Scilly 2024

On the face of it a 9.15 sailing to the Scilly Isles didn’t seem like that bad a way to start Teignbridge Canoe Club’s Scilly adventure. But, add in the fact that group check in was at eight o’clock, and because we had to transport a couple of boats as well, that brought you to a 6.30 check in, was why I started the trip munching much appreciated bacon butties as I left Teignmouth at 4.00 in the morning.

We had planned our trip using the services of old friend and Sea Kayaking Cornwall owner Shaun Rogers. I’d paddled the islands quite a few times with him in the past and was supremely confident that he was the man to organise our group trip. Demand for places was sky high when it was announced at our last AGM back in October 2023, and fifteen absurdly keen paddlers set out for the islands with sky high expectations.

We were reunited with our luggage at the Garrison Campsite which was to be our home for the weeklong trip. Tents were erected, with varying degrees of success, and then it was down to the beach in front of the yacht club to meet up with Shaun, his business partner James, and the fleet of kayaks they keep on the islands over the summer period.

Boats had been allocated long before the Scillonian left the dock, and everyone was pleased with their boats, some paddling top end glass boats for the first time, while others had opted to paddle the same boat they used at home. Sea Kayaking Cornwall’s fleet was mainly from P&H with a sprinkling of slightly older NDK designs such as the trusty Explorer and variations on the classic Romany.

After people had fitted their seats and pegs to their liking those who hadn’t brought their own gear were kitted out with paddles, spray decks and cags from SKC stocks. After the early start that was about it for day 1, with all that remained being a visit to The Atlantic pub for a team meal before most people crawled into their sleeping bags barely after dusk.

You never know what the weather is going to do until you wake up on the Scillies but day 2 dawned fair and sunny, with a F3/F4 blowing down the channel that separates St Mary’s from Tresco and St Martin’s. No sooner had we left the harbour than Shaun announced we were heading over to the channel between Bryher and Tresco. For a lot of us, this 3km open water crossing was the furthest from land we’d been in a kayak, but Shaun and James soon had us corralled into a diamond formation with club leaders Kev and Tony stopping anyone straying too far. In relatively mellow conditions, it took a little over an hour until we came into the Tresco side of the channel, and jaws started to drop at the site of snow-white sand and sub-tropical landscapes. This was the Scillies at its finest, some of the best scenery to be found anywhere in the British Isles.

After admiring the sights, we headed further up the channel until we came to Shipman head, Shaun’s soon to be familiar ‘challenge by choice’ was to head out into the Atlantic swell, with nothing between you and America. Those who accepted the challenge were soon heading out into the roughest water they had ever paddled, albeit in a very controlled way, surrounded by both SKC and club leaders.

As the adrenaline started to wear off, we had a glorious downwind paddle into the beach below the Fraggle Rock café, and we celebrated with our first Scilly beach lunch, while others went into the dunes to savour the provender on offer at the Island Fish cafe. All too soon it was time to leave the tropical beach location and set out back for St Marys, a 90 minute paddle back across the channel.

The smiles and laughter as boats were pulled up the beach back at base were priceless as we celebrated our first full day paddling on the islands. Unfortunately on our second day the wind had got up to a fairly steady force 5, so at the early morning conference it was decided that we’d give paddling a miss and give people the chance to explore using the network of interisland ferries.

While three of us headed off for Tresco, the majority choose the path less trodden and set off for St Agnes, the choice of island helped in no small part by Fiona Hiscox’s glowing recommendation of the island’s Jersey Ice cream. After the group had walked halfway round, we found the aforementioned dairy, and to say that it lived up to its recommendation would be the understatement of the year – easily the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted. We completed our circumnavigation of the island by the middle of the afternoon and walked across the sand bar to the neighbouring island of Gugh, where we explored some of the prehistoric cairns and burials, before heading to the island’s only pub for a few drinks while we waited for the ferry home.

En route to St Mary’s Dom Miles posted in the group WhatsApp that the island’s gig rowing club was offering try outs, so we made our way to the gig sheds and rather amazingly they let us take out their gigs, some nearly 200 years old and gave us lessons in gig rowing, one of the most amazing highlights of the trip.

Sadly Dom, who had been feeling rough on day 1 had been told to return home as soon as possible by the island doctor so day 4 started with us waving goodbye as he headed up to the airport.

We headed back across the channel, but this time poked our noses out on the other side of Tresco, looking over to St Martins, and then headed out into the Atlantic and made for the iconic Men-a-vaur, a huge rock outcrop which marks the Northernmost extremity of the islands, there were decent swells coming in out by the rock, and we had a great run down to Round Island, running the gullies below its lighthouse, before just making the channel round the back of St Martin’s as the tide went out.

After lunch on yet another stunning, and completely deserted beach, we made our way round St Martin’s head and back to base, all in around 13 very enjoyable miles. Day 5 and the wind had dropped even further so we headed off in the other direction and crossed the channel to St Agnes and ran down to the Northern tip of the island before crossing over to the uninhabited Annet, with its now seasonally deserted puffin colony. Round the back of Annet the world gets seriously primeval, you are greeted by a scene from the dark side of the moon, with thousands of rocky crags sticking up above the Atlantic swell – play time.

After we’d all had enough it was back over to St Agnes, a quick lap of Gugh, and then back across to our campsite. The evening finished with Shaun brining up carrier bags full of local lobsters, after lessons in getting the meat out of the shell we ate them along with a BBQ to make an amazing ‘surf and turf’.

Day 6 was The Eastern Isles, with their amazing seal colony. One of our party, and I won’t name Donna to spare her blushes, was a little apprehensive about seals, and the shriek as we entered the colony to be met by a couple of dozen seals could be heard on the mainland. However, once she had got used to seals bombing her boat, she, along with the rest of us had an amazing wildlife encounter which seemed to last for hours as the seals followed us back to St Martin’s where we had lunch. After a stop at the pub in Lower Town, we headed home.

On our final day we set off to circumnavigate our home island, but as we crossed the bar and headed round towards Pelistry, it became more and more obvious that with the wind and waves building, we weren’t going to make it. What followed was a rough water manoeuvring masterclass from our guides, up to and including sitting side on to the swell with your eyes closed. As we headed back to the campsite, everyone was tired but exhilarated.

I would like to say a huge thank you to both Shaun and James from Sea Kayaking Cornwall for providing all the boats and first class guiding services as well as great coaching. You really made our trip guys.

Andy Benham