Solent Sea Kayaking

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 [...]

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 [...]

Having been off the water due to a back injury then the recent atrocious weather tonight provided a spectacular if unexpected return to night paddling. I’d neglected my usual daily inspection of the weather forecasts and tide times having settled my little ones down for the night I stepped outside to be greeted by a [...]

Hythe Marina is my closest put in for paddles using the Public Slipway. It is situated opposite Southampton Docks where the large cruise liners and various cargo ships berth. For me it’s become a playground not only for paddling but also practising my photography skills. I thought I’d share a few of my recent efforts.

The South Coast has been hit by very strong winds over the past 24 hours. The BBC reported gusts of 100mph off The Needles and Southampton (my home town) was hit by 60mph winds. I had pretty much written off paddling this weekend however this evening it looked as if there was to be a [...]

Another night paddle. Very calm conditions tonight but the forecast clear skies didn’t materialise. However, I took the opportunity to play with a 50-200mm lens on the Pentax and ran through several takes of each photo making small adjustments to ISO, then exposure time to compare and contrast the results.
A reasonable moon made occasional [...]

A very still but cloudy night tonight so I headed out from Calshot with the DSLR & tripod packed in a dry bag with the intention of having another go at getting some long exposure photographs. Started to drizzle and get a little misty which made me glad of the good weather proof seals on [...]