2005 Reports
Thursday 26th May- Newtonhill
Organiser- Clare Greathead
Present- Nigel Lammas, Marie, Dave Genney
This was a small group but great for me as my first trip of the summer.
We launched from Newtonhill at about mid tide and headed North. The sea was a bit choppy, with some large waves at the mouth of Newtonhill bay but not too bad, just enough to make life interesting! It was good to see a different part of the coast, as I had not headed this way before. There were some big caves, cliffs and a few skerries, but it was too rough to attempt getting too close, so headed up to Portlethen. We went around the seaward side of the skerries just off Old Portlethen and headed into the harbour from the North. It was amazingly calm inside due to the shelter from the skerries. The view from here made it easier to see a calm route South through the skerries. Although, as we found out, choosing your route out of them is hard when waves are crashing through the gaps. The only large wild life we spotted was a solitary grey seal unfortunately.
Got back to Newtonhill and did some good aerobic exercise getting the boats back up the cliff path.
So a very enjoyable evening and thanks to Dave, Nigel and Marie for coming along.
Tuesday 14th June- Stonehaven Skills session
Organiser- Clare Greathead
Present- Ken and me
This turned out to be a very small group as some of the club went up to the NESKY session and others had to pull. We still managed to have a constructive evening trying out different methods with a towline, as I knew that although I usually carry one I had never actually practised using one. We determined that for the best tow the line should be attached to the tower either by the waist or a cleat in the centre of the rear deck just behind the paddler. Not all the club boats have this cleat (i.e. the new blue Capella) which is maybe a point to consider later. The towee should have the line attached to or near to the bow, but I guess in some circumstances speed is more important than position. However getting towed sideways is a bit disconcerting and hard work for the tower.
The club towline is daisy-chained to about 10m, and this length seemed to be ideal for short tows in calm water, however in rougher conditions the longer ~20m unravelled length would probably be better. Maybe people who have also used towlines or know the correct procedures could add to this.
Ken and I will try and filter down what we learned along with any re-thinks regarding equipment.
Sorry to Nigel and Marie for missing them at Catterline!
Good session in the pub afterwards though!
