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BY
Steve Childs
We live in a world with everincreasing demands on our time, constant bombardment of information from every angle, and the expectation that response to messages / phone-calls / emails / tweets should be instantaneous, regardless of time or day sent.
So the new year’s resolution in the Tootega and Silverbirch office was to do something about it…
Start/finish
https://goo.gl/maps/keun4
Nothing huge and involved, that would defeat the point. But rather taking little opportunities to tie in paddling trips with delivery runs and meetings, and perhaps one ‘night out’ a month where we would down tools at 5pm and head off to explore one of the endless paddling options right on our own doorstep, the only caveat being we had to be back at work by 9am the next morning! Once we started thinking about trips we could do that were ‘within range’ for an evening adventure we were staggered. There are literally hundreds of interesting paddles on our doorstep here in Norfolk – almost all of which we had overlooked until now, and several of which looked like really interesting and varied trips. One that really stood out for us was a circumnavigation of Scolt Head Island on the North Norfolk Coast.
Norfolk
The ironic truth is running a kayak company is no exception – there is always a reason to work late, always a reason to spend another evening working on a new design rather than paddling what you already have, and courtesy of a wonderful network of dealers around the world – always someone you need to call, regardless of the time of day or night.
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microadventure
It is easy to get trapped, trapped in an endless cycle of work without time to ‘decompress’ trapped in a rut of being so attached to your smart phone, tablet, or computer that you never truly spend quality time with friends and loved ones, and trapped into the mindset that you don’t have time to do anything about it.
Campsite l
In itself a stunning paddle through a mixture of remote salt marshes, little creeks, and open sea, but one that could be made better by tying it in with some seasonal foraging – surely the ideal modern world ‘antidote’? PADDLERUK 35
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Our planning was minimal, again another point of our overnight ‘microadventure’ was to keep things simple and uncomplicated – we consulted the tide times, checked for any dangers or restrictions in the area, and checked when the Samphire and mackerel seasons would begin – 20 mins of planning had us a date when everything would align. As luck would have it the day came around very quickly and was matched with perfect weather. We finished work, loaded up our gear, and made the hour or so drive out to the coast. We arrived at Brancaster Staithe just before 6.30pm, it was about three hours before high tide and the creeks and inlets had just started to flood. We got our gear together, loaded our boats, and got ready to set off.
Useful info… Start point: Brancaster Staithe Grid reference: TF 79199 44331. End point: Brancaster Staithe Grid reference: TF 79199 44331. Distance: 18-20km dependant on route through the marshes. Best tide time to leave: 2.5-three hours before high water at Brancaster. Tide times can be found here: www.deepdalefarm.co.uk/tides/
Now I don’t know about you, but paddling has a magical effect on me. The second I push off from the bank all the thoughts and worries whizzing around in my head just seem to vanish. All that matters is the paddling itself and the world around me. This trip was no different – the abundance of wildlife, classic Norfolk sailing boats, and endless rolling sand dunes instantly felt a world apart from everyday life and with all the distractions it didn’t seem to take much effort to paddle the few kilometres from the staithe to the sandbank marking the western end of the island and our pathway out into the open sea. We were paddling around the island in a clockwise direction. By setting off at mid tide this allowed us to get out into open water about two hours before high tide which gave us a few hours of helpful tidal flow along the outside of the island and plenty of time to cross the shallow bar at the eastern end of the island before the salt marshes started to drain again. The second we crossed the sandbank and got into open sea we dropped several strings of mackerel feathers with the aim of catching dinner. The helpful tidal flow meant we could have a leisurely paddle along the outside of the island and it seemed an ideal time to fish.
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The scenery was incredible – not a soul in sight, and from the outside the island looked more like a desert island than a small offshoot of the Norfolk coast. We would have stopped and had an explore, but Scolt head island is internationally renowned for its population of Sandwich Terns (amongst others) and it was smack bang in the middle of breeding season so we chose to treat the entire island as a no go zone!
I’m not sure what distracted us most – the fishing, the impressive displays put on by the Terns, or the incredible scenery, but it didn’t seem to take long to get to the eastern end of the island and our inlet back into the salt marshes and the inner side of the island.
Sadly we hadn’t caught any fish yet, perhaps it was just a little late in the day when we started to fish, perhaps we were just rubbish at it, either way it didn’t matter too much as we had bought some with us so we decided to pack down our gear and paddle in to find somewhere to camp.
Useful info… Scolt Head Island: A national nature reserve and an internationally important breeding site for Terns. During the breeding season several parts of the island are subject to landing restrictions and it is important these are respected.You can find out more information here: www.nnch.co.uk/Scoltheadisland.pdf
Once on dry land James and Aran started to unpack our kayaks and get our campsite set up whilst I went in search of some Samphire. Turns out that unlike the Mackerel, this isn’t very hard to find! It was everywhere around us, and a few quick handfuls gave us as much as we would be able to eat. Whilst James got the BBQ nice and hot and the fire going Aran and I stripped the fresh green samphire shoots from the woody stems and popped them into some water to lightly blanch before adding some butter.
We also got some local new potatoes on to boil and made a few vegetable kebabs to go on the BBQ with the Mackerel. All in all not a bad meal for a ‘school night’ and definitely not a bad meal to rummage up on a deserted beach.
We ate dinner as the sun set over the marshes. With a drink in hand, a roaring fire, and some impressive aerobatic displays by the Terns over head it was hard not to feel smug and was only made better by the fact we were completely out of sight of the real world and with the added benefit of absolutely no phone reception to distract us, we talked well into the night!
Samphire: Samphire is a sea vegetable that grows abundantly in marshy shallows and on salty mudflats. It has a crisp texture and tastes of the sea. It is delicious lightly boiled and served with butter. Often referred to as ‘poor man sasparagus’ it has become increasingly popular in trendy bistros and restaurants over the past few years. Samphire season is late May to late August. Read about some cooking tips for Samphire from David Truzzi-Franconi in PaddlerUK magazine. PADDLERUK 39
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Soon enough we rejoined the main channel of Norton creek, and were back insight of Brancaster Staithe – our start/endpoint. All that was left to do was paddle across the open stretch of water outside of the staithe that forms at higher tide heights and up the last few hundred metres of creek back to the carpark. At this point mother nature treated us to a pretty impressive lightning show, which definitely sped up our paddling, but thankfully never got too close! The morning greeted us with bright sunshine, but with some ominous clouds on the horizon and some rumbles of thunder in the distance we decided to get a move on and get on the water. We left our campsite about 30 minutes before we had intended, which meant an extra few hundred metres of walking across the flats, but was more than worth it to get ahead of those storm clouds! Once on the water we headed up the main channel that runs up the inside of the island called Norton Creek. About 400 metres or so from the end of the island the creek splits into two channels. It is worth having a little look at a map before getting to this point as the obvious right hand channel is NOT the correct route, Norton creek actually continues along the left channel, the right takes you a fair way into the island before abruptly stopping, but this is not obvious from the water. A kilometre further on again we took another left hand channel this is actually a detour from Norton creek called Trowland creek. It does add a little distance to the trip, but takes you right out into one of the remotest parts of the marsh, and was well worth the effort.
We didn’t hang around in Brancaster for long as we needed to get back to work, but whilst driving back it began to sink in how much we had achieved in an evening, how much we had experienced, and how easy it had been to do. We will never overlook our backyard again, and when those stresses and strains of modern life get a bit much – we know exactly how to ease them – go boating!
Useful info… Hazards/restrictions: As already mentioned, please make yourself aware of the national nature reserve restrictions.There can be significant tidal flow at both ends of the island and in the creeks at certain tide heights – please make yourself familiar with the local conditions before setting off. At higher tide heights the flooded marshes are very popular for sailing and windsurfing – keep an eye out for other water users. Sea conditions can change quickly, please check the sea state and weather before leaving – if unsure, please contact the local coastguard!