My First Surf Kayak Comp: Bigbury

I took part in my first ever Surf Kayak competition this weekend at Bigbury on the south Devon coast. The online forecast for surf and weather looked like it was going to be hard work, big messy swell and onshore winds. So I was pleasantly surprise to find small surf and not a breath of wind when I arrived at 8am for the sign in.

Me, in my first heat, trying to make something of the small surf.

I was drawn to surf in the first heat of the contest, and was up against the event organiser, and top surfer, James Hawker. It was going to be tough! The surf, while not being the raging mess I had expect was just as tricky to ride. The Tide was still dropping over a couple of odd sand bars and the waves were fickle, shallow, sucky and closing out often. (not that I'm making excuses!!!) I didn't come last in my heat, but I didn't place high enough to go through either. But that meant that I'd go into the repacharge and have a second chance to get into the quarter finals.

Andy H ripping one of the bigger river mouth waves

However when my rep' heat came up I discovered that I was up against Steve Chivers, a past British waveski champ and a great surfer. Hmmmm, didn't look my competitive surf debut was going to last long! The tide though had just turned and the surf was starting to look much better. But to make matters worse a surf school (a surf school in January!!!) had set themselves up right next to the competition. Meaning that if you got a good wave that went right, you then had to weave the bobbing surf school clients. I pulled off a couple of waves, not wanting to take out some of the surfers, Steve though let rip, busting some great top turns and cut backs right infront of them. And so that was that, I was out of the competition after only 30 minuets of surfing.

Me, in my Rep' heat, with some better looking waves

But that wasn't the end of my day. An integral part of the whole surf competition routine is helping out with the judging. And so I spent a lot of the rest of the day with a clip board in hand helping with the judging.

Steve C bustin' out infront of the surf school

The conditions picked up as the competition went on, although the wind picked up, so had the swell. As the tide came in the waves started to break over some of the sand bars, and then started to offer some great long rides up the river mouth. Some of the guys in the International class managed to get some really long rides.

A surfer enjoying a wave as the tide started to come in

Then as the tide came in more the waves started to break over the sand bars again and the surfers came back into the cove beside the car park again. The Semis were held in some great conditions, with bigger waves breaking quite a way out, or smaller but steeper and perfectly formed waves breaking on the inside. Unfortunately I don't have any pics of what were the best waves of the day, because I was too busy judging.

Event organiser James Hawker charging the river mouth in the IC Class

The Ladies and the Junior final were also unfortunate, just as their finals started the conditions deteriorated again, with the waves dumping and closing out and leaving the surfers with little option and few good waves to choose from.

Another surfer enjoying the improving conditions

The Mens High performance Final started as the sun started to set, but the waves had really given up any pretence of being good. Steve decided that it wasn't worth finishing off his day with such poor waves, and sat out to watch the other three fight it out for the honours.

Eventual winner Glyn

In the end Glyn Brackenbury from North Devon won both the mens High performance final aswell as the International class. And while I got knocked out early I was given an award for best newcomer, more inpart to helping out with the judging than my surfing! but at least I got something!

Andy H again, enjoying a bigger wave in the river mouth.

I have also got a load of video, once I've downloaded it and sort it out I'll try and post a few of the better clips.

Fridays Dart Fun

Once again there was lots of rain forecast overnight, but this time I didn't have to work today, so I could spend more time on the river. Awesome!! The river wasn't quite as high as I had expected when I got to Newbridge, but it was still completely covering the slab, so it was all set for some playboat action.






Top wave was good, but not quite high enough to be really great yet, but it did mean that the eddy service was excellent. So I spent some time there before heading on down the rest of the loop. There were a few other smaller waves that were worth a quick surf, the wave below washing machine and a small wave above the crazy seal launch. The wave at the bottom of Triple drop was still a tad to high, surfable, but without a shoulder and quite flushy. Finally there is the wave after the spin drier.






Being on my own meant that I didn't have a shuttle, so I started walking back to Newbridge with my boat. Luckily though someone stopped and picked me up within 100m. So it was back on the river for a second run! The level had dropped a bit, but not too much. Top wave was still OK, but the wave at triple was much better. It still didn't have a great shoulder, but there was more of a shoulder than previously, and it was more retentive. Second time round I had to walk a bit further, but I managed to get a lift again, this time with Simon Westgarth.
What a great day on the river!

Dart Dawn Dash

With the weather forecast showing lots of rain Wednesday night/Thursday morning Ewart and I made the decision to get up early Thursday for a dawn run on the Dart Loop, before having to head to work at 9am.
The Dartcom online rain gauge was showing almost 50mm of rain in the previous 12hrs on Thursday morning, and when we got to the river we found it flowing through the third arch, and lapping up the first wooden step from Newbridge car park. So without hanging around we got kitted up and hit the river as the skies started to get light. We had a good blast down the river, but it was all over too soon, and before we knew it we were stuck in traffic trying to get back into Exeter.

The river, lapping up the steps at Newbridge

Ewart looking serious, about to put on the river while it was still fairly dark

And we're done, now just got to run back for the car!

Day Two: the River Walkham

We Paddled the Lower Walkham about a month ago and enjoyed it so much that we were keen to go and give it another go with a bit more water. Well we got the chance today. The overnight rain wasn't quite as heavy, and stopped earlier than we'd expected, meaning most Dartmoor rivers were paddleable, but already lower than we'd expected. However there was still a couple of inches more water than last time.

Clear skies, sunshine and water, perfection

We paddle the river with Ewart, Jemma and Andy. It was nice to have a little group of us on the river, and we had a great run down the Walkham. The Sun was shinning and the skies were clear, which was a great contrast to the low cloud and snow we'd encountered on the moor on the drive to the river!

Andy wins the pull a silly face contest!

The Extra couple of inches of water meant that where last time we'd hit the odd rock here and there, this time we floated through barely hitting any rocks. There was quite a few more inches of water in the Tavy when we got that far, but that just made the waves bigger and the rapids better!

Andy drops into the slot

The Surf wave just before the take out provided the usual vast amount of fun. Incredible considering how small a wave it really is!

Ewart boofs into the slot



Andy, enjoying endless surfing in a Pyranhe Z:one

Jemma and Louise chill while Ewart and Andy play

Synchronised shudder rudders from Ewart and Andy, stylish!

Dart Loop: Two runs, twice the fun!

After our long, cold, dry spell it has finally been wet this week. I didn't manage to get out for a paddle during the week, so I thought I better make up for it with a day on the river on Saturday. So Louise and I headed to the river Dart to paddle the 'Loop' section. The Loop does seem to be the place to be these days if your an intermediate. The Car park was crammed full, and so was the river!

Me trying to get a cartwheel out of the Pyranha Z:one on top wave

Louise and I kitted up and hit the water Tandem in our Open Canoe for the first run of the day. There had been a lot of rain over night, but it had stopped before sunrise, so the river was now on the drop. But it was still at a great level when we got on. The Slab at Newbridge, the usual rule of thumb gauge, was covered, somewhere around 6ft on the old gauge. This meant that the rapids would be big and bouncy, and with the odd hole thrown in here and there for good measure!

Grrrr, it wasn't this busy a few years ago.......!

We had a great run down, after we'd blasted down to spitchwick corner to avoid the crowds! Lovers leap caught us out slightly, there were some big waves, and we took on a fair bit of water, then the hole in the middle got us and that was us swamped! Oh well, we paddled into an eddy river left after the island, emptied out, and then ferried across above splat rock.
Triple once again posed a swamping threat, but this time we got the line, despite me shouting 'left' when I meant right, and 'right' when I meant left. But luckily Louise knew what I meant!

Jack Russel enjoying top wave

After making use of the shuttle service back to Newbridge, I swapped Canoe for Kayak and headed back to the river. The level had dropped quite a bit, but there was still water on the slab, and flowing over the top corner. I had the shops Demo medium Pyranha Z:ONE and was keen to see what it would do. First stop Top Wave. The Z:one surfed well, as you'd expect from it length and shape, but it would also spin. It took a couple of attempts to get used to its extra length but once you'd got accustomed to it it was fine.
I also bumped into local paddler, coach, inspirational speaker, and all-round nice bloke, Jack Russel. So we set off together to run the rest of the river.

Jack hand surfing the wave at spin dryer

The Z:one was fast, quicker than any other whitewater boat I've paddled in a while, but then it is longer than any other whitewater boat I've paddled in a while! It was great to use the extra speed to zip about, ferrying, eddy to eddy with less effort. It run all the rapids on the loop with ease, and I even managed to pull one of the smoothest rock spins I've done in it!
On the Wave at triple three it surfed well, but it span better, once it had gone round about three quarters of a spin there was no stopping the momentum! I just let it get on with it, it was only when I got dizzy and dropped an edge that I flushed off!
And that was it, all to soon I was back on the shuttle bus. The river was starting to look to low to make me want to do a third run. But with more rain forecast overnight it was time to head back home ready for another day on the river!

Pridhamsleigh Cave

Caving is one of those sports that I do quite enjoy, but I don't really go out of my way to pursue these days. There aren't many caves in Devon, and really only one that is easy to get into and good for taking groups into. That cave is Pridhamsleigh, just outside of Ashburton. As well as being the only cave in the area that gets used by groups, it is also one of the muddiest caves in the UK, as anyone who has been in it will tell you! A few years ago I was working as an Instructor and was in and out of Pridhamsleigh cave regularly. But since then I've only been back a couple of times. I got a call earlier this week inviting me to make a trip down the cave, and I couldn't refuse!

Some of the amazing marbled limestone to be found in the cave, here polished by thousands of passing bums!

There was meant to be a small group of us going, but somehow almost everyone else found an excuse to do something different! So it ended up just being me, my good friend Rog H and his extreme sport mad son Ben.

Ben making easy work of the maggots crawl

We had a great trip down to the lake at the very bottom of the cave, and were led all the way by Ben. We passed through a variety of chambers and passages with odd names, such as, 'the bishops bum', 'the coal chute' and 'the bottom-less pit'. Ben even went through the Maggots crawl, however only being 9 years old it wasn't much of a crawl for him!

Ben checks out the bottom-less pit

It was great to be back in Prid, and while I've been to most places in the cave, including some that are quite off the beaten track, there are still places I haven't been and want to go. But at a rate of one trip a year it might take me some time to visit them all!

Ben and Rog silhouetted at the top of the bottom-less pit

Back in the water, at last

It feels like ages since I've been in the water, but I managed to get in a boat today, and enjoy some great waves at Saunton. The weather, if you haven't noticed recently, has been Baltic, with temperature well below freezing alot of the time. As we drove over the estuary on the way to the beach we were amazed to see ice in the water, and on the mud and sand banks. What an earth was I thinking of, going surfing??!!





The water felt really cold, but with hardly a breath of wind out of the water it wasn't too bad. I chose to try out one of the new Valley Surf Kayaks demo boats that we have, seeing as I didn't fancy being immersed in the water on a board or ski. I took out the Valley Rip, a great all round surf kayak, thats a bit more easy going than some of the more aggressive boats, like the Rush.






The Rip is a bit longer, has softer rails and features a pin tail. The extra length helps it paddle out and catch waves, the softer rails make it more forgiving when your top turn goes a bit wonky, and the pin tail creates great speed when on a wave.







The Rip is designed to be a softer and more easy going boat, and it certainly is. In the classic 2-3ft clean conditions is was a great cruiser, working its way down the line with smooth top and bottom turns. The longer tail was great for extra speed down the line, but it did mean that it wasn't the loosest surf boat if and when you wanted to put in a slash.

But if super high performance, airs, and radical cut backs isn't your thing, and you just want to be able to catch some waves, and lay down some surfing style then the Rip is definitely the boat for you.

All in all it was a great way to get back into a boat. While the weather was cold, the waves were great, and the crowds were low. I hope I can get back into the surf again soon, and try out one of the other Valley surf Kayaks.

Check out the Rip here: http://www.valleyseakayaks.com/rip.htm