I Really Dislike Paella: Shoreham-by-Sea to Rottingdean, April 2021

On Saturday morning we drove down to Shoreham-by-Sea nibbling on bacon rolls and arrived at 9am – possibly one of the quickest trips to the coast.

The meeting location was marked by a lighthouse on Shoreham Harbour. Tudor, Olwen and Cathy were already […]

Hayling Island Circumnavigation, Jan 2020

Hayling Island Circumnavigation, Jan 2020. F3, N; HW Portsmouth 0624, LW 1154

Travelling down to the launch point at Langstone Bridge on a frosty Sunday morning in January, as the sun rose into a cloudless blue sky, it seemed a paddle around Hayling Island would be great way to banish those January blues. Although the […]

New Year Paddle, Jan 2020

A new year, a new decade, and what better way to start it than with a paddle on the Thames. Seven CKC paddlers set off from Kew Bridge on 4th January, led by Fiona, with the objective of paddling down the river until the tide changed, and then returning with the flow. Conditions were good, […]

Industrial Beauty on the East Coast. Isle of Sheppey, Aug 2019

On Saturday 31st August a group of six (Rachel, Fiona, Charlie, Ronan, Liza and Tudor) headed to the Isle of Sheppey. I must confess to never having heard of the Isle of Sheppey, so this added an air of mystery to the trip!

We set out from a […]

Summer of Fun: Rock Hopping and Paddling, Dartmouth July 2019

A weekend of rock hopping and paddling in the summer sun, around the beautiful south coast of Devon near Salcombe and Dartmouth.

Arriving on Thursday evening, we were the first campers to setup at the Slapton Sands camp site. Although the evening was warm and mild, some CKC members had taken the easier option and […]

Exploring the Jurassic Coast by Sea, May 2019

There was one thing on everyone’s mind as we set off from the Chelsea Kayaking Club on the May Bank Holiday weekend: Durdle Door and Lulworth Cove. The weather was looking a bit uncertain, but we weren’t!

When we arrived at the Primrose Fields Campsite near Wareham, we were welcomed […]

Powered by Easter Eggs: Isle of Wight circumnavigation, Easter 2019

An anti-clockwise circumnavigation of the Isle of Wight over the Easter holiday weekend covering 97.5km in 2.5 days, including crossing The Solent twice, some wild camping and a few Easter eggs.

Leaving the Good Friday traffic behind, the CKC expedition slipped into the harbour at Keyhaven mid afternoon under blue skies and gentle winds (F2).

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Dorset – October 2015

Friday 23 October

The start of October half-term holidays and for most of us (Rob, Tudor, Izzy, Goers, Corinne and I) the evening was filled with roadworks and slow moving traffic down to Swanage. Fiona escaped that excitement by catching the train earlier in the afternoon. The highlights were watching the fish whilst crossing from […]

Kilchoan 2015: Planes, trains and automobiles. And a Frenchman in a van.

30 May – 6 June 2015: Kilchoan, Ardnamurchan

Not the title of a crappy sequel to the classic John Candy movie, but how a dozen CKC members got to this remote part of Scotland.

SATURDAY, 30 MAY 2015

Kilchoan is the most westerly village on the British mainland. It is so remote that you have […]

Anglesey – September 2014

The Paddler’s Return on Anglesey is my kind of pub – the kind where you arrive knowing nobody, and leave feeling like a regular who knows everyone. So no one seemed surprised as I worked my way round the bar asking locals if they were from Chelsea.

Not that I had much choice. It was […]