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Topics - UKRiverSurfers

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Downwind and Racing / Easter Downwinder F6-8 :)

« on: March 28, 2016, 02:04:08 AM »

Whitewater and River SUP / BadfishSUP come to Oxford with Plastic Tides :)

« on: March 16, 2016, 02:49:30 AM »

Had an amazing couple of days with BadfishSUP team rider Christian Shaw of Plastic Tides. Christian is over from the USA and was stocked to get the chance of a river surf while he was in Oxford staying at the Uni.

We got lucky on the first session with an epic downpour earley hours of the morning before, with roughly 60mm of rain landing in the catchment.

We had 24cm on the gauge when we arrived, creating a lovely wave, which just got bigger and bigger right in front of our eyes! Standing waves are usually best when they are on the rise

Got loads of various video footage which all needs putting together but here's a few stills to keep you going.

Downwind and Racing / Winter Solstice Downwinder Bullet Hollow Custom - Like a Bullet :)

« on: December 22, 2015, 01:52:19 PM »

My first attempt at filming one of my downwinders on the B17v2....

Quite happy with the results from a crappy camera strapped to my BA. Got a new gopro on the way though with funky carbon mount in the making

Whitewater and River SUP / Badfish IRS 7'2

« on: December 05, 2015, 12:22:29 AM »

Flatwater and Touring / White Cliffs - Beachy Head Perfection :)

« on: November 30, 2015, 04:29:56 AM »

[size=200]Beachy Head - Again
[/size]

It was another weekend of favourable winds and tides for sea tripping.. The lure of the coast was just too much, especially when the lads are free too and one of them needed to pick up an almost brand new looking Coastrunner for a bargain price of 24p

We headed towards the trendy place that is Brighton and stayed the night at Graham 'Denny' Denny's place. Had a beer hit the sack.The next day we set up our shuttle run early to ensure we'd catch the tide. Stuttieboy had already picked up his CR from Worthing so we were ready to head to Seaford to drop of a car and then our starting place, Eastbourne.

Eastbourne to Seaford, that could only mean one thing - Beachy Head would be in our way!

Beachy Head really is a must do trip but not to be taken lightly.

Its a bit awkward getting a 16 foot board down the steps at Eastbourne but well worth it.

It's a trip that is dictated by the tidal flow, so you really need to be on time. If you miss the tidal conveyor you'll have to pay the price later on somewhere.

As soon as you leave the shore you start getting sucked along! Great fun.

Our first view of the iconic light house

There is a small tidal race just off the point, you can really see it in these picks. Not a great place to be swimming but we saw one chap doing exactly that. :shock:

Although we'd only just started we were all starving hungry and it seemed rude not to have lunch on the beach.

Denny knocked up the homemade chilli that id made the day before

Lunch over we headed off again before we got crushed in a landslide! :shock:

As soon as you pass the light house its just dazzling white cliffs and strong tidal flow to Birling Gap!

The tidal flow was about 1.5 knots at this point, Perfectly pushing us along.

Birling Gap

#

[/centre]

TBC....

Gear Talk / SIC Bullet 17v2 Hollow Moulded "The Ultimate Journey Board" :)

« on: November 29, 2015, 06:56:08 AM »

So, after much deliberating, worrying and anticipation, the long awaited SIC Bullet 17v2, after a long journey from Maui had arrived in Oxfordshire!

Here's a few pics of the very first test paddle

Flatwater and Touring / Hebridean Expedition :)

« on: November 29, 2015, 04:49:56 AM »

Words by Graham 'Denny' Denny

Lismore no More

"When you go will you send back a letter from America?
Take a look up the rail track from Miami to Canada

Lochaber no more, Sutherland no more
Lewis no more, Skye no more
Lochaber no more, Sutherland no more
Lewis no more, Skye no more
Lochaber no more, Sutherland no more
Lewis no more, Skye no more"

The Proclaimers

In 2015 not only had I been served notice in my Job, but I was also in the process of moving home and on the verge of turning 40.... The Big Four Zero, halfway through, mid life?? Crisis?? :shock:

I know.., I know... These are the type of life events many of us have been through and bring feelings of excitement, freedom, apprehension, fear and at times… self-doubt.

I had decided to approach an old friend and Stand Up Paddle (SUP) enthusiast, Dave Adams as my desire to get away, detach, and move on grew. I wanted wilderness....... To switch off and focus on a new direction. I had only tried SUP a few times before, including a mission around Beachy Head, (but that's a whole different story!) and I loved it. Dave took no persuading at all, as it’s fair to say, he is obsessed. And this is the exact point where I should have known better, I should've been more detailed in what my idea of wilderness was!!

What I pictured, was driving around various Scottish Loch’s, find some nice calm water, leisurely paddle about, look at the view, take some pictures, then back in the van, post the pictures on facebook, eat hot food and have a comfortable sleep.
Dave, on the other hand planned a 3 day expedition, to paddle around the Isle of Lismore, to carry all our gear on our SUPs and be totally self sufficient!

Once the idea grew into reality it didn't take long to get our other paddling friends, Chris Evans, Stephen 'Stuttieboy' Hale on the team! While I had little experience, their’s was something I had to tap into not just on the trip, but leading up to it. Trying to squeeze everything into a 79L dry bag. A tent, sleeping bag, pillow, towel, dry clothes, jacket, chair and food and water to last me three days. I was advised to measure food out by the gram!!. Sounds Easy, right? Trust me, it’s not.

Three of our boards packed and ready to go...

After a marathon 10 hour drive we parked up on the shores of Loch Etive to unwind and wait for Chris Evans who'd be joining us the following morning!

From left to right, Denny, Stephen Hale & Dave...

Across the border...

Our park up for the night...

Loch Etive looking north...

We had an explore around Loch Etive as a mellow introduction to Scottish SUPing!

I was now feeling a lot more relaxed about our actual mission we had planned for the following day!

[size=200]Day One - Across Loch Linnhe[/size] [/u]

It was mid-June and we parked up at Port Appin on Monday around mid-day. It was dry, calm, little wind, with the sun hidden behind a permanent sheet of cloud. We got ready, loaded up our boards and set off.

Graham Denny

Dave's board loaded up and ready to go at Port Appin with Lismore in the background and Morvern in the distance.

And we're off

Stephen Hale

Denny at the back

Ben Nevis in the background

The water was calm and flat as glass and getting across at the closest point to Lismore, seemed straight forward, easy even! It must have only been 10 minutes and we had crossed, a great start! As we paddled around the tip we saw the first of many Seals. I was surprised that my natural instinct felt no threat from them. We must have paddled about a mile when we stopped and Dave and Stutt had come up with an alteration to the plan, travel the whole way across Loch Linnhe to Morvern.
After such an easy start across the flat water I was feeling strong & enthusiastic. Dave & Stutt estimated it was about 2 miles.

Chris Evans

Distant Morvern in the background...

It was only when we got about a mile out, tide and wind became more prominent that I realised the 2 miles estimate may have been a ploy to get me to agree?

Looking back at Lismore and ever smaller Denny

Now throughout my life, in different situations, a multitude of songs always pop into my head. The last river sup for example was accompanied by Willie Nelsons “River Boy”. The Proclaimers 500 miles had already been sung at various points by all of us since arriving in Scotland (we all do that, don’t we?). However, It was Portishead’s “Deep Water” that played in my head.
When I was miles away from the Isle of Lismore and more miles away from the mainland on the other side, my experienced friends became dots, smaller than the heads of the following seals, as they battled the growing waves and wind with more efficiency than me, this is when I first started hearing Beth Gibbons haunting voice in my head.
“I’m Drifting in Deep Water”
CHECK!
“Alone in my self-doubt….. again”
Seals, Jellyfish, increasing wind and waves, mild hallucinations of seeing a giant whale beneath me…
CHECK!
Conditions were worsening, the challenge increasing which was both frightening and liberating.
I kept thinking Dave was almost on land, a dot against the vast hillside in front, yet he continued for another 10 minutes before I thought the same thing, happening 2 or 3 times in total. All in all, it must have been 2 to 2 and a half hours of constant paddling for me. I found myself using my knees as the waves increased, again my more experienced friends more steady on their feet in the worsening conditions.

I later found out that the waters we were paddling over were around 570 feet deep! :shock:

Morvern getting closer...

The great thing about paddling is that every stroke provides a new angle and the scenery around us was stunning. A huge expanse of water, surrounded by hills and mountains reminiscent of those in Lord of the Rings. Ben Nevis visible in the back ground and a host of wildlife, swimming and flying around. Wow.
There are lots of people who don’t believe this exists on our mainland. And in general pictures you see on the tartan lined boxes of shortbread my gran used to feed me just don’t do the area justice.

Landing on Morvern.

[size=200]Lunch stop [/size]

I was the last to get to the other side and when Dave suggested we stay there for the night, despite being tired, I wanted more. We stopped, ate lunch, huddled under a tarp Stutt had quickly erected while it rained, checked out the OS map for directions and headed off again.

.....

SUP General / I'm Back :)

« on: November 29, 2015, 04:27:12 AM »

That's better.

After months, maybe almost 1 year of not being able to log in, all of a sudden, it seems to be sorted!!

Glad to be back on a forum where folk really know their stuff.

The problem started because of an disagreement between different platforms which confused the hell out of the forum.

My quiver has changed a fair bit too, with the addition of something special!

Looking forward to some good discussion.

Whitewater and River SUP / Mill Falls River Usk Wales...

« on: December 29, 2014, 08:08:53 AM »

Here's a wee video of a nice paddle we did yesterday on the stunning river Usk in the Black Mountains, Wales, UK.

Its about a G2 maybe G3 in places. A great fun river with few hazards and plenty of fun

SUP General / Destruction Of A Masterpiece :(

« on: November 24, 2014, 08:14:47 AM »

Yes folks - as the title says..

What was possibly the nicest SUP in the UK was destroyed yesterday afternoon by a runaway motorhome.

The tail was hanging off the back of my van well within legal limits as the chap drove by in his motorhome drove tore into the stunning carbon weave, wrenched the Richmond Paddleboard sideways as the lockable roof straps almost tore wright through the whole rear end of the board.

A custom Richmond 16' Carbon is now almost in two pieces!!!!

Whitewater and River SUP / Floodlight Riversurf :)

« on: November 16, 2014, 04:23:13 PM »

Whitewater and River SUP / New Redpaddle WW SUP :)

« on: October 10, 2014, 09:38:33 AM »

Flatwater and Touring / Fog!

« on: September 10, 2014, 03:25:01 AM »

~ SUP Isle Of Wight 2014 ~[/size]

After a last minute decision and a quick look at the charts, Stuttieboy and myself decided that a paddle to the IOW was the order of the weekend..

We arrived at our chosen put in on Saturday night for an early start to catch the tide at 7:30am the following Sunday morning.

Our route was a simple one! Just put in on the seaward side of the spit next to Saltgrass Lane, Keyhaven, follow the spit to the end and then at Hurst Castle, head directly eastwards to Yarmouth.

We awoke to a misty morning...Although the wind was light, the mist slowly turned into fog!

The XCweather forecast didn't look too good either!

And so the fog thickened.. We really were not sure, as you couldn't see more than a 100 meters or so ahead, no landmarks to aim for, nothing.

We only had a couple of hours tide window too, as the tide would be against us by 9-9:30 am...

So stuttieboy started pumping!

With a bit of doubt in the back of our minds, and a now or never attitude, we headed off along the spit with an awesome tidal flow! We decided that we'd get to the end of the spit and decide what to do before committing to the foggy sea!

We reached the end of Hurst Spit and then had to make a decision.... Go for it or not??

Go for it was the choice!

We had to follow a rough bearing using the iPhone compass!

As long as we kept following our bearing, sooner or later the IOW would just, appear.....So we headed off into the unknown.....

The next leg was just a matter of heads down and keep paddling, following our bearing!

We saw one yacht who just motored by and disappeared into the fog and then a RIB buzzed along, looked at us and the idiot at the helm shouted aggressively at us saying

"You must be crazy paddling here on a day like this"

He really did seem put out by our presence! He was just another joy rider in a motor with more money than sense, and angry too! :roll: :?

As soon as he buzzed off, there it appeared - The Isle Of Wight

Fog?? Easy stuff!

We landed on the first beach we came to, just to check exactly where we were and have a quick breather, before we decided to paddle another 2k to Yarmouth Harbour..

By now the tide was just starting to turn, and ebb westwards. Nothing serious, maybe 0.3 -0.5 mph, so it wasn't too hard to paddle against.

After a bit of a slog, we reached our foggy destination.

A small beach just west of the harbour breakwater!

Brew time and early lunch!

After a long break at Yarmouth, waiting for the fog to lift, we were ready for our paddle back. The tide had swung round and was now gonna give us a lift back to the mainland.

We were aiming for Cirdinal Buoy Sconce 22....

Seen here, Sconce 22 really showing the extreme tidal flow!

Once we transited Sconce 22, we could now clearly see Hurst in the distance.....

This stretch, about 2 kilometres, took an amazing 9 minutes!! Fastest i've ever paddled on the sea!

All we had to do now was paddle about another 2k along the spit... The tide was still in our favour but weakening as we got further away from the castle....

You can see our start point right in the distance....

Job done!

We just chilled out for the next couple of hours in the van taking in the stunning setting... This was the first time we'd really seen our camping spot and put in, as it was shrouded in fog a few hours ago.