Tuesday 20 July 2010

Sea Kayaking - Seaton to Branscombe

Information source from South West Sea Kayaking by Mark Rainsley

Seaton to Branscombe and back

Get in: Seaton Beach
Get out: Branscombe Beach
Distance: 5-6 miles ish

We had a few days holiday so borrowed a couple of Perception Essences from the work hire fleet, Andy paddled the 17 and I took the 16 because it’s a little smaller on the cockpit and a better fit for me being a smaller person. We stayed at a campsite near Seaton, got up and had breakfast, then sorted our kit out and headed down to the sea. We parked on the road side near the River Axe and paddled down with the tide, we headed out and round to the right. It was a nice still day, I just had a light weight cag on and a thin Helly top.

Andy paddling form Beer to Branscombe

It’s a lovely section to paddle, we went round past Beer which is a very lively seaside town and round to Branscombe the tide was just high enough to paddle though the arch then as we started to paddle along Branscombe beach, we aimed to paddle up to the far end of the beach, it was a hard slog as we got a head wind.

Andy looking at the rather impressive arch

We eventually got there and came into the beach for a spot of lunch and a bit of a rest. After a bit of lunch we started to cool down so headed back off again, it was much nicer paddling with the wind behind and we zoomed back. The tide was a fair way out by the time we got back and we had to walk the boats over the beach which as it’s a chunky pebble beach was very hard work, we then managed to paddle up the now shallow River Axe and got out again.

On our way back to Branscombe

It was a very enjoyable day and I’d like to do it again, it have would have been better if we were able to do a shuttle and paddle further round instead of having to double back.

Sunday 4 July 2010

Canoeing with the Parents

After promising my parents for weeks that I'd take them canoeing a nice evening arrived and me and Andy  took them for a paddle along the Exeter Canal from the Basin to Double Looks, yet again i managed to borrow some boats from work we took a Prospector RX and Mad River Reflection 15 RX. We got kitted up and headed off, it was a leisurely paddle me and split up so we could steer and head down towards the pub, we stopped just before and set up our picnic.

Mum and Dad making there way back after a spot of dinner

After a spot of grub we headed back this time with Andy and me in one and Mum and Dad in the other. We headed back at a good speed with Andy in charge of steering, whereas Mum and Dad managed to zig zap there way back up.

 Andy in charge of steering

 Trying out a new technique, two canoes paddles together!

Just coming up to the swing bridge by the sports pitches