Paddle around Brownsea

We had perfect weather for Saturday's paddle around Browsea (albeit a tad choppy in the channel for the SUPs)



David and I set out from Parkstone Yacht Club around 11:30 to paddle over to Baiter to meet the rest of the party



Baiter is a good point to launch as the car park is huge and you can update your parking via the phone. The Yacht Club worked well too as parking on the street there is free.

The first way point was the PYC Race tower which is about a quarter of the journey done - that was our make-or-break point as the paddle back was straighforward



Everyone was happy to continue as the wind was gentle so we headed to the nearby channel marker and watched for the big boats (the ferries, cruise liners and container ships are not going to be able to stop in time so timing was important).

Once safely through the swell & wakes in the channel we headed to the calmer waters in the lee of the island and then left towards the John Lewis Estate



From there it was an absolute joy to paddle the calm, clear and warm backwaters off the south beach of Brownsea - it felt like a Carribean Island




It's a truly special place - everything felt clear and clean and crisp - perhaps it was us not used to being out in the sunlight after so many weeks of rain but it was a real joy to be there especially under our own power with no deadlines to worry about.

We were careful to catch the hours either side of slack water and the double bump high tide of Poole Harbour made planning interesting. We will definitely be doing this again plus venturing futher afield to the isolated beaches only accessible by sea for beach BBQs, picnics and maybe even camping.

A support boat would be a huge asset there - we are working on that.

We finished the day with The Simon doing sterling work at the BBQ. And beer ofc.



Hell of a great day.