The PSK Hub – Performance Sea Paddling Stuff
The Rhoscolyn Beacon Sess. Last night we took the weekly group session out of the Menai Strait and headed for Rhoscolyn Beacon. The Beacon sessions are always a firm favourite: a change of scenery, different flow patterns and different courses of course. A change is as good as a rest as they say. Though I …
Three? Three?? This week the group session returned to The Swellies. We had plenty of sunshine and were also joined by Mike Conroy ‘fresh’ from his Anglesey Circumnav only a few days prior. The gentle flow tempted ‘us’* into a Brittania Bridge TT sess. Easy peasy Start/finsh at Price’s Point with 2 turn points: Brittania …
This week’s group session was working down at Brittania Bridge for a bit of a change. Warm-Up Paddle down from Menai Bridge slip to Gored Goch for initial warm-up (WU) and then 2nd WU from GG to the Brittania Bridge (BB) Orange buoy (Anglesey shore) – 2 min on 1′ off at ‘fast-cruise’ pace. Any …
Frustration Loop. The session was a dozen laps of Ynys Gored Goch in the Swellies. Paddling on the flood, each lap of the island is around the 4 mins mark and means a challenging climb against the flood tide at the top of each lap. Today the stiff W wind also complicated the climbs somewhat. …
Today Storm Eunice was blowing through. Should I paddle or not? I took some time to think it through… Today the water was intriguingly high for a mid-spring tide (only a 9.3m) – it’s not often you see the wheely-bins afloat! There was plenty to learn and new things to see. So to see I …
Wings The often discussed question in the sea kayaking world is whether a wing paddle improves performance. In a competition environment, there is no doubt that a wing paddle gives a performance advantage for the forward stroke over a flat paddle, and hence it is established in sprint, marathon and wild water racing as the …
The Boss and myself have an early start to make the tide for a play session in the Swellies. This time we are joined by Roger Chandler of Coastal Spirit. We start with a play on ‘Boily Wave’ for a wake-up and then move on to ‘Snowdonia Rapid’ which is running quite nicely. Then as …
Continue reading “Video – Early Doors – Surfing The Swellies”
by John Willacy Here we are having a little fun in the sun, using the friendly wind over tide conditions on the Menai Strait in Menai Bridge, UK. We are trying not to get ‘owned’ – that is when a boat glides smoothly by, leaving you in its wake… The day brought neap tides, but …
Continue reading “Video – Owned – Menai Strait Wind Over Tide”
The Bay Morecambe Bay is a large bay in the north-west of England, it separates the counties of Cumbria and Lancashire and drains a number of rivers. It dries extensively to form large expanses of sand and mud. These sandflats are notorious for soft mud and quicksand and in many places the incoming tides move …
Continue reading “Morecambe Bay Crossing – The AA Route Planner Race”
by John Willacy Relaxing on the Cardinal Wave, post-training with The Boss. After a sess around The Arches, on the Menai Suspension Bridge, we dropped down for a warm-down surf on The Cardinal. The Cardinal Post creates a strong v-wave on the ebb, with a second wave perpendicular to the flow sitting behind. The V-wave …