Author: Doug Cooper

Hi, I am the Head of Paddlesports at Glenmore Lodge, Scotland's National Outdoor Centre, where I have worked for the last 12 years. This job involves lots of boating, with plenty of it being spent on the sea coaching people. In addition to this we run sea kayaking expeditions in Greenland and in Croatia. When not out on the sea coaching or leading expeditions I am out on the sea expedition kayaking for myself. I have sea kayaked all over the UK and Ireland as well as Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Corsica, Sardinia and Croatia. In addition to this I am the author of 'Scottish Sea Kayaking - 50 Great Voyages'

Why go light? Considerations for getting a lightweight construction sea kayak…

By Doug Cooper

On July 15, 2024

In Paddler Lifestyle Articles, Reviews

Words by Doug Cooper

For over 30 years, I have been happy paddling Diolen construction sea kayaks, many of which I have chosen to get made up in a more robust ‘heavyweight’ layup for work and expeditions. This has all changed now, though, with my current mantra being ‘light is right’, and with the new P&H Ultralight construction option available to enjoy, there has never been a better time for this paradigm shift in my sea kayak construction choice!

What has led to this change of thinking, though, and could light be right for you as well? It has certainly revolutionised my sea kayaking experience, and as we’ll go on to explore, it will allow me to continue sea kayaking a lot longer into my ‘twilight’ years!

Sooner or later, a lifetime of ‘exploring my boundaries’ in the world of kayaking was always going to take its toll on my (now) ageing body. With the benefit of hindsight, it is only too easy to offer advice to my ‘younger self’ with regards to taking it easier, warming up more, caring for the body and allowing injuries proper time to recover; however, reality proved to be different!

An ongoing back issue led to 4 months of relative immobility last year, with a constant question of whether I would paddle again always present in my mind during this period. As things slowly got better, the physios prescribed gradually getting back out paddling – this was music to my ears!

During this period, it quickly became overtly obvious that the paddling was the easy thing; that was actually feeling good for my back. However, the moving, loading, unloading and lifting of my trusty sea kayak was the biggest challenge and thing that was stopping me from getting out – it was just too difficult for my recovering back.

I have used sea kayak trolleys for many years now, along with easy load roof rack systems, but even with all that – the kayak still needs to be lifted, and that was a problem for me. I couldn’t help but think – has all this lifting and carrying been the root cause of my back problems as opposed to the actual paddling? Also, for all those people out there who are similarly challenged lifting and carrying their sea kayak (for many other reasons as opposed to purely injury), is this perhaps the biggest barrier to enjoying getting out sea kayaking?

A shout out to my long-term friends at P&H, and a lightweight construction sea kayak was on its way – with the hope of solving all my problems and getting me back out on the water doing what I love to do!

I was still a bit sceptical about how much difference a lightweight boat would make, but I can now say the difference between carrying a 15kg Ultralight kayak and my previous 26kg kayak is nothing other than remarkable. Whether it was me loading/carrying my kayak with a friend or with the trolley or doing it on my own, it made it easy.

This ease of carrying suddenly encouraged and enabled me to get out more; popping down to the water for an hour’s paddle suddenly became easy to do as opposed to ‘more hassle than it was worth’. My bad back still needed looking after, but the paddling was pretty good for it, and now getting to the water was possible; this new lightweight ‘wonder’ boat not only enabled me to get out, but I am convinced will allow me to keep getting out into the future.

As my back recovered and my paddling increased, I soon discovered other advantages of my new ‘light is right’ toy. On expedition, I had previously thought there was little point in a lightweight boat as you just fill it with heavy kit anyway – how wrong was I! I can now carry my empty (or nearly empty) light boat to the water or up to land and then carry my expedition kit to and from it in a not-too-heavy kit bag. A little more walking, yes, but a lot easier on the body – which I now know is important!

I still always use a trolley with my sea kayak when possible, but again, pulling a lightweight boat is so much easier, and there is always some twist in the body when doing this, so my back is thankful!

As my body continued to recover, I could start getting back out in the more advanced environments, enjoying sessions on the Falls of Lora, surfing at the beach, a downwind run or tidal race play. In all of these environments, the lightness of the boat and the stiffness of the hull did nothing other than put a smile on my face. It was more responsive, felt easier to manoeuvre and seemed to want to just ‘dance with the waves.’ Suddenly, my new kayak, which was initially acquired to enable me to get out paddling, was now enabling me to perform better as well – something I didn’t think would be happening at my stage of paddling!

Having been enjoying my move to a lightweight construction for over 6 months, a final previous concern of ‘going lightweight’ is also starting to be dispelled. That being the kayak will be ‘fragile’ and have the potential of breaking!

I’m always careful with my kayaks, but that said, they do get a lot of use in often advanced conditions with awkward landings; this is both empty and fully laden. Despite its weight, I’ve now got complete confidence that my kayak is far from ‘fragile’; the lightweight construction is certainly tough enough for all I am going to be using it for. It will indeed be serving me well for many years to come, as I now believe my body might be as well.

So, if any of the above resonates with your own experiences of sea kayaking and you are in the position to consider investing a fair amount of money, then I can assure you the benefits can be life-changing. You may well end up joining me in my mantra that ‘light is right’!

Scotland, the Northwest Highlands; the perfect expedition venue to take a Volan 160 and Cetus MV for an adventure…

By Doug Cooper

On February 19, 2024

In Expeditions, Reviews, Trip Reports

Words by Doug Cooper

Photos by Doug Cooper & Pete Astles

Every year, my good friend Pete Astles from Peak PS and I block out two weeks in our diary for a Scottish sea kayaking adventure – the primary aim is to get away from it all and have fun. Last year was no exception, and on a warm and sunny June day, we found ourselves in the Northwest Highlands just north of Ullapool on a stony beach, getting ready to set off for 8 days ‘away from it all’. It was that usual start of a trip; two big piles of kit sat alongside two empty sea kayaks, the two of us wondering if it would all fit! Kit for a self-support trip of this length is nothing we are not used to, but our trip was going to take us initially through the Summer Isles where water was scarce, so we needed to fit in extra water; alongside some of the extra comforts two slightly more ageing adventurers now look to take on trips!

I was packing my trusty Cetus MV that I have paddled for many years now, but Pete was in a new Volan 160 that he was looking forward to trying out, and I was very interested to see how it’d compare with my Cetus! I must admit I was sceptical the Volan 160 would fit all of Pete’s kit in, but it passed this first test with flying colours – everything was in, and its carrying capacity seemed not too restrictive compared to the Cetus.

With perfect weather and a myriad of islands to explore, wild campsites to savour and breathtaking scenery to take in, we spent the next five days exploring every nook and cranny of the beautiful Summer Isles. Evenings were spent enjoying watching the sun set over the distant Outer Hebrides, whilst days were spent venturing between the islands, landing on the beaches, and exploring the caves; all under the watchful eye of the resident wildlife and the towering sentinels that are the surrounding Assynt Mountains.

Whilst exploring the islands, we decided to swap kayaks each day, both wanting to discover the performance differences between our two boats. In the calm conditions, both kayaks cut through the water like a dream, with the Volan 160 consistently surprisingly fast – how could this shorter and wider boat maintain its speed so well was our constant source of discussion; the anticipated ‘faster’ Cetus was not leaving the Volan behind that was for sure. Enjoying exploring the caves, arches, and rocks, the manoeuvrability of a kayak makes such a difference to the ease of what can be achieved; we both had to agree the Volan 160 top trumped the Cetus MV big time when it came to this!

Leaving the Summer Isles behind, our journey continued around the dramatic headland of Rubha Coigeach, with expansive views west to the Hebrides, north to Cape Wrath, and east into the mighty Assynt mountains, a sight to behold. A stunning beach provided our camp for the night, a perfect end to this magical day; however, with the sun setting, the forecast advised us all was to change for the next few days. Waking to a sea of white horses, we planned a conservative route to take us ever north, where we planned to finish at Lochinver. Setting off, we enjoyed a ‘playful’ force 5-6 to get us going, but by the early afternoon, this had evolved into a ‘robust’ force 7-8, and thus, a downwind surf to shelter was required.

The ‘playful’ and then ‘robust’ conditions again provided a great opportunity to test how the two kayaks performed. It was obvious that the Cetus MV tracked a bit better in the side winds, but that said, with appropriate trim and skeg, the Volan 160 was certainly easy enough to keep on track. When the robust conditions asked for stability, manoeuvrability, and confidence-inspiring from the kayaks, then neither let us down. That said, in the Volan 160, it was obvious less effort was required to turn in the conditions, and there was definite extra stability to allow for a slightly more ‘relaxed’ as opposed to ‘focussed’ look on our faces! As for the Force 8 downwind surf – well, that certainly put a big smile on both our faces in our respective craft. However, when it came to cutting about on the following sea waves, the Volan 160 won the price for minimum effort and maximum style, but when it came to getting to the shore first in a straight line at speed, the Cetus MV was there to welcome the Volan ashore!

June in the far Northwest Highlands provides close to twenty-four hours of daylight, so, having sheltered from the wind all afternoon, we could make use of a late evening calm period to continue our journey. Our last camp was on the outskirts of Lochinver, where the following morning we could catch a bus to return us to our car. After our brief stormy period, it provided a tranquillity that could be savoured more than usual as we sat and watched the sunset one last time. It allowed us to reflect on our 8 days ‘away from it all’, chat about sights seen and experiences lived, and, of course, most importantly of all, plan where we will head for the following year’s two-week adventure – already in the diary. The final question to ponder, will I be joining Pete in paddling a Volan 160 for the trip – I think I might be!

Handa Island – New boat, custom colours and perfect light.

By Doug Cooper

On April 14, 2016

In Reviews, Trip Reports

The Cetus MV was, yet again, my boat of choice to meet all my coaching and personal paddling needs for this year.; whether it is introducing aspiring sea kayakers on sheltered waters, running 5 Star courses in the Pentland Firth, away on expeditions around Scotland’s amazing coastline or playing out at the Grey Dogs, for me, it just does it all. It also gives me a real stable platform for on-the-water-photography when doing my books, articles and sponsors’ photos; with an expensive SLR digital camera in my hand, and the opportunity to capture that ‘perfect front cover picture’, that’s pretty important!
So, when my latest Cetus MV arrived the other week, as always I was excited to get it out on the water, but this boat was just that little ‘more’ special; PeakUK have updated the colours on their sea range of kit this year, and knowing this, it seemed rude not to have a boat to match! With some helpful collaboration between PeakUK and P&H, the colours were matched and that allowed P&H to do their ‘magic’ in customising the perfect boat for me! As you would expect, they really went to town on it and not only was the boat colour matched, but all the trimmings (decklines and bungees) as well – brilliant!!

With the perfect boat from P&H and the awesome kit from PeakUK, a suitably spectacular venue was required for its first outing, along with some great light to get the photos to show it off; the North West Highlands of Scotland were the destination and the amazing Island of Handa was the prime spot to visit. If you’ve not been to Handa yet – go… It offers towering cliffs, caves and arches aplenty, along with the enormous ‘Great Stack’ of Handa. All this is guarded by thousands of sea birds, with the raw force of the Atlantic Ocean on one side and the relative shelter and beaches of the Sound of Handa on the other. It’s easily accessible to paddle around, yet once there you will feel on the edge of the world in a very exposed way!

So, with some careful weather watching, some great evening light was found to paddle around Handa Island and ‘wet the hull’ of my rather unique boat – may she see many more such great trips in the months to come… thanks to all the P&H team for making her so brilliant!!