Jersey Symposium Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Alun and I are at the Jersey Seakayak symposium enjoying hot sunny weather – well, hot when you can get out of the wind….. but we aren’t complaining. Today we joined a trip to “les Ecrehous”, a reef about 6 miles NE of Jersey. I’ve been there 3 or 4 times before and it’s always great to go there. No-one lives there but there are a few small houses clustered on the small rocky outcrops that aren’t covered up at high tide. At low tide several square miles of rocks, boulder beaches and golden sand are uncovered. Lots of terns, shags and other birds are the only permanent residents. Here are a few photos.

Climbing in Cornwall Saturday, May 20, 2006

ON TOP OF A FIN ON SHARPNOSE POINT

My forearms are still tender and my hands are still rough after a fun 2 weeks climbing in Cornwall and North Devon. Alun and I took the newly refurbished van on it's maiden voyage down south - and for the first time enjoyed the luxury of a bed, stove and cupboards! Thanks to the multi-skilled Barry ( who not only kayaked around Britain last year with Phil and Harry, but also did a great woodwork job on the van)!

SURF NEAR BUDE

Alun and I started in Baggy Point in North Devon and worked south down the coast all the way to Lands End. I haven't explored that area before and was impressed by the miles and miles of beautiful coastline. We did take sea kayaks with us but in the end they stayed on the van and we climbed 12 out of 13 days, with just one dip in the surf in our surf boats. The climbing was mostly on sea cliffs and we did some amazing routes such as Eroica and Mercury. The jagged fins of Sharpnose were also very impressive and a bit intimidating to start with. Right now I'm at Blenheim Palace near Oxford about to film the swimming leg of a triathalon from the front of a double seakayak!

ALUN TRAVERSING TO THE START OF 'MERCURY', CARN GAOLA

This trip south marks the start of the holiday season for Alun and I with upcoming seakayaking trips to Jersey, Shetland and the Faroe Islands in the next 2 months. Well, I'll be filming of course, so that's officially work for me, but I don't expect much sympathy!