We met Olivia ex British junior Wild water racer and Matt at lunchtime, got kitted up and headed down with the play boats. We had to paddle over to the next bay to get to the good surf. Now these boats don’t go in a straight line as they have to be able to maneuver easily in waves, so this was very hard work and as the sea was very choppy I started to feel very sea sick. My goal became to paddle as quickly as possible to the other bay and get out onto lovely flat none-moving land. I got half way across and turned to check where the others were, to my surprise they were further away than I expected. I waited for Olivia to paddle over and she informed me Antonia was also feeling sea sick and finding the paddle over almost impossible. I waited for a bit but really need to get to land. I got to the surf and a big wave came . . . ok 2ft but I was side ways on and capsized. I was in shock, Matt had told us what to do in the event but after all the talk of them being so stable I seriously hadn’t thought it was going to happen. While under water with the tight neoprene deck around my waist which firmly attached to the cockpit I actually thought, ‘oh my god I am going to die on my birthday’! Then I found the pull thing at the front of the deck, pulled it and tumble-turned out of the boat. I had an emotional few seconds and walked to the shore with my boat. Antonia padded over to join me with an anxious look on her face after seeing me under water for what felt like a long time. Olivia came to the rescue with some Brioch - chocolate bread. The three of us sat on the beach eating, Antonia and I wondering if this was a weekend of torture!
We got back in the boats with the sea sickness and shockness subsided and actually had brilliant fun. As I find with surfing there is nothing better than being out with the raw elements. Matt came to join us as he had gone back to let his dog the soppy rockwieller Boffy out. We fell out loads of times but it really didn’t matter.
For our second session we went sea kayaking. These are different types of boats again. Long, like our sprint kayaks but very stable and able to carry enough equipment if you became stranded for at least a week. Antonia and I were actually amazed at how much safety equipment we had to take. A spare tent, a flair each, a gas cooker, spare paddles are just an example of what measures we had to take. This made me slightly worried about how dangerous sea kayaking was.
So we set off, the sea was so clear, we paddled round the cliff edges and saw lots of different bird life. We then paddled across to Ramsey Island. It was a bit choppy and Matt was explaining about the tides and eddies but nothing too threatening had made me think we might be firing up the gas stove in the luminous orange tent while firing off flares!
Out of no where a huge school of Porpoise were jumping in and out of the water just in front of the boats. They are a part of the whale/dolphin family. It was so amazing to see in such a natural environment. Going from being in heaven I was suddenly in my worse nightmare. The sea turned into conditions I have never witnessed in person. Huge un-breaking waves with eddies that took my small boat away at least 100m in the space of a few seconds. Matt was very calm and told me direct instructions to follow. I managed to get back to them but the whole time thought a huge wave would tip me up and I would be carried to a cliff side and thrown against it. Antonia however was very calm and took it all in her stride I was very impressed. We got through it and paddled back, it was dimpsy dark and I was still getting visions of being on the show 999 as we had been gone for a good 2,5 hours and felt very tired plus Antonia was singing the theme tune out load! But that night as we tucked into a huge well deserved dinner I felt we had just had the most incredible adventurous day. Also we now know we would NEVER attempt an Atlantic crossing in a rowing boat or kayak.
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