15th - 19th June 2023
Day 1 - Wareham to Shell Bay at Studland.
Leisurely paddle to start the day from Redcliffe Farm Campsite out to the entrance of Poole Harbour via the River Frome and into the Wareham channel. Gorgeously hot weather and sheltered initially from any real breeze due to the hills blocking the winds coming in from across the sea. Lots of water and sun cream was high on the agenda for ‘things to pack’ aboard most of the kayaks. Good mixture of people kayaking for day 1, ranging from the pros of the group (who need no introduction) to those whose first time it was kayaking outside their local rivers. The paddle was led by Adrian and Jeff, with the loudest instruction coming from Adrian throughout the day, mainly aimed at myself as the paddle newbie, reminding me not to paddle off ahead of the group as if I’m paddling at the pace of white-water rafter venturing down the rapids of the Colorado river. Plus, some handy tips on boat & wave avoidance, no idea why I’ve already got the reputation for capsizing!!!
First stop was at the beach near lake pier, this is on the east side of Poole Harbour, just off the Wareham channel.
We then made a south westerly crossing over to Patchins Point with some lovely side winds and chopper waters to contend with, we then went into calmer waters and proceeded to follow the shoreline as we headed towards our destination of Studland, taking in close up and interesting views of the private islands dotted across Poole Harbour, such as the appropriately but boringly named set islands such as “Long, Round and Brownsea”. All lovely to see with their many “You can’t land here” plaques dotted across their private beaches, reminding us how the other half live. After many attempts to find a suitable rest stop we had no real option but to paddle ahead and towards our destination, again back into chopper waters and head on winds as we approached Shell Bay and our final destination for the day. We then had the fun of shuttling people and kayaks back to the campsite, concluding the fun afloat for day 1.
Day 2 - Ringstead Bay to Lulworth Cove.
Our 2nd day of kayaking took us out to sea and along the coast from Ringstead Bay down to lulworth Cove via some beautiful coastline and rocky outcrops such as Bat’s Head and Durdle Door. Blessed with a second day of lovely weather and extremely calm seas we headed off, joined this time by some late arrival from Dereham and Gravesend, all who had sneaked into the campsite under the cover of darkness the night before.
Our first rest stop was along one of the lovely beaches dotted along the coastline, a new experience for some of the group being their first having purposely go aground on the beach whilst judging the best speed, direction and gap in any breaking waves before making their final approach.
Shortly after everyone was settle on the beach and enjoying their rest stop, an unexpected wave just happened to find its way to Adrian’s Kayak, quickly lifting it up and pulling it out to sea. Lucky for Adrian, eagle eyes members of the group spotted this mini dream about to unfold. I quickly reverted to RNLI shout mode and swiftly went into the water to recover Adrian’s kayak from drifting out to Sea. It was starting to feel like an episode of “Saving Kayaks at Sea”, but the group was keen to save the “Yellow Kayak”, which Adrian assures me is superior to the “Orange” ones he would have happily waved off to sea, if they had accidentally gone drifting.
We then proceed along our route taking in more stunning coastline and passing through the rock formations of Bat’s Head and the rocky arch at Durdle Door, which was a fun experience for all. We then made our way further along the route and arrived in the picturesque setting of Lulworth Cove, arriving on the beach with our brightly coloured Flotilla of kayaks. Many of the fellow kayakers took this rest stop to pop to the loo, grab a well-deserved ice cream and then relax on the beach and take in the views. Before anyone had a chance to notice, I was already half way up the footpath leading down to beach hunting for a local pub, managing to secure myself a freshly poured pint of IPA before returning to the beach with a bubble gum ice cream as my cover story, which was quickly unpicked by the group as they all seemed to know where I was rushing off too at such pace. After a short break on the beach, we all then headed back towards Ringstead beach taking in the views and assisted by the changing tides, finally arriving back at very busy Ringstead Beach.
Day 3 - A gentle lap of the River Frome upriver from the campsite slipway, taking in another day of kayaking on a completely different type water way, this paddle was mainly on very calm water allowing us to have bit more speed and fun as we zipped upriver and under Wareham Bridge, plenty of other pleasure boats, swimmers and paddle boarders also out on narrow river making it a pleasant and very social paddle. After going as far as we were allowed in kayaks, we then headed back to the campsite slip way before deciding we would proceed as far down river without entering into Poole harbour. This gave us some time to rest up whilst out on the water and enjoy some group chit chat before heading back to the slipway to exist for a well-deserved break from kayaking and prep for our final dinner down Wareham high street.
All in all, the long weekend consisted of perfect weather for camping & kayaking, idyllic locations to paddle and great company. Dan Rodwell
Photos Supplied by: Ged, John, Martin & Dee
