Out on Saturday with: Rob Bianchi; Paul Richardson; Chris; Mike & Penny - we accessed the sea at Hartlepool's North Shore in miserable conditions with a force 4 south westerly and persistent light rain.
Our target, 9 miles north was Seaham.
Paul & I started out in the double sea kayak which turned out to be a good move, at least for us, as the first few miles offered the least protection from the wind and the solo paddlers undoubtedly had to work that bit harder to maintain direction.
I don't recall seeing a soul out on the beaches all morning. Although giving some steering issues the wind was adequately behind us to offer at least a little assistance as we headed north around the change of the tide.
After lunch we had a boat swap with Mike & Penny switching to the double, whilst Paul & I used the solo boats. The sea state calmed a little and we were offered further protection from what to me, at least, were unexpected sea cliffs for the rest of the trip. We discussed the fact that this coastline is more like a northern extension of the North Yorkshire coast (eg. Sandsend, Saltburn etc) rather than the southern extension of the Northumberland beaches.
Along this cliff protected stretch there were sea caves; rock hopping opportunities and despite the relative urbanisation just inland quite a wild feel. The days of this being Britain's coal cost felt long gone.
We finished just short of Seaham harbour after a total outing time of around four hours - in the best conditions of the day!
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| Looking Back South From Seaham |
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