Sea caves, seals and marshmallows: Adventure Group take to the waves

This month the u3a Adventure Group went sea kayaking. Our starting point was along the coast at Oddicombe Beach which is at the foot of the Babbacombe Cliff Railway. We opted to walk down the cliff pathway and soon we were assembled on the beach with our instructor. We were lent life jackets, waterproof phone cases and waterproof coats and, after some instruction about paddling and steering, we paired up and clambered into the kayaks. I took the back seat with my partner in front of me. Her job would be to keep paddling and I needed to paddle in time with her but also use my paddle as a rudder when necessary to manage the steering. We were shown how to fix the skirt of the waterproof coat around the edge of the seat hole in the kayak so that there was no danger of us getting wet. Soon we were ready to go and were pushed down the beach into the water – a bit like setting off down a water slide. We paddled out and practiced steering round in circles before our voyage began.

We set off following the coastline and soon came to the entrance to a cave. One kayak at a time we paddled right into the cave with the instructor. There was a seal lurking in there but he did not seem too perturbed by us. We continued along our way passing several different beaches and we kept stopping so that we could learn about the cliff formations and the various places along the way. There were two places where we passed one by one through very narrow gaps between the rocks which were quite challenging. Eventually we reached the beach that would be the furthest point on our journey. We hoped to see seals sunbathing there but a heavy shower at that point put paid to that! However, on the way back we spotted several seals swimming alongside us.

About a third of the way back we landed our kayaks on a beach for a rest. The skirts of the waterproof coats had done a good job and, provided we were careful with the puddles that had formed in our laps, we were still dry. On the beach there were lots of fossils to be found and we all pocketed rocks which contained evidence of ancient sea sponges. We also had a taste of two different types of seaweed that our instructor foraged on the beach. Finally, he lit a small fire and we toasted marshmallows to give us some energy for the final part of our journey. An inquisitive seal hovered around, watching what was going on and posing for photographs.

After this we made our way back to the starting point and after a coffee in the café and a ride back up on the hundred year old funicular railway, we made our way home. We were in the first group to go; there was a second group later in the month. I hope they had an equally exciting morning, although with different weather and tide conditions their experience may have been a bit different to ours.

Deborah Wallis