Courtesy of Bananavan Couriers, Brian the paddle arrived yesterday and I got to try him out this evening in the pool.
If you like Brian as much as I do, then get in touch with Powerplay Paddles who are based in Stirling and who all play polo themselves.
Mmmmmmmmm Brian.
Mmmmm Brian……
The weekend saw us travel to Glenrothes in Fife for the first of the Orkney Voles’ Scottish Division 3 polo fixtures. After an early start, we set off on the 9am ferry to embark on the 300 mile journey south in the Orkney Voleswagen.
Coming off the boat, we encountered some very heavy snow and the journey down to Latheron was very slow indeed.
Eventually we arrived in Brora and were very hungry. We noted a cafe on the high street which transpired to be most excellent and we had good selection of sanwiches, toasties and soup. After the savouries, we made our way to Capaldi’s for ice cream! We compared it with Dennis’ of course!
After our ice cream we had a whistle stop tour of Inverness shops before heading on to Aviemore where we were staying for the evening.
Taking advantage of our location and the suitable weather, we made our way to Cairngorm on Sunday morning for a spot of skiing. I don’t think I’ve skied since I went to a dry slope twenty years ago and needless to say I spent a lot of time on my arse!
In all the excitement, we left the mountain late and after a few false starts finally made it to the venue in Glenrothes. We were meant to be playing second so we literally ran in with our stuff, got changed and jumped in boats!
We (well I) was pretty pumped up for the first match because I hate being late for things. I wasn’t really sure what to expect against St Andrews but we soon settled into the match. We took the game 4 – 2. Next we faced Lochwinnoch and they proved to be tougher opposition, we fought well but lost 6 – 0. Disappointed, we went into our game with Dundee University and again gave it our best shot. We came out on top 4 – 0 which boosted team moral. Finally, instead of a match against Strathclyde University, we played a friendly against St Andrews. The score sheet recorded a draw but we’re pretty sure we took the match 3 – 1. For a full match report see http://www.orkneycommunities.co.uk/KIRKWALLKAYAKCLUB/news.asp#a1777.
Photos below from the Dundee University game.
After the matches we made our way back to Aviemore to our welcome beds. It was a very early start on Monday morning to get the first boat home. The conditions on the road up were very poor and we had to phone NorthLink Ferries to get them to wait for us to arrive! I think we made it to the ferry with about 3 minutes to spare before departure. Thank you NorthLink!
All in all, a very enjoyable, if rather tiring, weekend.
Today was the New Year’s Day Ba game. The Uppies and the Doonies met at the Mercat Cross just before 1pm to await the throw up.
For more about the game, have a look at this video from a few years ago. It features an Uppie win. Sorry Hairyaker!
Clearly I am not the best paddler ever, but sometimes I want to do more than a flat water trip. As good as being out on the water is, fast, flat water paddling is….well….. boring. I would much rather get out and explore my ‘adventure zone’ as Gordon Brown put it. I don’t do this enough. Next year, I intend to get in some pant wetting experiences and extend my comfort zone that little bit further. I want to take on tide races, rockhop in big swell and generally challenge myself. I don’t necessarily want to paddle very far, I just want to do something interesting!
Today I may not have left my comfort zone, but at least our paddle fell into the ‘interesting’ category. We knew there was a bit of easterly swell on so we headed to the east side of the island because I wanted to play! I love that bit of coast and had some rockhopping in mind.
When we arrived at Sandside, all looked calm but as we headed out of the bay, there was a definite swell on. We kept quite wide to avoid the breaking waves. I wanted to go through but thought I better not do this on my own. Heading up the coast, there was a significant swell off the cliffs but we hung a left and headed for the Gloup. For some reason, even with a fair swell, it is still usually possible to get into the Gloup. There was a fair bit of lift once we were inside but this was no problem. Coming out again, the sea felt really flat!
Next up was a rocky outcrop near the Brough of Deerness. There are 3 ways round – near the cliff, through the middle or round the outside. We opted for the inner passage which, with a bit of timing was manageable and fun. On to Mull Head. We rounded the corner into what wind there was and headed to a geo for lunch. I went in the special entrance passage but couldn’t get all the way though because the tide was too low.
After lunch the wind seemed to have picked up a little and it seemed choppier towards the head. However, once we rounded the corner again, the swell seemed to have died down a bit which meant we could get closer to the rocks and cliffs.
First we went through the middle passage at the Brough of Deerness. We watched for a while then made a break for it when the waves subsided. My eyes started scanning for the next rock! My instinct is always to head for the soup but I am mindful of being wiped out and having to be rescued. I have to behave myself!
Back at the point, the waves were still breaking on the shelving rocks but we dodged our way though and avoided a thumping. I then spied a gap between breaking wave and rock and headed round the point. To finish off, I headed down a gap in the rocks towards the bay.
I know the conditions weren’t massive, but they were big enough to offer some challenges and to get oneself thinking about timing and sensible paddling lines. I like taking risks but don’t want to cause an incident by doing so. Today I felt happy to have the Hairyaker and Blowfield safety boats on hand! I felt more than happy that they could have sorted me out if rescue was required. Above all, I really enjoyed myself and I haven’t said that about paddling for a long time. The only thing missing was Mackayak. :-(
Today we had a break in the weather, light winds and sunshine. I had had a little bit too much to drink at the Sailing Club dinner last night so I wasn’t up for anything too adventurous this morning!
We decided to paddle from Holm to Scapa. We have paddled there lots of times before but it was nice to get out and enjoy being outdoors. Having been away over Christmas, this was a chance to catch up with Mackayak. I think my mouth did more work than my paddle!
The best part of the route is between Deepdale and Hemp Stack and my favourite place has a waterfall flowing into it.
The coastline along here is interesting but the formation of the rocks and perhaps the environment of the Flow mean that very few caves exist. I thought of the use of dynamite to rectify this situation…..
As we continued north, the wind dropped even further and the sun shone low in the sky. The light picked out the landscape around the Flow and we could see the Royal Oak Buoy off the shore. 833 people were killed on board the ship when it was sunk by a German torpedo in 1939. Looking at a map of the Flow, the Royal Oak doesn’t seem far from shore, looking out from the coast, the buoy seems very far away. Imagine trying to swim all that way to safety. There’s more about the Royal Oak and her sinking here.
When we arrived at Hemp Stack, the tide was obviously fairly high and I could see water between the land and the stack – this had to be explored as it is an uncommon experience. Unfortunately, there was not that much water and I had to shunt my way through! Mackayak followed behind, passing through with far more grace than I could muster!
Back at Scapa, Mackayak helped me practice some Greenland skills. I wanted to try the static brace and have a go at the butterfly roll. The water felt really cold, although I think it’s meant to be about 7 degrees at the moment. For some reason, I could only stand a couple of dunkings before I had to get out. How I wished for warm Mediterranean waters!
Static Flop
Another attempt
It was good to be practicing outside, but practicing skills in layers of clothes in cold water is very different from being in the nice warm pool!
