Following a reasonably early Saturday morning start from London, a group of six CKC-er’s in total (with mixed experience of kayaking on the sea) led by Liza, met up by the Southsea Angling Club by Eastney Beach around 10.45am. After off loading the kayaks and associated equipment on the beach, Liza gave the safety briefing along with the planned route for the day. The group then set off in near glorious conditions before midday, catching the incoming tide as we kayaked into Langstone Harbour.
We headed across the harbour, with the first stop being to view the Mulberry Harbour wreck. Locally built on Hayling Island in 1944, it was due for use in the D-Day landings but was abandoned as the structure had cracked during construction. We continued paddling by the coastline of Hayling Island seeing the rich birdlife including various gulls and terns. As it was a high tide, we were able to pass over the disused Langstone (or Hayling) viaduct that carried light engines to and the from the island from the late 1880’s until the 1960’s, before kayaking under Langstone Bridge and entering the Sweare Deep channel.
By this point we had been on the water for over a couple of hours and so headed over to Emsworth Harbour to land and have a well-deserved lunch break.
Forty minutes allowed us to thoroughly rest and refuel before paddling along the Havant coastline, stopping by the beautiful and historic Langstone Tide and Watermill complex. Now upscale residences, this complex was constructed in various stages between 1720 through to 1800 using the water power to mill locally harvested cereals and was in operation until the first world war.
From there, we made the short journey to stop off for a brief comfort break at the Royal Oak public house and passing by the Ship Inn to enjoy some 80’s nostalgia (The Cult’s She Sells Sanctuary was blasting out) before leaving Sweare Deep by the Langstone Bridge and back into Langstone Harbour. We kayaked through the central channel for around 45 minutes back to the entrance of the harbour before landing back at Eastney beach just before five in the afternoon. Changing into dry clothes, loading up the kayaks and other equipment and the debrief meant we all headed off just before 6 in the evening.
The sea conditions we encountered varied from very placid through to small wind waves; a really good introduction for those of us on our first or second trip on the sea and hopefully an enjoyable work out for the more experienced CKC club members. A big thank you to Liza for planning and leading the trip and also Mary and Safi for sharing with Liza the transporting of the kayaks and other equipment. All in all, a great way to spend a summertime Saturday by the sea.
