Thursday 14/05/09
Griff and I wanted a shake-down overnight trip to precede our intended IOW circumnavigation. With very little time available, we opted for a single night under canvas as part of a lap of Hayling Island.
After work on Thursday and joined by Gav, we met at my sailing club and loaded up - our evening paddle would consist of a short paddle down Langstone Harbour to the entrance. The breeze was surprisingly stiff and with a foul tide, it took three quarters of an hour to get to the entrance where we landed on the Hayling side. We pitched the tent amongst the sand dunes and barbeques our evening meal.
Friday 15/05/09
During the night it really blew, but by morning, the wind and weather had abated and the day looked as though it held promise. We set off eastwards toward Chichester Harbour entrance. After fifteen minutes or so, it became apparent that the wind was building and as we cleared the East Winner sands and the depth of water increased, so did the wave height. By now though, turning back would be impossible - we could either beach or press on. The wind was blowing 25 to 30 knots and the waves were at least four feet and confused in direction. We continued eastwards hoping conditions would improve. Several times, I found myself trying to balance precariously on top of steep waves and was convinced I would be swimming sooner later but after an hour had passed, we arrived at Chichester Harbour. Negotiating the entrance left me with a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and of course, it was here that a breaking wave had me upside down before I knew it had hit me. I fell out off the boat, taking the spray deck with me and found myself in 2'6 steep waves. One of my split paddles had come adrift and I held on to it tightly. Griff and Gav were coping fine with the conditions and were just as surprised as me that I was in the water. Rather than attempt a re-entry, I opted for the simpler option of towing me thirty feet to the water edge. This turned out to be tougher than expected and I was in the water 20 or more minutes and drifted the entire length of the harbour entrance before my paddling partners had towed me to shore.
My dry trousers and top were full of water as were my Chota boots. Once emptied (along with my kayak) I was back on in the kayak heading north towards Emsworth. Needless to say, as my first accidental swim, it had a marked effect on me. The cold was more significant though and as we arrived at Northney we landed so i could don a fleece and hat - this did the trick.
Once under Hayling bridge we were staring at the breaking waves coming through the old Hayling Billy line submerged blocks. The prospect of making it through just to punch head long into a 30 knot wind for an hour had us all reeling. After five minutes of searching for the best gap to tackle, we settled for an easy get-out at The Old Ship pub and a taxi to my sailing club to retrieve our cars.
Our first night kayak camping had been a good laugh but had taught us that we had over-packed and secondly that out rescue drills were rusty. Only after the event did possible rescue methods in rough seas come to mind. In the turbulence of the situation, a rafted re-entry seemed impossible and with the shore so close, it seemed the easiest option - it may not have been after all.
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