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The Westhinder Challenge

by Dimitri Vandepoele

We are always looking for a good challenge, preferably one that takes us offshore. If you look at the Belgian part of the North Sea, there are no islands that you can paddle to (with the exception of the North Sea crossing to the UK). We have to do it with our buoys, navigation marks and towers. Yes, there are towers located in the Southern part of the North Sea. Two of them are drawing our attention. The first, and closest one, is the Oostdyck radar tower. When visibility is extremely well, it can be seen from the beach without binoculars. The radar sends all shipping movements to the Traffic Centre for monitoring. This tower is located some 21 kilometres offshore.

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Anglesey Circumnavigation 2006 – Record Attempt

by John Willacy

“Well, I don’t think I’ll be doing that again”, and this time I meant what I said…

Back in the autumn of 2005, I completed the circumnavigation of Anglesey by sea kayak in a time of 11:30. It was a long day and I remember saying, as we walked back up the beach, that I would not be doing that again in a hurry. I also remember thinking on the journey home, that there was 30-40 minutes to come off the time. It was a figure that was to stick in the back of my mind for the following year.

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Juggling the Paps – The Anatomy of a Jura Circumnav Record

by John Willacy

‘Strong tidal streams with eddies, races and overfalls can occur in certain areas of this chart and can be dangerous to small vessels. Streams setting through the Gulf of Corryvreckan are very dangerous.’ – Admiralty Chart
Not far above, glides a cold, grey October sky. There is a brittle wind from the northeast and things are a little tense. Around the corner lies the Corryvreckan. I’m not sure what to expect, there’s not much swell today, but you never just know. The tide timings can vary, and the wind makes a difference from day to day – it’s not a place to take for granted…

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Crossing Bass Strait April 2011

by Geoff Murray

In April of 2011 a group of six paddlers from the Tasmanian Sea Canoe Club set out on a crossing of Bass Strait.

Four of the group flew across to Melbourne on the 5th and caught a bus to Port Welshpool, our departure point. Greg Simson and I travelled across to Melbourne on a Toll Transport ship with our cars loaded with 6 kayaks and a heap of equipment. We drove down to meet with the others at Port Welshpool and prepared for departure the next morning…

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The North Sea Crossing –July 2015

by Dimitri Vandepoele

I have dreamed. I have prepared. I have trained hard. I have crossed the Southern part of the North Sea by sea kayak on 30 and 31 July 2015. Manpowered and alone, no support whatsoever and no support or pilot vessel. I have paddled during day and night time. I’ve been exhausted, excited and happy at the same time. This is my story.

I had this dream to do the North Sea crossing for years and now the weather conditions were perfect. So I planned, made calculations to counter the tide and prepared myself mentally.

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Holyhead to Dublin 2011 — Wet Knees at 5:30? – Record Attempt

by John Willacy

My arms had been making circles for 11 hours now, the tide had long since turned and the speed was dropping. Should I work against the flow, straight line to the headland, or take a chance and head to the cliffs, aiming to scratch my way up the eddies? Looking across I could see all the clapotis and chaos below the cliffs. The clock was ticking; time was tight. Some days I just wish someone else would make the decisions for me…

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Irish Sea Crossing 2007 – Record Attempt

by John Willacy

It was now more than two hours since I had rounded the harbour wall at Dun Laoghaire, the GPS showed I was now nine miles off-shore. As I ventured further from the sanctuary of Dun Laoghaire the conditions had grown steadily worse. Ahead of me lay 40 miles of open water to Holyhead, which still lurked beyond the horizon. It was coming close to decision time; do I continue and hope for the forecast improving conditions or turn back and face the disappointment of the slog back to the harbour?

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Anglesey to Isle of Man Crossing – Manx Miles

by John Willacy

According to the family photo album I had last visited the Isle of Man in 1978; I had always wanted to return to see a little more of the island, it just took a little longer than expected. Of course life had moved on in the intervening years, I wouldn’t be using the ferry to get across this time…

I also remember a rollercoaster return ride as the ferry battered its way through a stormy Irish Sea. This time I was hoping for better weather for the crossing.

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Isle of Man Circumnav 2010 – More Manx Miles – Record Attempt

by John Willacy

Well, nobody can accuse me of not knowing how to show a girl a good time! It was a grey Sunday morning, blowing a hoolie and we were staring out through sleepy eyes at a tide race. We had arrived on the Isle of Man with a couple of fast boats on the roof and an aim to improve on Freya Hoffmeister’s record for the circumnavigation of the island; but things didn’t look too good…