After a lean couple of months The Lone Kayaker has been in dream-world during the last week. Major wildlife encounters have been coming thick and fast. The gales have abated and even though the weather has not yet sorted itself out into anything you might call spring, it’s a lot better than it has been. Success has partly been down to giving myself a good kick up the backside and turfing out of bed earlier. When it comes to watching otters and beavers that really is appallingly early. But if you can be bothered to get on the water before the first Blackbird breaks into song, you might just ge ..read more

I’m not a fan of cliches but ‘every cloud has a silver lining’ would sum up the fortunes of the Lone Kayaker’s wildlife adventures over the last few weeks/months. It’s not entirely appropriate, however. I guess for a cloud to have a silver lining it must have some sort of edge. The entire blanket of grey that has stretched from horizon to horizon recently gives no opportunity for any hope of ever seeing anything but drizzle again. There’s nothing remotely resembling a lining. If you are a kayaker who wants to get out into the sea for a bit of fun you do not want to see a weather chart like thi ..read more

Henry Kirkwood Filmmaker, The Lone Kayaker, Puffing Pig 2 and a couple of Common Dolphins (pic: Henry Kirkwood Filmmaking) It came out of nowhere. No sooner had I clicked the ‘publish’ button on my last blog, bemoaning the relentless wind and rain, than a couple of days of calm were forecast. Maybe even with a glimpse of the sun! Maybe even some balmy temperatures that meant I didn’t have to wear two full-length onesies beneath my drysuit! Whaaatt? The rusted cogs of organisation scrunched into action and Henry…Henry Kirkwood wildlife filmmaker…suggested a rendezvous in South Devon with an ITV ..read more

It is easier to do that thing with the camel, the needle and the eye than find a few hours of calm sea for wildlife-spotting-from-the-kayak over the last few months. Even when the wind does briefly abate, there is enough residual swell from the last storm to make the kayak bounce around so much it could dislodge your fillings. It’s complete and utter pants. It’s not that a lumpy sea is particularly dangerous…in fact for many sea kayakers it is their preferred conditions…it just doesn’t suit my particular branch of the sport. I use a sit-on-top kayak with all my gear, including camera, stowed ..read more

Golden Glow over the Sound Plymouth Sound provides a decent kayak adventure when the open sea remains lumpy and hostile. It is a vast wide-mouthed inlet protected by land on three sides and the extraordinary breakwater, a MILE long, on the fourth. It has the feel of the open ocean. The focus of my attention as I set out from a sheltered cove on the western side of the sound was the birds that hang out there. It is rarely frequented by ornithologically-orientated kayakers because it lies a mile from the nearest point of land and to get there requires a crossing of the main shipping lane into Pl ..read more

Risso’s Emerging, Penzance. Part of the mystery of the sea is that the abundance of different species varies enormously from year to year. It’s always been that way. Even in the heyday of pilchard fishing some years the fish didn’t turn up at all. In others the fish were so thick you could walk on water. Last year was a bumper season for Risso’s Dolphins around Cornwall. The Lone Kayaker had the pleasure of observing more in 2023 than in all the previous ten years added together. Here’s the stats: Risso’s Dolphins observed from the kayak seat. Cornwall and Devon. In addition I saw several more ..read more

Under the Gaze of St. Mawes It’s been a tough start to the year in the wildlife-spotting-from-the-kayak department. The weather in 2024 has kicked off in the same manner that 2023 concluded…non-stop wind and rain. As usual the Lone Kayaker has set himself some really ludicrous targets for the year. Top of the list is to see a total of one thousand cetaceans, from the kayak seat, in Devon and Cornwall. This sort of idea fits very well with my punk ethos. In fact the whole Lone Kayaker thing does. Like punk it is original, highly likely not to succeed, burns off a bit of energy and is a lot of f ..read more

We couldn’t resist the lure of a rare calm winter’s day. Hardly any wind and minimal groundswell meant an open coast day with a chance of offshore paddling was on the cards. Torbay was our destination and dolphins were our target species. I met up with son Henry in the car park. He was keen to add to his impressive wildlife portfolio in ‘Henry Kirkwood Filmmaking.’ Henry Kirkwood Wildlife Filmmaker Our usual two-pronged approach, with me on the water and Henry on dry land, was today enhanced by the use of a pair of Christmas walkie-talkies. The desperate panic to answer a mobile with wet fing ..read more

Avocets. What’s with the one leg thing? It wasn’t quite a meteorological blizzard as I drove south towards the River Tamar a couple of days ago, but it wasn’t far off. The air temperature was -3C and the flurry of snow was making road conditions interesting. My resolve to go for paddling adventure was wavering. Not just because it was chuffing cold, but also my usual car with the kayak roof-rack was undergoing major surgery so I was forced to use plan B…my Gumotex inflatable kayak called ‘Puffing Pig’ which was neatly curled up in the back of my daughter’s Fiesta. However, Puffing Pig seemed k ..read more

Common Dolphin Duo…Falmouth We’re out of the starting blocks! Just when I was beginning giving up hope of a day without the howl of the wind and the drench of the rain, my faith in the great British weather has been restored. Sunday was the perfect crisp winter’s day, very memorable for a multitude of reasons. If the glace cherry on top of the Belgian bun was the little pod of dolphins, the icing was my eminent paddling companion. It was Mike Conroy, who circumnavigated Ireland last year…in appalling weather…and is quite happy to clock up sixty plus miles in a day. His quicksilver speed makes ..read more