Author: Alan Cole

Out through the waves 1

Getting Better at Surf Skiing

I’m still certainly no expert but I’ve come quite a way since my first few attempts at surf skiing on my new surf ski. If you’ve never tried surf skiing then they are a very unstable craft. The old one I had was bad enough but when I got my new Racing Ski from Knysna earlier...

Saturday's Windsurf Session 1

Windsurfing in a Proper Autumnal Blow

It’s been a fairly windy summer really but we’ve had a proper taste of autumn this weekend. Heavy rain at times, lower temperatures and plenty of wind associated with a proper autumnal low pressure. Nothing to do with Hurricane Gert which is still on the other side of the Atlantic, but decent winds for windsurfing...

Recovery in Gretna Green 1

Great Cumbrae Trip Day 6 – An Adventure Getting Home

We had planned to start heading home on the Sunday and have a leisurely drive back stopping off somewhere en route. Our previous days trip to Largs would have been the beginning of this journey. However, as Ramsey our Campervan was poorly we had left him on the island so as not to drive him...

Geocaching 1

Great Cumbrae Trip Day 5 – Day trip to Largs

Day four of our trip to Great Cumbrae and with the kayak race completed it was time to chill. I was up early as usual and ready for a nother circumnavigation of the island. Yesterday I had circumnavigated it by surf-ski and bike. Today I was going to do it on foot with an early...

Dusk in the Camper 1

Cumbrae Trip Day 3 – Great Cumbrae Kayak Race Report

Day 3 of our trip to Great Cumbrae started with sunny spells and a stiff breeze. Not ideal conditions for the Great Cumbrae Kayak Race as far as I was concerned, but not too rough that I wouldn’t be able to give it a go either. I was up early so went out for a...

Crocodile Rock 0

Great Cumbrae Trip Day 2 – Onto Great Cumbrae

Our second full day of our trip started in Glentrool with absolutely pouring rain. The plan was to mountain bike early though before the others were awake so I got up, put on some waterproofs and headed out into the pre-dawn light. It was certainly wet and the weight of the rain had dropped bracken,...

Loaded and Ready to Go 1

Great Cumbrae Trip Day 1 – Penrith and Ae Forest

Not the best of starts Our family holiday to Scotland on board Ramsey our VW Campervan was finally here. The camper was loaded with all that we should need, clothes, food, games and plenty of toys and equipment and we were ready to go. Our destination was the island of Great Cumbrae just of the...

Camping on Great Cumbrae 0

Dumfries, Galloway and Great Cumbrae – Quite an Adventure

Well, that was quite an adventure! We were bound for the island of Great Cumbrae just off Largs on the North Ayrshire coast of Scotland. I was due to take part in a kayak race around Great Cumbrae so we planned a trip in the campervan. The idea was to take our time heading up, maybe...

Blown Away 1

Optical Illusions in the Garden – Honey I Shrunk the Kids

We convinced Morgan to get off his computer one sunny day in the holidays. With his friends James they were banished to the garden to take some optical illusion photos. They had a good time out there once they were actually out in the real world. Here are some of their photos.