Sea Kayaking on the Forth (21/22nd August)

Over the past few months, I have spent a great deal of time on the website run by Douglas Wilcox. Unless you are completely devoid of imagination, it is difficult to look through the site and not picture yourself emulating the sea kayak journeys recorded in the various pictures.


Inspiration is one thing but the knowledge and skills to deal with the trip planning, navigation - not to mention rescue techniques is also required. With my wee sis having done some sailing courses at Port Edgar and the brochure mentioning weekend sea kayak courses, the only thing to choose was a suitable weekend ….

The 21/22nd August fitted in with shift patterns and the Forth should be “warm” – perfect. As a bit of prep training Lynne did a course down at Castle Semple which included a one star assessment.

As usual with such a course the first 10 minutes was spent milling about trying to figure out who else was there for the sea kayaking. Our instructor arrived and introduced himself as Iain. Quick introductions from Tess, Rob, Kate and Ellen and we started the indoors stuff. We got a look through some charts and books as well as a discussion about how weather and tides etc … can influence route planning. A great introduction but it also helped enforce my belief that a RYA Day Skipper qualification would be useful for helping with the coastal expedition planning!

Down at the boatshed we were introduced to our kayaks for the weekend – almost brand new Prijon Seayaks or Kodiaks. Fitted out with wetsuits, buoyancy aids and cags we headed into the harbour. We paddled forward, paddled backwards, tried a few sweepstrokes before moving onto a sculling draw and a feather draw. Whilst turning the sea kayak was murder … moving sideways seemed easier with a long boat (the wee Riot 007 just spins).

After lunch we head out into the main estuary. Everything started fine. We headed east stopping at Inch Garvie. We rafted up to allow a big ship to clear before attempting to cross back over to Port Edgar – not that anyone wanted to try and race a tanker anyway. The next half hour to hard … very hard. It seemed like an easy paddle but at one point I thought I was going to end up in Stirling! A combination of wind and tide meant steering was close to impossible. No amount of right hand sweeps could keep me on track. By the time I struggled back into the harbour it was time for tea. Sleep came easy that night!

Next morning, the group seemed to have recovered and the water was perfect - flat calm. The plan was to head down towards Inchcolm Island and Abbey for lunch. It was great paddling in the company of the inquisitive seals. As we beached the kayaks I couldn’t help but feel superior to those folks who had arrived via the ferry. We had got there under our own steam after all. The wasps who were trying to eat my lunch didn’t differentiate however.

Back afloat, it seemed too nice a day to hurry back. We stopped at every opportunity and in-between stops chatted to whoever was beside you at the time. We passed Dalgety Bay and as we tried to regroup at North Queensferry - the fun began. Once again, the wind and tide conspired to make steering difficult. Finally, we arrived back at Port Edgar where is was time to get wet.

Nobody had swam (which was a good thing) but it is unrealistic to expect to paddle and not experience that upside down feeling at some point. After some superb rolling demonstrations from the instructor Iain, we had a shot at a “X” rescue and re-entering the kayak full of water. I had a shot at a roll and got up far enough to see the harbour wall before ending upside down again.

As happens with most courses, you get to practice and refine some old skills, learn some new and leave with a hunger to get out and push till once again confidence surpasses skill and another learning opportunity is required !