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I finally got to wear shorts to kayak this year –  although I needed to go to Italy for the privilege! Last week, Barry and I attended the  San Vito Climbing Festival near the NW tip of Sicily. This is the 6th year of the festival and for the first year it also included sea kayaking and a few other outdoor sports.

I was showing the “Islands of Fire” film one evening at the best venue I’ve ever spoken at. The talks were given in the open air in the main square of San Vito besides an old church. People can sit and watch, or just stop to have a look as they wander through town.

We’ve been to Sicily twice before to the Vulcano symposium on the beautiful volcanic Aeolian islands. The NW corner of Sicily is equally impressive with incredible limestone cliffs, crystal-clear water, white sandy beaches & a few caves and arches. You can paddle along wild cliffs for a few miles, then land in a village for some fine food. Unexpectedly there were lots of people at the event who we’d already met & it was great to catch up with folks & get to know a few more people.  It was good to meet Guido Grugnola who was talking & showing a film about his circumnavigation of Italy & Sicily by kayak. Giacomo Della Gatta was showing a film about his kayak trip down the Niger river. Tatiana was over frommainland Italy and teaching rolling most days. Vincenzo did a good job organising the daily sea kayaking trips. Our friends Francesco and Gianfranco drove over from Catania to see us & brought us kayaks and paddles to use. Big thanks to them. They also made us eat lots of fine food & helped make sure we had ice cream every day.

With the warm weather and beautiful clear water, it felt like a bit of a holiday & we had a great time! 

Thanks to Gianfranco & Guido for the jumping pics.There are lots more photos of the festival on Facebook (Italian sea kayakers seem to LOVE facebook!). Tatiana’s blog about the festival is here.

An 11 second waves period is pretty good for Anglesey! Combine that with a 3 foot swell, a slight offshore wind & sunshine and it’s no surprise that myself and Axel joined Phil, James & Gaz at Rhosneigr for a few hours of great fun surf today. There is something about surf that is just magical & puts such a big smile on everyone’s face! Thanks to Axel for the photos of me.

Barry and I are heading to Sicily tomorrow for the San Vito Climbing film festival. I’m presenting the ‘Islands of Fire’ film on the Friday night & we are looking forward to catching up with friends Francesco Petralia, Gianfranco Liotta, Tatiana and others. Although it’s called a ‘climbing festival’ there is also a lot of sea kayaking going on. And since it’s Sicily, I expect there will be quite a bit of eating and drinking too! Yeah! Can’t wait!

What a beautiful summery day on Sunday!

I fancied a visit to Penrhyn Mawr tidal race to try out the Gemini SP kayak but Barry was going to the Skerries with a group, which is always a lovely spot to visit when the sun is out. While weighing up the 2 options, it occurred to me that I didn’t have to chose! So Axel and I headed to Penrhyn Mawr for a surf, then about midday we turned and pointed North(ish) & headed out to the Skerries – hoping to be there in time for lunch.

We had a pleasant surprise in the carpark at Porthdafach – Marcus Demuth had come out of his hibernation  (well, he hasn’t exactly been sleeping as he’s been busy getting a masters degree & building a house, but he has been largely absent from the Welsh sea for quite some time)! So there Marcus was standing looking at the sea with his Nordkapp ready to go. All 3 of us set off into a bit of a swell & very little wind, hopeful for some fun at Penrhyn Mawr.

The waves could have been a little bigger but it was great to get out and surf. My first impressions of the Gemini SP are good – the kayak is incredibly manoeuvrable & really easy to turn on the waves. I would like to return in some larger waves as I think (and hope!) that the Gemini would really excel here.

After an hour of surfing Marcus returned to the beach & Axel and I decided to go to the Skerries. A chocolate bar provided an engine top up & we set off around the Stacks with a good amount of tide giving us a helpful push. Some playful waves in the outer race at South Stack distracted us from our mission for 5 minutes, but I think Axel’s tummy was rumbling so we soon turned around again and pointed at the red & white stripes on the little island in the distance!

As we set off, I was wondering whether I’d regret paddling almost 10 nautical miles in one of the shortest sea kayaks on the market & was telling myself it would be good fitness training!  Actually the Gemini SP didn’t feel slow at all. We made good time and arrived at the Skerries 1hour and 40 mins after leaving Penrhyn Mawr.

We joined Barry and quite a few other folks for a sociable lunch (Thanks for the jelly tots Steve & the flapjack Claire!). Once we’d refuelled we paddled around the island before heading back to Porthdafarch. We didn’t have much tide with us to start with but the flow gradually picked up. Once we thought we were safely past Holyhead harbour, a fast ferry appeared on the horizon, zooming back from Ireland. We soon realised it was going to pass much closer to North Stack than we had expected & we were directly in it’s path. We stopped (OK, so I back paddled a bit aswell!) & waited with the VHF at the ready in case they changed course at the last minute.

We landed at 5.30 after a brilliant day out!

I wore a heartrate monitor/ GPS for the trip. although the battery ran out just after we left for the return journey so the statistics for total distance etc are wrong – it was between 25-30 nautical miles by the time we got back. I think the track is still quite interesting though. (The route shows us getting back as far as South Stack because I revived the GPS for a few seconds here to see our speed).

Axel’s blog about the day (with more photos) can be seen here.

I’ve neglected my sparkly new Atlantic LV recently, in favour of the sleek & speedy Rapier. So I took my glittery green girl out to the Swellies wave during the big Spring tides we’ve just enjoyed. After quite a few hours in the racing boat, I wondered how I’d find jumping onto dynamic water & having to edge & manoeuvre a kayak without the Rapier’s rudder.

In fact, I had my best ever surfing session on the Swellies. It turns out that trying something different doesn’t make you forget your original ways. In fact, I felt like time in a different sort of boat has made me more aware of how the water, the kayak & I interact. Edging the playful Atlantic LV was delightful after trying to go fast and straight in the Rapier. Conversely, back in the Rapier on Wednesday night, I found myself better able to edge while using the rudder to get across eddy lines. I had previously not been sure whether to edge, or not, and how much, but somehow it felt like I got the right balance after a return to the Atlantic LV.

Kayaking is such a wonderfully versatile & diverse sport. There is always something new to try & something you can improve at. It’s sure keeping my attention.

I should mention that if anyone in the UK wants to try an Atlantic LV, or other Northshore & Valley boats – they are running a series of demo days around the UK – see the advert below (that I scanned from Ocean Paddler magazine – thanks Richard!)