Dartmouth Yacht Club (UK) – Canoe Section

When there is no wind and an outgoing tide at Dittisham, one can clearly see from the way the boats lie to their buoys the large eddy which diverts water which should be heading downstream through the nick seen on the left of the picture. It is not too difficult to paddle against the tide on the Dart, because there are many eddies, though not always in predictable places.

Once out to sea the rain and warm sea encouraged roll practice.

Heading back to Dittisham, on the day of the carnival, the rain had become persistent and forced the revellers to squeeze into a tent. Rain doesn’t matter to a kayaker, they are waterproof, and the rain calms the waves.

tim P

The ladies, and a few gents, from Paignton had decided to try something new and challenging for a birthday party. However, all stayed dry. In spite of a series of challenges, such as creeping under a low bridge, which they chose to do all together.

After that we ran around the canoe raft, and still kept dry.

Finally we relaxed on shore.

It is always good to have a fixed time for closing a party, even when it is going well. In this case the 5m spring tide was shrinking our beach to certain extinction at 21:30, so we paddled back, our erratic steering concealed by the darkness, but hinted at by occasional cries of alarm and indignation penetrating the chatter which held the invisible group together.

tim P

Pity the crabs. The dominant outdoor activity in Dartmouth in August is dropping a baited line from the waterfront and hauling up an ever naive crab.

We headed north west from this vision of childhood innocence, and careless cruelty, towards Stoke Gabriel for dinner. The 5.2m tide swept us up, against the wind, and into occasional shafts of late evening sunlight.

The sky cleared for our return. The wind dropped and the ebb tide rushed us down to Dartmouth, heading for zero metres – right down to the tidal datum. That allowed us to rest our paddles and watch the display of the Perseid meteor shower, matched in the water by the sparse transient sparkle of phosphorescent algae.

tim P

Here is the latest vast cruise ship to grace the port of Dartmouth. We ventured inside the 50m exclusion zone to chat with the passengers. We were both enjoying life in our own ways.

timP

The sea was calm as we entered the narrow canyon under the bridge on the coast path west of Dartmouth. A friendly seal followed us in (just to the left of the paddle of the boat in the centre).

Deeper in the cave the reflection from the sky is suppressed, so one can see the seal through the clear water.

timP

This is about the largest contrast in ship size that is ever seen in Dartmouth harbour.

Picture by Tim Freeman

timP

We four set out to camp at Scabbacombe. Tim F, Suzanne and Eugene, with tim P behind the camera in the green boat.

We landed in light drizzle and set up tents. In the foreground is a Hennessy Hammock, beached through lack of trees, but supported by a pair of Greenland paddles, demonstrating the versatility of this ancient style of paddling plank.

Photo by Tim Freeman

After a fish sauce pasta we relaxed as the drizzle increased and the light faded.

We awoke to sunshine and calm sea. Scabbacombe is not accessible by car, so is usually a peaceful place with occasional coastal path walkers resting from the repeated rise and fall of the path between Dartmouth and Brixham.

Tim P and Eugene continued towards Brixham. The sea was calm and the tide falling – an ideal time to explore the innumerable sea caves along this stretch of coast.

The rock strata become steadily more twisted as one approaches Berry Head. The folded limestone of Sharkham point provides dramatic scenery.

The massive coral reef limestone of Berry Head is flanked by layers of coral detritus washed down the reef slope, mixing with silt from the rivers draining into the shallow Devonian era sea. The strata are now strongly etched by weathering.

We turned Berry Head on the slack tide and paddled past the vast quarry towards lunch at the beach cafe at Brixham. Our return to Dartmouth was helped by a light following wind which pushed us against the tide.

timP