Solent Sea Kayaking

By now regular readers will know I spend a substantial amount of time paddling at night.
Therefore I was more than intrigued to pick up some buzz about a new product to the market – the Kayalu Gear Kayalite – a removable, deck mounting kayak light system.
Over the last few months I have experimented with a [...]

Photography is a relatively new hobby for me and provides an added dimension to paddles, particularly when paddling local routes repeatedly.
A recent post by a superb Sea Kayaking photographer Mark Rainsley on the excellent South West Sea Kayaking website about the kit he uses, along with a couple of email enquiries about my own [...]

I caught the trailer to this DVD online somewhere and something about it just caught my imagination. The location, planned trip and characters all seemed to gel really well as the nucleus for a great adventure.
Paddle To Seattle is an expedition DVD, a fly on the wall documentary if you will of a trip from [...]

After last nights aborted paddle and the recce/photo session that followed I was determined to try a new route with a difference. Instead of heading out into the quieter stretches of the Solent I would head up into the docks and take in the sights and sounds of one of the UK’s busiest ports by [...]

Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had a couple of great night paddles and one aborted paddle. I recently outlined my self enforced criteria for deciding when to paddle solo at night and the routes I’m prepared to paddle.
Last week I set out in wonderfully calm conditions and enjoyed a great paddle along the [...]

Valley Sea Kayaks have today launched their new website.
Paddlers who are regular visitors to the superb UK Sea Kayak Guidebook forums may be aware of the discussions and comments regarding the Valley Sea Kayaks website and it’s relatively long ‘hiatus’ during the revamp.
The homepage of the new website has this message:
I know for many, [...]

At £10, Lomo’s Kayak Gloves are an absolute bargain. Made from thin neoprene the Lomo Kayak Gloves also feature Amara reinforced palms and ‘hotspots’ (places where the hand traditionally rubs on the paddle shaft. Real thought has been put into the design and the extra reinforcement is well placed.
The wrists are long enough to cover [...]

So the UK is gripped in what the press are calling the ‘Big Freeze‘. Today provided brilliant sunshine and freezing cold temperatures with the car reporting -5 degrees celsius. A quick phone call to the brilliant staff at Lepe Country Park confirmed that the country lane running down to the beach was passable. It was [...]

Just a quick post to wish all readers of Solent Sea Kayaking a very Happy New Year.
I saw in the New Year watching the Fireworks over Southampton from Hythe Marina then headed out very early on New Years Day to watch the sunrise over the Solent in very cold but beautiful conditions, launching from [...]

The weather forecast was for freezing temperatures dropping to -4 degrees centigrade however after a couple of very breezy nights the wind looked set to stay below F2. Grabbing the opportunity for a paddle I headed down to Calshot.
Early indications of the cold conditions manifested themselves in iced up puddles on the slipway. I [...]