Dorset Weekender - 3rd/ 5th May 2002.

Judging by the last few weeks, we may have had the best weather of the summer during this weekend! That's' to say - it didn't rain for 21/2 days!!

We stayed at the Woodlands campsite again. Just outside East Stoke, it is centrally placed for paddling off Swanage, Lulworth, Kimmeridge and Poole Harbour. Unlike last year, people came and went and not everybody camped for the whole weekend. This worked well and meant that people were able to choose which trip they went on.

Saturday morning was dry and bright with a F2/3 N/NE breeze. Peter, Phil (Lester) and myself went to Ringstead Bay to paddle Worbarrow Bay. Either my directions were suspect or Jim had a very old map but he didn't manage to find Ringstead for the start. A quick phone call and we rearranged to meet him at Lulworth Cove, about 6km down the coast.

Although Pete and I have both paddled this coast on several occasions, it still has a particular attraction to it. This was Phil and Jim's first visit down here and I'm sure they both appreciated the scenery along this coastline.

We stopped for lunch just short of Worbarrow at Arish Mell. A lovely little shingle beach with fine views back over Mupe rocks towards Portland Bill. Pete did manage to fall in here but that was only the start of lunch. I guessed something else wasn't right when a uniformed figure started to march across the beach towards us. He was pleasant enough and he stood in front of us and idly kicked the shingle around telling us that we shouldn't be there as it was an "un-cleared live ammunition" beach!!! He then strode off, taking a different route. Either he knew the beach very well or had armour plated boots on!!

Not chancing our luck too much we stayed next to our boats for lunch and left "Shell Beach" shortly afterwards to make our way back to Ringstead. We stopped off at Durdle Dor and had a short play under the arch but there was no real surf today. Sadly, now even this stretch of coast suffers from the intrusion of powerboats and day-trippers.

We got back to Ringstead around 5.00 after a great day on the water.

For Sunday we had arranged a trip from Studland to Durlston Head. A group of 12 of us gathered for this trip. The sun was shining with the threat of rain and a stiff N/NE was blowing across Studland Bay and made some interesting side waves. For some, this was the choppiest water they had been paddling in but no one had any real problems.

We passed under Old Harry and made our way along the relative shelter of the cliffs. Lunch was planned for the far end of Swanage and the weather had kept the day-trippers away so we had enough room to land comfortably. The rain threatened but luckily kept away.

Some of the group decided that they were a little unhappy with the conditions and didn't want to make the next stage towards Durlston Head. Arranging to meet them an hour later, the rest of us set off through Pevril Race at the end of Swanage Bay. The race was behaving itself but for some it was their first experience of this type of water. Durlston Head was also very quiet and we went a couple of hundred yards past here before turning back to meet the others. Personally, passing Durlston was the "laying of a ghost" for me as this had been my Tide Race from Hell in a previous trip. Although the race was quiet, I could still imagine how it was on that day and was very apprehensive on this stretch of water and to be honest, was glad to back round it. The mind can play strange games.

Picking up the rest of the group, we made good progress back to Old Harry. The tide was higher now and we could get in behind the Pinnacles and have a good look at the colours and textures of the cliffs.

The wind had picked up a little and there were a lot of white horses as the waves came in from the side again. Again this was a new experience for some of the group but we all made it back to Studland without an incident.

Six of us stayed on for the Sunday paddle. We drove down to Kimmeridge and planned to paddle to St Aldhelms Head. The top of Lulworth Ranges was covered in mist and I did wonder if we would actually get off the beach today. Kimmeridge is a lovely bay and well worth the long drive down there. The cliffs here are a rich mixture of colours and strata compared with the chalk cliffs and pinnacles of Old Harry and Swanage.

We stopped at Chapmans Pool and while Rachel decided to stay here, we paddled round the Head and along the base of these cliffs for a while. Returning to Chapmans Pool as we had lunch, we watched Portland Bill and then Lulworth disappear in the mist.

Pete and I had already taken bearings (at least I hope he had!) but the thought of going back with a relatively inexperienced group wasn't high on my favoured options. Fortunately, the mist started to lift and we had an easy, pleasant paddle back to Kimmeridge.

Somewhere along here, Clive managed to scare one of the local sea-monkeys. Despite a big splash and scream from Clive nobody else saw anything. Perhaps it was the result of a late night on the Saturday, we shall never know the answer.

The weekend finished with a quick try out session of each other's boats and an impromptu rescue session for Richard and Clive. I would say how well Pete controlled the situation but I'll leave that to him next time you see him!

A great weekend and it was good to meet up with some new faces again. It was also interesting to compare Jims folding Klepper with the Feathercraft boats of Richard and Raquel. If you haven't paddled one of these yet, it is very interesting to see how different they feel on the water.

Again my thanks to everyone who came down and look forward to seeing you all again.

Nigel Williams