Greetings from Scilly^

[Mark R]

Just spent a splendid week with friends, revisiting favourite spots in the Isles of Scilly, and discovering plenty of new ones.

What a truly fantastic sea kayaking destination - Atlantic rim paddling with sunshine, no midges, ticks or other nasties.

Off to the ferry home shortly (too windy for the paddle back to Land's End) but I'll surely be back for a fifth visit ...

[Mark R]

Sitting here uploading zillions of photos from the camera, and it's very boring.

To pass the time, here's a random selection so far ...

[Mark R]

Still uploading, yawn.

A trip out to the Western Rocks and the west coast of Annet.

(BTW there *is* a paddler in the final shot ...)

[Mark Gawler]

And a few of mine...

[Mark R]

OY! That was my bread you seem to have fed to the birds; and indeed it was fresh from the best bakery in Britain, utter sacrilege.

[Mark R]

More pics ...
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1 ... =528037799

[Mark Gawler]

OY! That was my bread you seem to have fed to the birds; and indeed it was fresh from the best bakery in Britain, utter sacrilege.

I was only the photographer, the guilty party was someone who was absent from the round island route march.

[CaptainSensible]

I would have to find something else to do whilst they were hoisting my precious boat onto the ship; that photo gives me the heebee-jeebies.

Absolutely fantastic day today; bright sunshine combined with a fresh breeze and enough swell/water movement to make things fun (but not unpleasant). After not paddling for a while due to illness, I needed a morning like this morning to remind me why I do this sport/activity.

Going through "the gap" near St. Brelade's Bay:



Some interestingly eroded rocks on the way back



My pride and joy looking resplendent in the Sun:



Scilly looks great; I can't believe that I spent so much of my childhood holidaying in Cornwall (and Devon and Dorset) without ever going. One day...

[andreadawn]

Gorgeous pics. The fifth one down from the first selection gets my vote.

Andrea.

[Mark R]

The fifth one down from the first selection gets my vote.

Ah yes, Liz was recovering from a bout of seasickness, "Don't point that effing camera at me or I'll effing kill you ..."

[tizereyes]

The fifth one down from the first selection gets my vote.

Ah yes, Liz was recovering from a bout of seasickness, "Don't point that effing camera at me or I'll effing kill you ..."

I HATE YOU!

But what an astounding place. Can't wait until next time!

[Benny_boy]

Fantastic photos Mark!! Never been to the Silly Isles, but you put together an excellent broucher.

[tizereyes]

I would also like to point out how exciting this crossing was for Andy and I - one of those 'oh damn we have to paddle to St Martin's in this wind to get the ferry home' situations. Large swell and cross wind with plenty of white horses breaking across the deck. And thank god for sickness tablets!

[Benny_boy]

I'm not sure the photos really do it justice Liz, but from what little sea kayaking I've done I'm sure it was 'fun'!

[ol]

And a few of mine...

What a lovely pet crab, how sweet that you carried it about in its own little circular home....

Fantastic photographs Mark(s), it really does look incredibly beautiful and I am gutted I couldn't make the trip..
Can't say I spotted the paddler in the final shot Mark R...

[tizereyes]

I'm not sure the photos really do it justice Liz, but from what little sea kayaking I've done I'm sure it was 'fun'!

I was too busy holding onto the paddle to take photos during the crossing!

[journeyman]

What a lovely pet crab, how sweet that you carried it about in its own little circular home....

Decided he really needed rehousing within a soft furnished tortillia wrap

[maryinoxford]

My pride and joy looking resplendent in the Sun:

--- And you can't see the joins... I had to look for the clips to be sure that really was your 3-piece.
Mary

[StoneWeasel]

Fantastic photos Mark, the Scillies really are such a magical place (I used to go there every summer with my old canoe club), I may even be tempted to get back into one of those weird long pointy things for a trip over there again at some stage.

Have you ever popped into Pipers Hole at the North end of Tresco while paddling over there? If not I recommend it when next out there, it is a fascinating little smugglers cave with a little hole to climb through and push a boat through (use a plastic one if you want to avoid stress) that leads into a large cave with a little lake and extends a little way on the other side of the lake and there are quite a few old rusty metal rings fixed into the walls. Bizarre but fascinating, head torches are also pretty essential, it's dark.

Denzil

[Mark R]

Can't say I spotted the paddler in the final shot Mark R...

Look again ...

[Benny_boy]

I'm tempted to say "I see no ships!", but is that a tiny bit of helmet I see???

[Mark R]

is that a tiny bit of helmet I see???

Erm ... no helmets worn.

[maryinoxford]

It depends on the scale of the rocks, but... there's a dark dot, right on the boundary between smooth(ish) water and spray, about centre of picture. Paddler?

[Mark R]

It depends on the scale of the rocks, but... there's a dark dot, right on the boundary between smooth(ish) water and spray, about centre of picture. Paddler?

That's him. I asked Eurion to paddle between myself and the rocks for a photo or two. He interpreted his modelling remit somewhat liberally, to the point that I kept losing site of him for significant periods of time, and was rather concerned for his safety.

[Mark R]

http://southwestseakayaking.co.uk/2009/ ... ntic-dawn/

[Mark R]

http://southwestseakayaking.co.uk/2009/06/01/atlantic-dawn/

I was to scared to reach for the camera, but Eurion's photo of the Longships Lighthouse captures the moment perfectly - heading out from Land's End into the unknown at 5.30 am before sunrise ...

[Kayak-Bloke]

Fantastic looking trips.

Nice one. I told Eurion that not all the seas were the same colour as gravy.

Beats the Bristol Channel eh?


Nige'

[Chris W]

Depends if the Bristol Channel includes Lundy I guess. The sea looked pretty clear there this week! After the Isles of Scilly, that's where we headed, for my second visit and Julia's first. I didn't bother taking my camera, remiss of me, because the wildilfe at this time of year is something else. I kicked off with a couple of solo laps of the island, before the conditions calmed down enough for J. With 400 ft cliffs, a bit of swell, various arches and tunnels and a billion, trillion birds, including a few puffins, the West coast was awesome, particularly solo. It was (and admittedly I've heard this before) J's 'best paddle ever'.

We 'cheated', pre booking our kayaks onto the ferry (£15 each return) and staying for 3 nights in Castle Keep North. Paddling all the way out and back and camping (which I did last time) is not compulsory!

If you haven't been there, seriously, go!

We also loved the Isles Of Scilly. "The Hebrides without the midges", nice one Eurion.

The warm up before that wasn't bad either- Lamorna to Sennen. After dropping off J at Porthgwarra, I was pretty impressed with the swell- relaxing as I approached Sennen Harbour, I was surprised to see wall to wall white water- the NNW wind and Spring tide was sending waves over the harbour wall and creating some pretty large dumping onto the reefs just offshore. The direct line into harbour involved aiming straight for the construction tower. I never knew that Sennen Harbour could be so exciting...

We wound down with a very hot paddle in and around Ilfracombe.

What an excellent week and a half that was. When the sun shines on the UK, it's right up there with the best of them.

Chris.

[Mark R]

What happened next???

[Jim]

What happened next???

He tries to backheel it to the goalie, completely forgetting he's in a kayak, slips on a piece of kelp, scatters the wicket to the 4 winds - and there'll be a stewards enquiry!

(a couple of typos corrected)