Early January saw me on Anglesey, dropping my pride and joy off at the Nigel Dennis Kayak factory, into the capable hands of Mirco, ace paddler, coach, assessor and kayak builder, to have some minor repairs carried out. 

My cunning plan was to stay at Anglesey Outdoors while the kayak was repaired, do a bit of cycling then return home, kayak as good as new. Alas, after a short chat with Mirco, my kayak was simply another boat in the queue.

It transpired Mirco was due to assess a candidate in early February for his sea kayak leader award, and asked if I would I like to be a mock student. Of course I would! 

Four weeks later I returned to Anglesey. Being a mock student involves playing the part of a student and participating in various scenarios for the assesee to deal with, as part of his or her sea kayak leader award assessment. These range from a simple capsize and rescue, being unconscious, having an injury, towing when instructed to generally suffering from mild hyperthermia, depending on the mock student's enthusiasm for throwing himself into the sea when asked. 

All good clean fun for the weekend, Which saw James, the intrepid assesses join the ranks of sea kayak leader and gave me the opportunity to paddle in some moderate water.

As if a 700 mile round trip for two days paddling wasn't enough, I then headed to Scotland to meet our very own Ian and Lee. We'd rented an 'air b and b', about twenty minutes drive over the border on the east coast. 

The paddles we had planned were always going to be very weather dependant. That said, our first iconic paddle was out to Bass Rock, the remnants of an ancient volcano in the Firth of Forth, about one nautical mile offshore. With a neap tide and therefore virtually no tidal flow, but with a brisk south westerly wind forecast, we headed to Midsey Bay, just east of North Berwick. 

Free parking (always a bonus), a short carry across the beach followed by a final briefing saw us on the water with, from the launch point to Bass Rock, about a two nautical mile paddle ahead of us. Thanks to a force 4 gusting 6 from behind us, it didn't take too long before we were under the sheer cliffs and looking up at the lighthouse. 

(Bass Rock lighthouse was constructed in1902 and the rock itself is home to the biggest colony of gannets in world, just in case you were wondering) 

The cliffs of Bass Rock seemed to go up forever. We had a short break in the lee of it and, as there are no landing points, made a circumnavigation, then began what we knew would be a slog, back from whence we came.

Thanks to the wind and what tide there was being in roughly the same direction, the sea state itself wasn't anything to write home about. The wind however, which didn't abate, was full on, square in our faces which made for slow going. It was, as ever, just a matter of keep on paddling. After a considerably longer return, we landed, loaded up, and headed back to the house then out for a well earned meal. 

The following day we headed the short hop to Coldingham Bay to launch and paddle around St Abb's head, yet another iconic trip. 

The fact the wind had dropped considerably was of little consequence. We stayed tucked in under the towering cliff rock gardening and exploring the caves. 

Passing St Abb's head lighthouse high above, we landed for lunch at Pettico Wick Bay, then returned back under the cliffs. 

The third day a force 11 storm was forecast so, descretion being the better part of valour, plus of course good old common sense saw the three of us holed up for the day at the house. 

Day four, thanks to all of our kit having been washed and dried saw us make an early start for the long drive home. 

All in all, some cracking days on the water. Next stop, perhaps not surprisingly, Anglesey in March. 

Roger