Slower than my previous effort...

Last night I made my second attempt on the Menai Challenge, the plan was to be on the water for 18:30 at Gallows Point, things didn't go quite as planned and we had a bigger turnout than expected. I paddled with John Willacy of Rockpool Kayaks, Pascale Eichenmuller, Aled Williams of Tiderace and Marcus Demuth of legendary expedition paddling exploits and current leader of the challenge. Barry Shaw & award winning film-maker Justine Curgenven had been paddling earlier in the day & met us at the start but decided that it wasn't the night for them to do it. Forgive me for name dropping all these folk, but I've seen a lesser schedule of speakers at some symposia in the past, I was impressed by the company I was keeping, it was like a chapter of the Who's Who of the North Wales Sea Kayak scene.

I'd done this in the Cetus MV on the previous attempt, this time I was determined to try one of the new boats we're stocking and took the Tiderace Xcape. Aled was using his Ski, the others all paddled the Rockpool Taran.

When I looked at the rest of the field, I decided rather than keeping everyone waiting for at least 45 minutes at the end, I'd simply undertake the shorter course again and if I was lucky, I might get to the end without keeping them waiting too long.

Using a handicap system, we set off at one minute intervals from Gallows Point, as the most handicapped paddler there, I went first. I set myself a goal, the biggest one of the evening, could I reach Bangor Pier just over 2km from the start before anyone else caught me. After 13 minutes, I reached the pier JUST ahead of Pascal & Marcus. It wasn't long after that that everyone had passed me. Another 3.5 Km saw me passing under Menai Bridge about five or six hundred metres behind Pascale. I dug in pressing hard on my footpegs the stopwatch was counting down and my next goal for the evening was to get there in under thirty three minutes, I blew it 33:06.

There was a lone figure stood in the middle of Menai Bridge, watching as I paddled under, years of living in London & Liverpool made me wary anticipating a dropped spit-bomb, brick or worse. All of a sudden I heard a cheery shout of "Hi Pete", it was Barry. Knowing that I wasn't about to be bricked (despite his accent) and with his words of encouragement ringing in my ears,  I picked up my pace and set myself another goal, could I reach Ynys Gored Goch before everyone else turned & began paddling up from below Pont Britannia. I managed this, just. John was already on the return leg, Aled close behind, Marcus and Pascale were just under the bridge. Another goal achieved, I was going reasonably well, but not as well as I had last time. However my motivation was high, I hadn't been paddling since my attempt on the 15th July and I was enjoying myself. I tipped my hat (metaphorically) to Lord Nelson and continued on to Plas Newydd. Moel y Don appeared and the bright lights of Y Felinheli appeared on my left, the wind picked up and slowed me a little more. My previous effort had been on a big 9.2m tide with a 25-30mph tailwind.

I paddled past Y Felinheli, on towards Plas Menai and the bright lights of Caernarfon, the wind dropped, the sun was dipping and in the last few hundred metres became aware that John was hard on my tail.

I didn't get to sit for long basking in the glory of my slower time (down by 10 minutes) before John caught up with me, and I became aware that he'd paddled 9km further than me a couple of minutes quicker, but as I explained at the time, I wasn't that bothered by my slower time, it meant that I'd had an extra 10 minutes on the water and with the amount of time I've spent on the water since my last attempt (none) that was 10 precious minutes of pure paddling pleasure, just lost in my thoughts and paddlestrokes and work was a long way from them.

If I can do it, then it goes to show that's more than in the realms of us mere mortals and not just for these paddling legends, it's a time trial, so the reality is that you're competing against yourself, but as I found out last night, you can still have fun even when you lose. Give it a go, it's better than reading about what other people have done.

Tonight, it's sunny but breezy and North Stack is running, time to try out another of our wonderful products, the Tiderace Xtreme.

Menai Challenge

Tomorrow night we'll be closing on time, sorry, but I'm going paddling.

I'm going to do the Menai Challenge  it's a time trial dreamt up by local activist, record breaker & all round good egg John Willacy. Click through the link for more details.

It's worth a look and as it's a time trial event, you only have to compete with yourself.

Light & Warm - A solution that doesn't require a compromise

New in, the Synmat UL 7 S is a warm (rated down to -4C) insulated air mattress. It weighs just 430g and packs down to 23 x 9cm. 

At 7cm deep it provides real comfort for a good nights rest while on your expedition.

At just £75, they're phenomenal value.

More Tiderace boats in Stock

We've just taken another delivery of Tiderace Sea Kayaks and have the following boats available from stock at present:

Xplore

Xcite

Xcape

Drop us a line if you're looking for one?

Demo Weekend -THIS weekend

We've got three spaces left on the demo weekend we're holding this weekend.

There are opportunities to try boats from: P & H, SKUK , Tiderace & Venture Kayaks

Paddles from Mitchell Blades & Lendal

Cags, decks & PFD's from Peak UK

VHF Radios from Standard Horizon

and of course you get the opportunity to call in and see ALL of the other products we stock.

Lighting from Petzl, Stoves from Jetboil, Compasses from Silva, GPS from Memory Map complete with Marine Charts, Typhoon Drysuits, Kelly Kettles, tents from Vango, Sleeping bags & clothing from Rab , Greenland paddles from Anglesey Stickand so much more!!

Bargain Sea Kayaks & Accessories

We've a few bargains to be had at the moment, some cosmetic seconds, a few ex-demo boats, some unusual imports and some boats that have just come into stock.

Have a look at the list below:

Boreal Epsilon 200 - RM sea kayak with rigid hatch rims & soft rubber covers, great seat and backrest, rudder fitted. RRP £1, 730 on offer at £1,250.

Length	17’	5.18m
Width	23.5”	59.7cm
Cockpit Dimensions	16 x 31”	41 x 79cm
Volume	110 Gallons (US)	415 Litres
Weight	64lb	29kg
Recommended Weight Range for paddler (min/max)	140/225lbs	64/102kg
Recommended load limit	295lbs	134kg

P&H Delphin 155 - Cosmetic seconds RRP £1,299 Just £999 each

Ex-Demo Capella 161, standard diolen construction with green glitter deck, white hull & Yellow trim. £1,250

NDK Explorer HV, P/X boat, Red deck, black trim, White hull £1,200

NEW Standard Horizon HX500E VHF radios, with 1400 mAh NiMh battery and car charger included RRP £139.99 just £110

NEW Standard Horizon HX750E VHF Radio, floating unit identical to the HX751E bar the luminescent strip RRP £149.95 Just £120

Peak UK Tourlite Hoody Cag RRP £109, just £85

Peak UK Tourlite Shortsleeve just £50

Nookie Paddle bag suitable for Splits (2010 model) £25

Celtic Paddles Archipelago 1 piece £79

Just call us or call in to see us, there's a lot more on offer than this.

You can also check out our facebook page

Happy Paddling!
Pete

Reed Chillcheater goodies on Sunshine Island

They've finally arrived. We've got Reed cags, deckbags, spraydecks, replacement hatch covers and more all available in store on sunshine island (admittedly a little grey today, but dry in the main).

15 litres, waterproof and tough PU coated nylon deck bag. Six point deck attachment. Fully taped seams just £28. You couldn't do it yourself for that price.

25% off Rab Womens Fleece

We have the Rab Womens Micro-fleece pull on, RRP £40, on offer at £30.

All sizes from 8-16 are currently available, in three colours: Cayenne, Lilac & Sage.

Drop us a line or give us a call on +44(0)1407 740963

Group Offers.

We've been working in partnership with 2 new communities, where they have their own store and we are their in-house providers. They are:

Spice UK

and

Wide World Mag

we also wrote a short "How to Sea kayak " article for WideWorldMag

Look out for some of the great group offers we're making in these communities.

Thanks

We've been busy.

Things have been "crazy-busy" over here on "Royal" Sunshine Island.

However, we've got some new toys to bring to you including boats from Boreal Designs, Greenland Paddles from Anglesey Stick, the new Peak UK Tourlite Double Cag (lovely) and more.

We'll be giving a brief run down on these new products over the next few weeks.

WRSI Trident Helmets have landed here

After a short wait we've finally taken delivery of the WRSI Trident. They look great and everyone is coming through giving them the once over.

Some people have even bought them, that's how good they are.

£139.00

Alternative Ulster - Alternative Energy

On Wednesday, I had the good fortune to be delivering a Scorpio to one of our customers in Lisburn. She'd arranged with a few other members of one of the kayaking clubs that she paddles with for me to bring some demo boats across. We had a mixed bag, including the Rockpool Taran, P&H Cetus MV & Tiderace Xplore. One of the guys paddled across from the other side of the lough at Portaferry in his Nordkapp Jubilee which he 'kindly' allowed me to paddle while he tried some of the demo boats. They also had a chance to try some wing paddles from Schwarzer the Zasteras and our best sellers from Mitchell Blades.



We paddled out from the ferry terminal at Strangford, past the Turbine. There were a number of whirlpools forming behind this, but it strikes me as a very reliable form of renewable energy, after all the tide has been running in and out twice a day for as long as I can remember...


A quick run down the lough to Angus Rocks where we stopped for a brew and then it was back up to Strangford so I could reload the boats and get back to Dublin to cross the Irish Sea the easy way.

I really enjoyed paddling this stretch of water, it was reminiscent of the southern end of the Menai Straits, but the abundance of wildlife didn't seem to have been disturbed by the new energy generation scheme in place here. Thanks to the members of Belfast Kayak club for their company and Navarat for making it possible for me to discover this gem for myself.