Kayaking

We start earlier this morning as the sun is now rising at around 6am. Sunny morning with a strong SE wind.

We can’t recall having seen the tide out as far as this before. The moon remains visible in the blue sky to remind us of the power it has over our planet.

Black swans, cygnets, cormorants, Pelicans, herons, a large detail of ducks, seagulls, pied oyster catchers and the lone dolphin greet us this morning.

With the strong wind we see kite surfers flashing across the River around the sandbar. We stay close to the cliffs to stay out of the wind driven choppy waters.

The famous four cormorants are perched on their usual rock and don’t move even though we pass very close to them. The cliffs face is inhabited by Norman soldiers wearing mail armour and their primeval faces peer intently at us. The erosion of the cliffs this morning is prominent and fascinating natural yet random sculptures have emerged. Where were they last week?

Five large Pelicans fly low over the River between us and the River bank. They land on their usual outcrop of rocks in the shallow water near the shore.

We weave in between the kite surfers close to the exposed sandbar where the strong easterly wind blows our kayaks down to Pussey Point and land the kayaks.

The sand bar has joined up the with Pussey Point which usually sits alone like a wooded island in the middle of the River. Bridges can have positive and negatives consequences - connects but can bring people to what is usually protected from traffic other than the odd kayaker.

The bureaucrats have returned with new keep out signs and fences. There are very few birds on Pussey Point - it’s even too windy for them.

We drag our kayaks along the sandbar as it’s just too windy to paddle against and the choppy waves will fill the kayaks and drench us.

On the way back to the spot we launch our kayaks the we hug the hilled southern shore that protects us from the wind. Here the River is placid and calm. We have this morning One River with Two faces.