17 October 2015. Circumnavigation of Hayling Island starting from and finishing at the car park near Fort Cumberland, Eastney. HW Portsmouth 1450, northerly force 2-3 wind. Trip distance approximately 15 miles.

The club calendar had 17th October down for a spot of kayak surfing. Unfortunately, on the day, surf was definitely not up so Dan, Gavin, Stephen and Rob went for the Plan B option of circumnavigating Hayling Island. Sometime post meridiem Dan, Gavin and Rob set off from Eastney, Portsmouth, to go round the island clockwise. Stephen was in hot pursuit as he had left London a bit later having watched his daughter play football in the morning. The highlight of the first hour or so was watching large flocks of sea birds wheeling round our heads. Some were oyster catchers but there were also other birds we couldn't identify as they were flying by so quickly.  

After making it under the bridge before the tide fully turned, we stopped at the Royal Oak, Emsworth to let Stephen catch up, which he did surprisingly quickly. A local warned us about the strength of the tide as it squeezes past Eastney where the cars were parked, but his warnings seemed a bit melodramatic.

Reunited with Stephen, the four of us carried on round the island with a bit of wind assistance and a following sea to begin with. A common seal followed for a while. Turning westwards to complete the final side of the island, the northerly wind caused some weather-cocking which must have slowed progress as it suddenly seemed to get quite late in the day. Eastney eventually came into view and and along with it was the sting in the tail. A relatively leisurely afternoon's paddle became a fight with the ebbing tide as we paddled hard to get across the narrow channel between the island and Eastney. The local in the Royal Oak had been right to warn us. A lesson learned. At least the extra exercise gave us a good excuse to have dinner in the pub in Emsworth that specialises in sausage and mash before driving home.