 We all returned to the campsite in time to change and get to the pub for a three course meal and a few pint which came to £35 which was great value. I was intending to stay on until Monday morning but there comes a point in a trip like this when the realities of travelling back home and sorting out the gear to re engage in normal life become more pressing. If I had left on Monday I would not of got back to London until late evening at the earliest then there was the small matter of taking all the kit out of my work car in time for a normal work day on Tuesday, so I decided to strike camp, sail for the day and head off late afternoon on Sunday. Tom, Graham and myself set off further into the loch towards the narrows, tom with his paddle sailing getting further ahead, Graham and I kept to the north side of the loch, Graham trailing a hopeful fishing line and we both called out to the seals who came to stare at us. At one point a mini Hooley broke out, the outriggers once again proved their worth as we set off flying up the loch.

 We eventually landed on a small beach on the narrows on the other side we could see white caps as the wind blew down onto the loch from the ever closing in mountains,and after a somewhat liquid lunch consisting of a can of Heineken, we set off back to the campsite.

 Chris contacted me via VHF and we met up not far from the campsite, the wind picked up at this point and great sailing was had for a while until I felt the time had come to call it a day.

 A last bit of unwelcome excitement for me was a horrible realisation that I didn’t have my newly brought video camera with me: I was sure that I had put it in my buoyancy aid before setting off sailing on Sunday but on the water it was no where to be seen. Assuming it was left back at camp in the car somewhere I was horrified when I couldn’t find it, after unpacking most of the car, searching around the slipway and campsite I resigned myself to the fact that it had been lost. I should have tied it onto my BA before I went on the water as I normally do with my camera and VHF. I loaded my canoe onto my kari-tech roof rack and slid it up onto the roof. I picked up the mast to put on the roof and there, lying next to the car was my video camera! It must of slid under an airbag in the canoe on the water and fallen out when loaded onto the roof! Result! It was as a gift from God because losing the camera and the footage really would of put a bit of a dampener on what had been a fantastic weekend. Cheerfully saying goodbyes I then set off for the long trek home, the weather was amazing and the scenery between Ardnamurchan and Glasgow even more so. I decided I would head south as far as I could and then car kip for an hour or two before setting off again, as it was I stopped at least four times between Glasgow and London for a bit of shut eye and arrived home at 10.30 the next morning. On the first of these halts somewhere before Carlisle I pulled into a deserted motorway services, put the handbrake on, lowered the drivers seat, threw my sleeping bag over me and got some sleep, almost immediately I could hear the wind rustling the polytarp cover for my sail and seemingly rock the car back and forth. I was just thinking how fortunate it was I had stopped before such a gale struck when there was an almighty crash! I shot upright to find the car had in fact come off the hand brake, rolled across an entire, but thank god, nearly empty car park before smashing into and mounting the low curb on the other side, somehow managing to avoid lampposts, bollards and other cars! My final lesson learnt on this trip was to engage handbrake AND gears to prevent crashing when crashing out.

Lessons learnt:
Ensure all equipment is in good working order and ready to perform its task.
Avoid rushing to get on the water, take time to ensure the set up is correct and everything is in               
         its place.
Ensure any safety equipment is easily available to deploy in adverse conditions or situations. 
Ensure all equipment is properly secured
Don’t forget sunscreen
Don’t forget to make sure the handbrake is on! 

Friday route is a bit inaccurate