Yakima Foot pedal upgrade for the Delphin

 

 

 

After a few slipped pedals whilst out paddling and not been totally happy with the original foot pedals on the delphin I have decided to upgrade the std ones to the Yakima aluminium pedals

 

 

I had had a brief try of these upgrades before ordering and they felt sturdier and the adjustment was a lot better.

 

 

 

A very simple straight forward swap only 4 bolts to change the lower bolts are a bit tricky to line up but a 10 min job

 

 

Old plastic pedal on the left

Finished hope to get out and test them very soon.

Paddle session at Runswick bay 16/11/2013

 

 

I met up with Mark today for a familiarisation session as Mark has just bought a P&H Scorpio and is still trying to get to grips with a few rescues and to get a feel of his new boat.

 

 

 

We started off paddling inside the flat calm bay and made our way out to Kettleness point where there was some large swells rolling in over the shallow ground with a few big breakers mixed in I had a short mess around fooling in the waves while Mark was tucked safely on the outside edge of them but didn't manage to really surf any of them properly today.

 

 

We then paddled around the point giving the rough water a wide berth and headed down towards Sandsend stopping to fool around in the small cave entrances and a bit of rockhopping too really enjoyed this still find it hard to feel in control and balanced when left high and dry on a rock but all good practice.

As Mark was reversing in to a cave entrance I spotted a large wave heading our way so shouted him to start forward paddling out into it just in time as he had just enough momentum to push out and pop through the roller (think he enjoyed that bit!)

 

 

Some really stunning scenery along this stretch of coast not seen by many!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had been watching Mark keeping well out from the rocks but found some ‘Safe’ (famous last words) water on the edge of a steep cliff with a small crevice/cave in it where the swell was just moving up and down with no risk of big breaking waves and some small clepotis created so encouraged him to have a little play about in it after which I couldn't resist  but whilst reversing my stern into the small crevice a surge of water drained out of the gulley as my stern was hard up against the rock and was stupidly tipped (Really need to react quicker with a brace) and ended up swimming in what turned out to be a very deep gulley couldn't feel the bottom and had to hold on to my boat and wait for my paddle to be washed back down from the back of the cave (yet another silly mistake letting go of the paddle) bad habits of relying on a paddle leash whilst on my sit on top.,but I managed to keep calm and still smiling I shouted Mark as he was oblivious to my situation and he came over offering assistance but I was determined to get myself out of my situation and managed a solo self rescue without any problems a great confidence builder.

 

 

 

After this we headed back to our launch point and we had an hour or so of practicing self rescues which Mark really struggled with last week but after just one demo he nailed it this week so we progressed on to assisted recoveries which he managed without issue too Mark also brought along a paddle float to practice with and he can use this with very little effort to re board should the need arise, I borrowed the float and had a fool about using it to roll myself back up not from totally inverted but almost and think it may help me get my head around the right position to be in for rolls in the future

 

 

 

 

A Video of the day:

 

 

 

Out in the surf solo!

Had a short trip out this morning in what at times were very big waves, after a couple of dunking's I managed to catch a few and peel off them before they broke looking back at the video I could have had a few more seconds on them but a bit more experience in the Delphin 155 and expanding my comfort zone a bit more

 

A few pics to share too

 

 

 

Failed Thornback session 24/10/13

Had a quick trip out with the rod for a change this morning hopes were high for a Thornback or two

But after an hour or so of constant Whiting I decided to just have a tour down the coast to Saltburn and have a play around under the pier before eventually finding some small surf to fool around in a few pics to Share but not much in the way of fish

Leaving the rods and reels at home!

Over the past few months the fishing has taken a back seat as I have been putting in the hours getting to grips with my Sit Inside Kayak A P&H Delphin 155

 

After an exciting trip to Filey Brigg joined by Ken Oliver and Dave Adamson myself and Mark were shown what can be achieved with some skill and confidence in the surf, I was still finding my feet in the Delphin so didn't throw myself into the challenging stuff as much as I should but still managed a face full of shingle and bubbles

 

There was a big northerly sea running and we could get close to the dangerous water whilst sheltering behind Filey Brigg which was awesome with big swells hitting the brigg and smashing spray high into the air with the odd wall of white water making it over to play in also managed a few more practiced recues with Ken really enjoy this sort of thing with Ken and also some tips on bracing which I’ve managed to build on over the last few sessions

 

 

All of this gave me the confidence to go out solo even in some quite challenging conditions lately however Mark has joined me on most trips out but managed to stay upright without incident so far

 

Really looking forward to learning a bit more and possibly training for some BCU * awards with Ken in the near future along with some trips to new places also GOT to get to grips with “Rolling” too!