7am on a Sunday is a time that I rarely see. However, Ralph had mustered a seakayaking trip, meeting at Seamills ready to paddle at for 7:30am. As a newcomer to seakayaking and a stranger to the locale around Seamills I met up with Wayne at around 7:10. An interesting little journey followed, wriggling through the outskirts of Bristol to meetup underneath the road bridge close to the river Trym which joins the Avon as it makes its way up to Avonmouth.

Clevedon by 8am. The locals took some interest in the jumble of kits and kayaks massing on the promenade. Then a bit of man-handling of boats to get them down the slipway to the incoming tide - carefully timed to be just lapping at the foot of the slip. Any earlier and we'd be repeating Esther and Rachael's mud-wrestling epic.

Boats afloat and we were off - skirting the pier so as to avoid the fishing lines. This was the maiden voyage of Ralph's swanky new seakayak. We all made jokes, but I think that secretly we'd all rather have been paddling the that boat.

The group progressed north-east along the shore-line about a quarter of a mile offshore. Little bunches formed and reformed quite literally as the conversation moved about. In next to no time it seemed we were paused in a small raft just short of Portishead sailing club. We were buzzed by the inshore rescue boats who wanted to make sure we were alright. I suspect we gave them a disappointing "Yes... we're fine." And they departed in an equally disappointing sedate fashion, leaving the sea in a undistrubed in a flat calm state. A wave or two would have been er... well, quite interesting.

Anyway, refreshment break over we paddled on... with the next puzzle being how long it would be before Wayne needed to stretch his legs. This, I'm told, is a regular occurence and the challenge that Ralph set himself was to make sure Wayne didn't pick the muddiest or rockiest bit of beach to land on. The call came just before the marina at Portishead. So another stop during which Ralph challenged the newcomers to the Severn to identify the mouth of the Avon at Avonmouth. It's not quite so obvious as you might think. With its viscious tides the Severn is not the place to be at the wrong time. However, high-tide was due at 1pm and it was still only 11am - so the flood was helping us on our way as it did throughout the trip. I knew there was a reason for a 7:30 muster.

Next we made a bee-line for the mouth of the Avon. From here on things seemed to get incredibly slow. The M5 bridge is further away than you think. Past the inlet at Pill and the Portishead Yacht Club. On to another muddy inlet with moored boats. Then finally the last mile or so down to Seamill railway station and the mouth of the Trym. A mere 200m now to the small wier at the mouth of the Trym and the muddy scramble to get people and boats out of the water and back up the bank. Journey's end.

Thanks to Ralph for organising and leading and thanks to Esther, Michael, Richard, Russell and Wayne for the good company.

Stuart