Digby Armstrong, Senior Partner and Head of Private Client, recounts the highlights of his charity kayak around the Isle of Wight. The funds raised are going to the RB Foundation.
Around the Island
It all started about a year ago when I casually remarked to a friend that I would like to kayak around the Isle of Wight. The idea developed and got to the stage where I had told a number of people and so either had to put up or shut up. I decided to go for it and once I had started to collect sponsorship money, I really had no choice but to do it.
Training was tedious and consisted of going for long paddles, workouts in the gym and the odd run. The long paddles were a bit of a nightmare because they all seemed to be either against the tide, the wind or both. If nothing else, it left me in no doubt that on the real trip I must ensure that I would be paddling with the tide and if at all possible with no wind. With that in mind I worked out that the best strategy would be to start at Yarmouth with the last of the ebbing tide and to reach the Needles in time for the turn of the tide. This would give me six hours to reach Foreland at the eastern end of the Island before the tide turned again which would hopefully help me along back to Yarmouth.
Calculating tides is easy because they have a regular pattern. Wind is different and over the last few weeks I have been anxiously looking at the Met website to see what the wind would be doing. This summer it has been doing quite a lot and with the low pressure that seems to have dominated the last month or so the wind patterns have been mixed and almost impossible to predict. It got to the stage on the evening of Tuesday 19 July when I decided to go for it the following day. A last minute weather check before going to bed suggested that the wind would be getting up and so I cancelled only to find the following morning that all was looking good. I therefore decided that come what may we would take this opportunity and go the following day.
Thus my wife, Claire and I loaded up our boat, kayak and all, and set off for Lymington marina where we met the rest of the back up crew, my sister Jane and brother in law Andy. We stayed the night with Jane and Andy where we were well looked after and then set off for the marina early the next morning. We departed Lymington at 5.45am and motored across the short stretch of the Solent to Yarmouth. The plan was that the boat would follow me around and would not only be on hand to fish me out of the water but also to enable me to have rests and take on much needed calories. Getting from boat to kayak and vice versa was tricky but our strategy of going from boat to inflatable tender to kayak worked well.
So at 6.30am I started off and headed towards the Needles. The morning was fairly grey but this was not a problem as the wind was light and light rain was only forecast for around lunchtime. It was a pleasant paddle towards the Needles and passing Allum Bay and the Needles Battery brought back many happy memories of visiting there with our children years ago. Approaching the Needles is fairly awe inspiring and even though it was low tide I was able thread the Needles by taking a short cut with the assistance of some swell over shallow rocks. On the other side of the Needles I was greeted with an amazing chalk cliff formation which was truly breath-taking.
The sea on the south side of the Island was relatively benign to begin with but I had to paddle across the line of the swell which was a bit tiresome. An hour and a half into the trip I had my first break and got onto the boat for fifteen minutes. Refuelled and encouraged by the team I was then off again. I cut across the bay straight towards St Catherine’s Point as this was not only the most direct route but would also give me the most help from the strong spring tide. The point looked a long way away but gradually what had been a bright blinking light took the form of a lighthouse and the features of the point became much clearer. As I approached the point it was time for my next scheduled stop but the wind had picked up and the sea was building. I did manage to surf the odd wave though which sped me on in an exhilarating way. Because of the rougher conditions I decided to postpone the break until we rounded the point when I hoped that it would be calmer. Rounding the point was interesting. One of the features of the Point is that it has what are called rushes. These are moving sections of water which are very rough and with a completely random wave pattern. They normally appear some distance off the Point but as I went around, the rush must have seen me coming because it decided to greet me. I was fine because my sturdy sea kayak was designed for far worse but it wasn’t much fun for the support team who had to contend with the contents of the boat flying around and water pouring over the deck and into the boat.
Around the Point it wasn’t much better but we stopped again for another break. By now it was raining and indeed carried on raining for the rest of the day. I made the mistake of eating a ‘quick-fix’ noodle snack thinking the carbohydrates would be good – big mistake! I put some fresh dry gear on and set off once again. Unfortunately I had put too much gear on and soon realised that I was far too hot and so had to get back on board the boat to take off a layer or two. That was fine, but unbeknown to me and after I had set off, Andy slipped while transferring from tender to boat. He got pretty wet but fortunately no lasting damage was done other
than to his cigars which were in his pocket.
I was now around St Catherine’s heading off and passing Ventnor and then past Shanklin and Sandown. Apart from those towns there’s not much to see on the south side of the island which is a sharp contrast to the north which is a hive of activity. Fortunately the end of the Island was in sight and I was soon around and taking a short cut under the Bembridge lifeboat station towards Bembridge. I radioed the team, who were some way off as they had to find deeper water and arranged to meet at Priory Bay for the next stop. I arrived there just after 2.00pm which was quite gratifying as it was pretty much on schedule. We had a longer break at Priory Bay (more happy memories of when the children were young) where I took on more food. The tide was now turning and would help me on my way westwards.
I set off past Seaview and another short cut across Ryde Sand. There was a lot more activity around on this side of the Island with more pleasure craft and of course the ubiquitous ferries plying to and from the mainland ports. Thankfully the wind had dropped off and the persistent light rain seemed to have a calming effect on the sea. Mesmerised by the droplets dancing around on the surface of the water I was soon past Ryde and heading across the bay past Wooten towards Cowes. I was out in a fairly deep channel and the tide was doing a wonderful job of helping me along. This, coupled with the amazingly calm sea, enabled me get quite a good paddling rhythm going, and according to my GPS, at about 7 miles an hour. Despite this it had become a bit of a slog but having rounded the point at Cowes I could see in the dim distance my starting point at Yarmouth. I decided to forego the last scheduled break as by this time I just wanted to get on with it and finish the job. Cowes to Yarmouth is about ten miles and I was able to make that last stretch in about and hour and a half. As with all these things, the last mile or so always seem the longest.
But there I was, back at last at my starting point at 5.30 pm some eleven hours after the start.
Just after the finishing line the sea state worsened quite dramatically with the tide causing some very confused seas but by then I was past caring and was towed off to a calmer inshore stretch of water where we started the process of loading up and heading off back to Lymington.
Back to Jane and Andy’s house, and what better way to finish the day; champagne in their hot tub followed by a delicious meal. We were all shattered and fast asleep by about 10.00pm.
I must voice my grateful thanks to the back up team for cheerfully going along with my indulgent trip. They were brilliant, and without a shadow of doubt I could not have done it without them. All three were needed, particularly when I was getting in and out of the kayak. One driving, one holding ropes and Andy assisting me from the tender. It was also far worse for them and must have been very tedious as they sheltered from the rain on those long stretches of water. It was a far cry from the summer trip sipping beers and Pimms that they had originally envisaged. They were the real stars of the show.
For further information on this trip or the RB Charitable Foundatation, please contact Digby Armstrong by emailing Digby or by calling him on 08450 990045.
