I love coffee. I mean real coffee, freshly brewed. I do not drink instant. Ever. So, when spending a great deal of time guiding and wild camping throughout Scotland and further afield, I still need to get my regular coffee hit. But, the coffee needs to be quick to brew, tasty, light and packable, and yet still easy to clean. I have probably tried most gadgets that I am aware of, spending far too much money on kit in search of that illusive device that meets all of the criteria above. So, here is my list of the most common and available coffee brewing gadgets for the sea kayak wild camper. Type ..read more

Last winter I was sent a few prototype tools by a friend of mine. Juan is a British qualified, Spanish sea kayak coach and guide who runs Sea Kayak Lanzarote. Juan also has a background in engineering, and he has turned his quick mind to solving some simple issues, and has now released his tools for purchase. I am going to do an in depth review of some of these tools as I use them over this season. But, I really want to highlight one particular tool, that I genuinely think is genius and something that everyone should go and purchase. This is the Spray Deck Quick Release. It is a simple plastic ..read more

This season, we planned a series of progressive sea kayaking coaching courses, aimed to take a complete beginner from a standing start to a level of competence that allowed them to safely and comfortably take part in a wild camping expedition. The guest blog post below is from Lorna who attended the series of courses, and she rather eloquently tells her tale. 'This time last year I'd never sat in a kayak and "hated camping ". Paddle forward a year - I love kayaking, just did my first open crossing and enjoyed a wild camping and kayak weekend! In September 2020 my friend and I signed up for an ..read more

With the pandemic raging last year, I rewrote my British Canoeing Guide Leadership course to be delivered online. I admit that I was somewhat sceptical. Would an online environment work? Would the participants get involved and achieve the desired outcomes without a face to face discussion? (Interesting photo - orders being given - but who has noticed that the kayak is sinking?) Needless to say, it actually went rather well. The eight hours of contact time are broken up in to two hour blocks (with breaks!). This actually worked rather well, the time between the sessions allowing for proper ref ..read more

What is 'surfers ear?' Surfers ear is a well known condition, funnily enough mostly reported by surfers. The condition is caused by cold air and water circulating inside the ear canal, creating a chill factor. The body responds to this by circulating warming blood, which can unfortunately stimulate the growth of extra boney material in the ear canal itself, a process called exostosis (thought to be a protective response). Whilst harmless in itself, the problem with these boney lumps is that they can start to close the ear canal, causing more cold water to get stuck - exacerbating the problem ..read more

I paddled several thousand kilometres with clients last season, and one common observation was how many paddlers have poor anatomical wrist alignment. Poor wrist alignment can easily result in tendonitis, which occurs when a tendon (a chord of tissue that connects muscles to bones) becomes inflamed as a result of irritation or stress. Tendonitis often manifests itself initially with tenderness in the wrist and forearm, with swelling of the surrounding soft tissues. Symptoms tend to worsen during and after physical activity, and they may worsen over time.  If left untreated it can result i ..read more

A tow rope is one of those critical safety components that I would never go afloat without. In all my years of kayaking, I have sought the perfect tow rope; whilst I remain a seeker, I might have found the closest thing yet. BLUF (Bottom line up front): The Whetman Guide Towrope Mk II. A brilliant, innovative tow rope that is fit for commercial use, ideal for leaders on the sea. As a previous owner of Peak, Palm, Throw Tows and North Shore tow ropes, I feel that I have had a fair look at what is on offer. Many towropes offer something, but not quite the entire package. Most often the packages ..read more

I am just back from coaching at the Orkney Sea Kayak Symposium, and thought that I would share my impressions of the event, and indeed the Orkney Isles themselves. The symposium is a bi-annual event, aimed at supporting local paddlers as well as bringing new people to this amazing archipelago of islands. It is small, relaxed, very friendly and welcoming. I very much liked the tone set by the ever industrious organiser Nick Blowfield: it was personal, welcoming and relaxed - without any macho nonsense. Nick runs the symposium in an unusual way, in that the clients chose whichever course or trip ..read more

During our last Sea Safety Week, we were hugely fortunate to get the local inshore Tignabruaich lifeboat, The James & Helen Mason to come and join one of our exercises. Interestingly, whilst the lifeboat crew had attended quite a few kayak incidents, all of them had been searching for a missing kayaker who had made it to the shore. The highly skilled crew had never actually encountered professional sea kayakers who were attempting to self rescue. The exercise involved our intrepid group of five Sea Safety Students operating as a team, with a plant in the group in the form of Duncan Green ..read more

A guest blog by Hannah Parry who attended our five day residential Sea Kayak Award week in May 2019. Finding the ferry port just as the ferry was boarding was excellent luck. The drive from Dunoon to Kames on the Ardlemont Peninsula gave a taste of the Scottish wilderness, high hills on one side and the water on the other. Quiet, winding roads took us eventually to Carry Farm just as the last light was fading. The smell of the sea! A cosy bed and a good night’s sleep. I never knew how much there was to know about the weather. When you’re in a sea kayak, even a small change in the wide speed o ..read more