The UK Sea Kayak Guidebook

COMMUNITY TRIPS ALMANAC CONTRIBUTE BOOKS RIVERS

Welcome to the UK Sea Kayak Guidebook

~ The UK Rivers Guidebook and UK Sea Kayak Guidebook Websites, the home of UK paddling on the Net ~

Saturday, 31 December 2005. . .

Have a very Happy Hogmanay (New Year) - may 2006 be everything you want it to be.

Right - just a few articles and news items about sea kayaking. Click the images to Go to the articles.

From the Web - if knots, lashings and splices are your thing, click thro to Rope Works. The RNLI can benefit from your old printer cartridges. Satellite images are available from the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station. Learning to roll? This has got to be the definitive learning resource. The Family Adventure Store have started to supply the Wiltshire / Somerset area with Prijon sea boats. A new supplier of sea boats is Skim Kayaks from Sweden. Need a Sit on Top? Visit Wild Things. From Down Under, some nice material on Fluid Highway - enjoy.

Events - The 2006 Cornish Sea Rally will be held at Trescrowan Farm, Heamoor, Penzance TR20 8UJ 25-29 August - Contact Richard Uren for details. In France, from 14-20 August - the International Sea Kayakers Meeting, details on .PDF here.

Rheged have a series of outdoor / kayaking lectures in 2006 - details here for their March, April and May lectures on Sea Kayaking, Canadian Canoeing, Bushcraft and Photography.

New "Technical Articles" - thanks to Cailean MacLeod of Peakwave Coaching, we have two excellent new tech articles on the site - click to download .PDFs on Sea Kayak Safety and Tidal Planning. These are the first of a series - watch for more! (Not sure about some of the geographic features in the Tidal Planning one, but the reference to Neptune, Thor and Njord in the Safety one makes sense)


Steve Hallbery's superb UKSKGB Logo for T Shirts, Polo Shorts, Beanies etc etc - ordering details will be available as soon as the New Year holiday is over!!!!

A wonderful picture - Jeff Allen at sea

Zoe Newsam's "Stacks of Rockhopping - Paddles Touring Guide - Holy Island, Anglesey" article. First published in Paddles Mag.
Mark Rainsley's "Ennui" article. First published in Paddles Mag.
South Georgia looks like a rather nice place for a trip! Graham Charles ran an expedition there at the end of 2005.
So did Peter Bray. Same destination. Two different styles. . . Interesting comparisons. Wonderful achievements for both expeditions.
Some pictures from the 2005 SCA Loch Etive trip - thanks to Helen McKenna and Alan Murray for these

UKSKGB Needs You - Have YOU got something you could contribute to help build the Knowledge Base or add to the Trips Reports in UKSKGB? Your contribution is welcome. If you like what you see here, tell your friends about us - if you have ideas, suggestions or comments, tell me ...

Many thanks to all who contributed in 2005 and helped make this site what it is.

Saturday, 3 December 2005 . . .

Right - illustrated Trip Report from the SCA Islay Tour - thanks to Jeremy Hastings for the report and Rob Burgess for pics. Seems they had a good time, and even did some kayaking as well.

Geoff Seddon sent me some pics of how he installed an electric pump in his Island Expedition. Neat.

I had a mail from Alison McLachlan of Garnock CC telling me about a triathlon event in Patagonia sponsored by some friends of hers, SDK. If you fancy something different, click here for details and some nice pics. A while ago, Mark Rainsley sent an article on how to go "Rockhopping" - it's here - he also sent in two reports written especially for Rockhoppers! Visit Dartmoor and the Jurassic Coast !


The SCA Bute trip earlier in the year featured some entertainment. Thanks to Richard Cree for the pic.	From the Web - WaveLength's latest issue is on-line - all about wooden boats - enjoy. (Pic: WaveLength)

Of course sea kayakers never touch the stuff! The SCA Islay Tour.

Geoff Seddon's electric pump installation. Added to the Alamanc, UKSKGB's "Knowledge Base". You can contribute too.

Monday, 28 November 2005 . . .

Right - Three wonderful illustrated trip reports in this update! Dillon Hughes went from Sennen to Scilly and back, Mark Rainsley and party were bimbling around the South Pembrokeshire coast and Rob Gibbert from Gig Harbor, WA, USA, had a wee outing in the vicinity of Southwest Costa Rica nae less. Click the pics to visit the articles. Fair makes the summer seem like a long time ago as we all sit here in UK in the depths of winter - brrrr.
Reviews - She's done it again - Justine Curgenven's latest DVD masterpiece is out - "This is The Sea 2" is a wonderful compilation of the most fantastic sea kayaking video. A "must buy". Click the DVD cover pic to go to Cackle TV and here for a review if you missed it on the Forum. It's worth the visit to Cackle just to look at the trailers! Great music too.	TITS2 DVD Cover
I've been using two of the Epic range of blades from Knoydart recently - I'm very impressed! Click the paddle images or here for a review if you missed it on the Forum. Again, if you missed it on the Forum, "Erling's" review of his new Palm Sidewinder Drysuit is also captured for posterity. With a warning about the risk to dry seals from ozone produced by electric motors! Hmm. Bet you didn't know that! Has anyone else got views on kit they use and like? Please drop me a mail with your review and I'll look at including it.	The Epic Activ & Relaxed Touring Blades

This is a photo taken 'under' the North coast of Jersey in the Channel Isles. There are numerous huge sea caves waiting to be explored when the 40ft tide range permits. Thanks to Derek Hairon who runs Jersey Sea Kayak Adventures who run commercial tours on Jersey - click the pic for a bigger version. Nice.	'Under' the North coast of Jersey

From the web - fancy going to British Columbia? Spirit of the West could be worth looking at if you want to book a commercial trip. Or, if Orkney is more your thing for 2006, the Orkney Sea Kayaking Association could whet your appetite.

The BCU now has a snazzy new Sea Kayaking site. Need new kit or a latex seal replaced? Liquid Blue are the folk who do. And how could I forget? The SCA Touring Calendar for 2006 is now on the SCA site. Some great trips next year.

The New South Wales Kayak Club has new content, as does Sea Kayaker Mag's online section and Seapaddler.co.uk also has updates, including a rather nice surfing vid.

Dillon Hughes - Sennen to Scilly and back

Mark Rainsley's South Pembrokeshire coast report

"Brian & crab" from Rob Gibbert's Southwest Costa Rica report.

Thanks to all contributors - your contribution is very welcome too. Got an event you want front-paged here? This mail link will get it to me. Ideas for articles, good links, pictures and stories all welcome, or you can contribute via the Community Forum for immediate gratification in seeing your words on the Web.

Monday, 17 October 2005 . . .

Right - two lovely illustrated articles - Helen McKenna's Hebridean Diary tells of tales of flying into Benbecula and then spending two weeks with two guys!

Zoe Newsam went over to Galway with fellow paddlers from NWSK - they seem to have had great weather and a grand time. Enjoy.

Coming Soon : Report on the SCA Islay trip; Sennen to Scilly and back; Paddles Touring Guide - South Pembrokeshire; Thanks to all contributors. Keep 'em coming.

From the web - just why do we take the risks we take? This article gives a fascinating insight into the psychology and rationale behind "risk taking". Scary or what?

The subject of rubbish has been debated a few times - if you think it's just a load of rubbish, look at this summary on SeaPaddler.co.uk of just how long it takes for things to decompose.

And for some videos of seriously big scary seas, click through to the Maatsuyker Canoe Club!

The Winter edition of Wavelength is on-line - one or two "Winter Getaways" ideas.

Helen McKenna's Hebridean Diary

Date for the diary - the SCA's "Paddle 2005", 29/30 October in Perth.

Have you got pictures, a trip report or something you'd like to add to UKSKGB? Got a link for the Almanac? Your contribution is very welcome! Got an event you want front-paged here? This mail link will get it to me.

Zoe Newsam's Oileán Hopping - Galway