Black Belt Seakayaking at the Bitches Tuesday, July 26, 2005

When you visit a tidal race with a name like "The Bitches" then you know you're in for a good time! Last weekend we drove down to Pembrokeshire in South Wales to film what was dubbed a 'black belt seakayaking event'. Andy Middleton from TYF outdoor centre invited many of Britains' top seakayakers and white water paddlers to come and push the limits of the sport and see what can be done in fast currents and big waves with a lot of courage and skill.... and a 4 or 5 metre long boat! It was one of the biggest tides of the year in an area of Wales rennowned for it's fast currents and gnarly races. The sea funnels through narrow channels between islands accelerating to up to 18 knots as it pours over rocks just under the surface. "The Bitches" itself is the name given to a line of small rocks that stick up out of the sea inbetween mainland Pembrokeshire and Ramsey Island. Many ships have come to grief here, including a lifeboat. There is such a pronounced and shallow rock shelf of rock in a line perpendicular to the tide that the sea visibly drops a few metres as it pours over it, then the water curls back over forming a steep front wave that is unusually retentive for a tidal race. There are many other smaller races in the area which are a less defined, aswell as narrow shutes and beautiful caves. On Saturday, we went on a coastal paddle to some small islands called "the Bishops", looking for playspots along the way, before finally arriving at 'the Bitches' around 6pm when the race starts to work. Despite everyone being a bit tired by then (and more than a bit hungover in some cases!) we had a good play. I found it very hard just to get onto the front wave as you have to ferry glide across a weekly defined wave shoulder with 18 knots of current rushing under your kayak. Not that many people made it to that hallowed place but those that did had a great surf on a lovely glassy fast wave. The rest of us missed the front wave and battled with the more confused waves and boils behind and tried to avoid an area of nasty water known as "the dark side". You could still surf on the second wave and in a few other places, although a bit more bracing was required at times.


There were 17 good paddlers including former world C1 freestyle champion Paul 'Cheesy' Robertson, former squirt boating world champion Bob Campbell, head of kayaking at the National Scottish centre Doug Cooper, author of a surfkayaking book Bill Mathos, local experts JP and Andy Middleton and Sean Morley, who circumnavigated Great Britain and all the outlying islands last year and was an international racing kayaker. The photos are were taken by Flora Moody who works for AE Production which is a new digital photography and film production company with a focus on outdoor pursuits, water-based activities and extreme sports. See www.aeproduction.co.uk

You can also see a short description and some portrait photos of some of the paddlers at
http://thamesweirproject.co.uk/bb1.htm
I'm sure I don't usually look quite that bad!

The results of this adventure will be seen on the sequel to 'This is the Sea', which will be out before Christmas. The DVD will be called "This is the Sea 2" but I'm also looking for another more catchy name for it. If you can come up with that ellusive name then I'll give you a free copy of the DVD... Email ideas to justine@cackletv.com