One of our major discoveries on the last 18 months is this amazing beach. At high water on neap tides there is enough room to pitch a few tents.

Covid Paddling on Jersey



By Kevin Mansell

Saturday 14th March 2020 was another beautiful spring day on Gozo, the sister isle of Malta. We had paddled out from Hondoq, heading east along a delightful stretch of coast, whilst en route we covered the British Canoeing Paddle Explore Award, with a 100 per cent pass rate. The group decided to celebrate their kayaking success, with a couple of beers, in the bar in Qala, which was just up the hill.

An arch on Comino. This small island is located between Gozo and Malta. A circumnavigation is the perfect distance for a day trip. This was the day before the beaches were closed to water sports.

We knew that the world was changing; the evening news programmes were filled with grim images of the situation in Italy, a country only just over 60 miles away, to the north. Sicily was visible on clear days. What we didn't realise was just how quickly things would change. Chris from Kayak Gozo was waiting for us with the news that the Maltese authorities had just closed the beaches to water sports, so no more paddling. As we headed to the bar it was a mixture of emotions, success with the paddling exam but no more paddling in the foreseeable future.

The celebratory beers had hardly been placed on the table when the day took a further nose dive. The two Irish paddlers with us received a call to say that the person next to them on the flight from Dublin had tested positive, and with that they were gone into isolation.

Two days later we landed back home in Jersey, to start our own 14 days of isolation, followed almost immediately by the island entering its first lock down.

We were really fortunate that throughout the first lockdown we were allowed two hours exercise each day, which was just enough time to go stand up paddleboarding. Our SUP skills increased significantly during that period: Our pivot turns became a joy to behold.

2020 was the summer of offshore reefs. This sandbank appears at the Minquiers at low water. This is on a neap tide so we had it to ourselves, it is somewhat busier on Spring Tides.

This exercise period could only involve members of the same household, so the Jersey Canoe (Kayak) Club had to close down its activities. At the beginning of May 2020, restrictions started to ease, therefore on the 6th May 2020, we were able to have our first picnic from the kayaks. We were only allowed out for four hours, but that gave us at least three hours on the water. This extra couple of hours also meant the Club could restart its activities.

It had to adapt its operating procedures, but we have been able to run sessions uninterrupted since the middle of May 2020. At times we were probably the only paddling Club operating in the British Isles. Group sizes were limited to six, which was a positive move as members had the option of up to six sessions every weekend. Different times, different venues and different styles of paddling. It was also agreed amongst the leaders that the sessions would be at a lower level than normal, to reduce the possibility of capsizing. It's somewhat difficult to remain socially distanced when you are holding onto somebody's cockpit as they climb back in.

For 2020 we had so many plans, when we finished in Gozo. My wife, Nicky, was due to fly to Rome to attend a conference for women sea kayak coaches before we were re-united in Greece for the Jersey Canoe Club holiday on Milos. I have great memories of paddling around Milos and the surrounding Greek islands, and after a gap of nine years I arranged for a group to head to Milos for Easter 2020. This trip was my first loss of the pandemic. Nicky had beaten me though, as her conference was cancelled. The eternal city was put on hold.

Nicky and I at the small village of Firopotamus. A delightful location on the well-known island of Milos. So much great paddling in such a small area.

It was France's turn next to be missing out on our company. For over 20 years the Canoe Club has visited in Morbihan in southern Brittany for the first May Bank holiday. Tidal streams up to ten knots, amazing history and great food. What is there not to like about kayaking in France? Not that year though.

Playing in one of the tidal races in Morbihan, in southern Brittany. After a couple of hours playing in waters like this you will have earned your cold French beer.

The summer was due to be based in the Arctic, a couple of trips around Disko Bay on the west coast of Greenland, including several weeks with just Nicky and myself, before I headed north with a group of friends. The Jersey Canoe Club has eight sea kayaks in Disko Bay, so the logistics of paddling in the Arctic are pretty easy. So many missed opportunities in 2020, so many trips never got past the planning stage.

Disko Bay, Greenland. A visit should be on every kayakers to do list. There are very few things as satisfying as finding your way through pack ice in your sea kayak. We were due to move our kayaks further north in the summer of 2020 but sadly it was not to be.

What replaced these trips was an opportunity to explore our home waters in greater detail than ever before. Frequent visits to offshore reefs and imaginative picnic spots became the norm. The Ecrehous, roughly midway between Jersey and Normandy have been visited at least once every month since May 2020, including a night paddle in December. A six-mile open crossing, with tides at up to five knots, in the dark, certainly focuses the mind and sharpens the navigation.

Corbiere Lighthouse marks the southwest corner of Jersey. I never get bored with paddling here. The next stop to the west is Newfoundland.

By the summer of 2020 the Club was able to adjust its operating procedures again and increase group sizes. Due to the lack of opportunities to travel, leisure activities in Jersey exploded. Even the tractor repair shop got in on the action, selling hundreds of SUP's in a matter of weeks. I don't think they came with much advice. This year's craft of choice seems to be badly designed and poor quality inflatable kayaks, launched on the unsuspecting public by shops which have no knowledge of paddle sports. I think it is all part of a master plan to keep the rescue services busy.

Interest in our Club has been constant over the last 18 months and we now have nearly 50% more members than at the start of 2020. 30+ paddlers turning up for the Sunday morning paddle is the norm. During August 2020 we had an 18-day period when something was put on every day by the Club, for the benefit of the members. A lot of people are certainly getting their money's worth from their membership fees.

Paddling through the Minquiers. It is an amazing reef 12 miles to the south of Jersey. An area dominated by the twice daily rise and fall of the tide.

Possibly the most frustrating aspect of the last 18 months has been the lack of opportunities to paddle to the other Channel Islands. Sark is tantalisingly close, 12 miles to the north. It is an amazing destination, which I have visited numerous times over the years. There is fabulous scenery, the result of the interaction between its complex geology and the dynamic powerful ocean, set against a fascinating human history, but it will have to wait for another year. Superb paddling awaits but not at the moment. I think that I am pretty keen kayaker but the thought of paddling 20 miles to Guernsey, to have a Covid test and then waiting for up to 24 hours on your vessel for the results to arrive, seems a bit excessive. Nordkapps aren't quite stable enough to sleep in. Then if a negative result comes through, we would be free to paddle the six or seven miles back to Sark to start our holiday. Even I am not that much of a fanatic.

Heading back to Jersey from the Minquiers, a 12-mile open crossing. We left early and were back in Jersey for breakfast. I always love the process of drawing tidal vectors on the chart, obtaining a bearing and following it for three hours. Such a satisfying process.

People are starting to travel but I am not aware of any local paddlers who have taken their kayaks by car to France yet. The realities of traveling in the post-Brexit world are only just starting to become apparent. We are off to Scotland for a couple of weeks kayaking, but the first overseas trip is to Gozo at the end of October. Life has gone full circle, a return to the island we escaped from in such a hurry in March 2020. I thought I would see if any Club members wanted to go for a week and we filled two weeks in just over a day of launching the trip. Clearly illustrating a pent-up demand for travel.

10. Construction on Elizabeth Castle off of Jersey started in the 16th century with the last additions in the 20th Century. This was an after breakfast paddle. Unusually, we are all using Greenland-style paddles.

I feel guilty admitting to this but as a kayaker based in Jersey, the last 18 months have not been that onerous. We have been able to paddle throughout, although at times we have had to modify our practice. The opportunity to explore the more remote corners of our island home have been grasped with both hands. In addition, our Club has significantly increased its membership and is in a much stronger position moving forwards.

Do I regret what has happened? Most certainly. So many people who I know who have been seriously ill and some are still not fully recovered, plus sadly a few who passed away. We are not back to normal yet. Will we ever be?

A lumpy day off Noirmont. The early 19th century tower on Jersey now functions as a lighthouse, although we weren't really looking it at on the day. We were focussing on the waves.

As I looked through this article, checking spelling and grammar, not always successfully, I heard that the Delmarva Paddlers Retreat is cancelled until October next year. Such a great event which I attended in 2019. Surely by the summer of 2022 we have to hope that kayaking in Greenland is a reality and hopefully by the autumn we will be able return across the Atlantic so that I can receive some more coaching on my rather inadequate Greenland skills.

Landing at Seymour Tower. It was built in 1781 and is now available to rent from Jersey Heritage. Such an amazing place to stay.

In the meantime, I will keep getting up, heading out the door and exploring my local waters. In the 1980's the British Canoe Union Sea Touring Committee used to sell stickers which said, "A Special Kind of Freedom." A phrase probably more pertinent to the last 18 months than at any time in the last 50 years. Enjoy your paddling, enjoy your friends, and who knows, perhaps in 2022 we will meet on the water.

So many good days out on the water. This is retuning to Jersey from the Ecrehous.