At NACC we have a core of sea kayaking nuts who are slowly but surely infiltrating the club...you know who you are! They are great paddlers and on the face of it seem like very normal people. I now know better. These sea kayakers spend hours pouring over charts and shipping forecasts. They have compasses on their boats and carry strange equipment such as flares and caramel chocolate bars.

We were given our joining instructions by Ralph, our esteemed leader. Be ready to paddle by 7:00am..... meet at Beachley under the (old) Severn Bridge. Time and tide wait for none.

In glorious sunshine we paddled for 2 hours up the Severn, moving with the incoming tide. At times the water was calm but then strange currents formed that brought waves and faster moving water. Although flows constantly changed, the water colour stayed consistently muddy brown. It was a little like paddling in a huge mug of Cadburys Chocolate.

By 09:00 we had arrived at Sharpness. Here the estuary narrows and the water accelerates. We sat in a huge eddy and then as the tide turned we started heading back. The return journey seemed much further than the outbound leg. Was the water flowing less quickly or was it that we were lacking energy?

The Severn Bridge was our goal and as we neared the get out the water again accelerated. The 'Hen and Chickens' overflow was working well and was impressive to see at such close quarters. Safely through and back on dry land we staggered back to the cars with our boats. Ralph announced that we had paddled approx. 24 miles. Not bad for those of us who are sea kayaking novices. All agreed that it had been a superb day.

One other thing to report on these sea kayaking nuts....they do like to include a pub visit. Maybe it worth joining them after all.

Paddlers: Ralph, Mike, Michael, Carla, Fran, Steph and Anna

Report by Anna Wedgwood

p.s. Remember that the club has 3 sea kayaks available for you to hire.