Sea Kayaking Articles from P&H Staff, Team Paddlers, and Friends

Month: October 2021

A Quick Hit in Pembrokeshire

With an uncharacteristic spell of good weather, some midweek time off booked, and a willing companion, a quick trip to Pembrokeshire was called for.

My partner in crime, Adam Harmer, and I were keen to claim three of Pembrokeshire’s classic trips back to back before the weather broke. We loaded up my Cetus X and Adam’s Volan MV and drove the majority of the way after work. The ‘Park for the night’ app found us a quiet location. Adam bagged the back of the van whilst I slept under the stars in my seldom-used Hooped bivi-bag. So seldom used in fact that I had forgotten it had a broken ‘hoop’ which meant a somewhat ‘dew soaked’ night, which is the price to pay for such a clear, starry night in October when sleeping high in the Preseli Hills.

Looking east towards St Govan’s head from our lunch spot.

The first trip on our hit list was the Castlemartin coast from Freshwater West to Stackpole Quay. Probably one of the most scenic sections of coastline in Britain. A quick check that the firing range wasn’t firing, and with the tides to check which direction we’d need to take, and all was on. Our continued spell of good fortune continued when a phone call to a friend sorted the shuttle for us. Ben would pick up the van and deposit it at the end for us all whilst we were enjoying the coastline. The low swell and light winds meant that we could explore all the hidden ‘nooks and crannies’ this section of the coast provides. The firing range does somewhat restrict landing options but we managed a rocky shore landing in front of St Govan’s Chapel and I managed to get a few snaps off from the hastily flown drone before ‘restricted airspace’, again, due to the firing range, forced it back to land. After a short leg-stretch, we continued our journey to the beautiful Stackpole Quay and waiting coffee shop. Ben had indeed delivered the van and journey one of three had been bagged in perfect conditions.

St Govan’s Chapel
Not the most challenging rocky landing!

Day 2 saw us relocate to the car park just above Martin’s Haven – the next objective was Skomer and Skokholm. The tides dictated a very early start and hence a ‘stealth’ camp in the car park to be on the water at first light. Tidal planning dictated a 7 am launch, declining winter light meant that it was in fact 7:20 am before we could see sufficiently to cross ‘Jack’s Sound’ and start our anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the two islands. My calculations had indicated that we need to be on the south side of Skokholm before 9 am to avoid fighting the tide and to enjoy a tide assisted return. Despite the delayed launch, we were perfectly located on the south side at 9:10 am. So we managed to return to Martin’s Haven with the tide behind us and in time for a well-earned ‘brunch’ followed by a flying visit to a friend’s campsite for a refreshing shower to remove two days of salt encrustment. Trip two of three completed.

One of our trusty steads!

The third trip on the flying visit was out to South Bishop lighthouse and a circumnavigation of Ramsey. Again, the tides dictated an early start and another ‘stealth’ camp in the van in the car park above Whitesands beach.

There’s us just in the bottom of the shot

We couldn’t afford any light delays this time as calculations indicated that we needed to be at the lighthouse for 9 am after which the tide would be against us. So we launched at 7 am in the gloomy twilight, through a few small breaking waves and on to a stunning flat sea, the twinkling lighthouse our distance target on the horizon. As we reached St David’s head we had increasing daylight which allowed us to settle into the ferry glide down and across to our first target, Careg Rhoson. A quick upping of the pace as we neared this target got us nicely into the eddy behind the collection of islands. The majority of the hard work done, we now dropped down with the tide passing Daufraich and its infamous ‘sump’, (not the place you want to take a sea kayak!) to the north coast of South Bishop where the tricky steep steps and only landing spot are located. But would the swell allow us to land? Many have paddled out here and then not been able to land due to the swell and strong tidal flow. But our luck once again held out and a tricky but straightforward landing saw us on the dry land of the island at 08:45hrs. I’m not sure who was most shocked, us when we bumped into the lighthouse keepers who had arrived the day before, or them when two heads appear up the ‘condemned steps’ just in time for a breakfast cuppa.

The ‘condemned steps’ leading from kayaks to the lighthouse.

After a hastily drunk brew and tour of the lighthouse, we refloated. I had a minor hiccup resulting in a slow-motion capsize whilst relaunching from the rocky steps, which was the only break in our luck for the whole trip, but nothing other than pride was damaged. We ferry glided the early flooding tide to round the south end of Ramsey and float through the Bitches, where we enjoyed a quick play, before landing once again at Whitesands for a well-earned bacon butty. The early finish also meant we could be home in time for some bonus ‘brownie’ points with our respective loved ones. Three classic trips in three days in Perfect conditions. October in Pembrokeshire delivered. The weather did indeed break the next day with force 6+ winds racking the whole west coast of Wales.

Photos and text – Sid Sinfield

Looking back toward North Bishop, Careg Rhoson, and Daufraich from inside the lighthouse.

How to Buy a Canoe or Kayak in 2022

We’ve been making canoes & kayaks for over 50 years, and every year, sales begin to slow as the winter approaches. That is, until last year.

We saw the necessary re-arrangement of workstations to ensure a Covid-secure environment for our staff as an opportunity to also improve the efficiency of our factory layout and processes – a good job, as following the easing of the first national lockdown in June of 2020, we saw a surge in demand of more than double that additional manufacturing output we’d unlocked!

We worked hard to meet demand, anticipating the usual slow-down of winter, except… it never came. We were delighted to be able to retain full staffing levels throughout the winter of 2020, and yet our lead times were still growing, even with these sustained production levels.

Now approaching the winter of 2021, demand for our canoes and kayaks remains phenomenal; we’ve never seen so many newcomers to the sport, and we couldn’t be happier about that!

The problem we face is certainly not one we’re going to complain about, but we want to be open with you and help ensure you’re fully aware and able to avoid disappointment when purchasing a canoe or kayak in the coming year, whether it’s your first or your next.

A month or so ago, we invited our network of specialist dealers to place pre-orders for 2022 production; the response was overwhelming, and we’re now deep into planning our production schedule for the coming year. What is abundantly clear, however, is that we cannot possibly make as many canoes and kayaks as have been ordered.

It’s important to note that these boats have all been sold into our dealer network, and the vast majority are still available to purchase by you once they arrive with those dealers.

Global shipping is wrought with delays, and the reason dealers have pre-ordered so much stock is that demand has been exceptional and sustained, so it is still important to place your order early to ensure you have your boat in plenty of time for the adventures you have in mind, but there’s no need to panic.

We have received numerous emails from paddlers lately asking when particular models and colours will be in stock with dealers, and the truth is, we don’t know. Our small team is focused on producing and shipping orders to arrive with dealers as close to their requested delivery date as possible, but the difficulties with shipping add a generous helping of uncertainty to this schedule, and only the dealer will know which boats are available or have been pre-sold.

For maximum success in securing ownership of a new canoe or kayak in 2022, our advice is to contact your favourite dealer early, be aware that it may not be possible to get your first choice of colour, and be prepared to wait a little longer than usual.

We really, truly, sincerely appreciate your interest in our canoes and kayaks, and we cannot wait to make a LOAD more friends on the water in 2022!

Happy paddling,

P&H Sea Kayaks

Product Issue Notification: Thin Cockpit Rims

We recently became aware of a number of polyethylene P&H Sea Kayaks which had insufficient thickness towards the rear of the cockpit rim and were therefore more prone to splitting in this area.

Affected batches were produced in late 2019/early 2020; you can ascertain the production date of your kayak by looking at the last 4 digits of the serial number, with the letter denoting the month (‘A’ being January, ‘B’ being February, and so on) the first number being the last digit of the calendar year, and the final two numbers being the last two digits of the US model year (changing in August).

If you believe your boat to be affected, please email help@pyranha.com with your address, the serial number, model, size, and colour of your kayak, and which dealer it was purchased from.

No other batches are affected, although it is possible that other boats may split in this region for different reasons, such as:

  • Frequently sitting directly on the back of the cockpit rim.
  • Transporting the boat with the cockpit rim against an unpadded roof rack.
  • Storing the boat with the cockpit rim against an unpadded rack.
  • Extreme or high-frequency usage.

A Cockpit Rim Repair & Reinforcement Kit is available for instances where a cockpit rim split has occurred outside of the warranty duration or conditions.

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