Freesteel Blog » 2019 » October

Wednesday, October 30th, 2019 at 6:44 pm - - Whipping

The BBC completed its China: A New World Order series with an exercise in political propaganda so ham-fisted that it rivaled the Chinese State TV on a bad day.

Remarkably, it asked the audience to be sympathetic to the greed of multi-billion dollar gene patenting US agri-corporations, and against the availability of cheap and plentiful solar panels.


So, after ten minutes of Chinese dictator footage, we get served the appetizer.

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Tuesday, October 15th, 2019 at 5:12 pm - - Kayak Dive

Someone who had been reading my blog wanted me to take them kayak diving with their Hobie Tandem Island. It’s a ridiculous object. Why would they call a thing that’s supposed to go places on the water an island?

I nominated Llandudno Pier for the dive, as it was not so far away to drive, nobody else dives it (it’s missing from the otherwise flawless North Wales Dive Guide), and there was nearby slipway access. The thing is so heavy that it needs to get into the water off a set of trolley wheels… which is required in addition to the boat trailer used for transporting it behind a car.

After several cancelled weekends we went out last Sunday in the pouring rain because we were tired of putting it off. Becka was with Chris on the Island, his son came out a Hobie MiragePeddleboard, and I was on my sensible Ocean Kayak Scrambler XT Dive Kayak with has no moving parts whatsoever, which explains how it’s lasted us 17 years so far.

We got out, anchored on the far side of the pier after 3 attempts to get it to bite, and went straight into the water. There was a lot of difficulty getting Chris’s sidemount tanks attached and the lanyards they hung off the boat from released in the strong current. The procedure requires more thinking. Normal single-hull kayak diving is simple.

Aside from the lack of slack, the water was not half bad with visibility far better then the anticipated pea soup. Lots of leathery starfish, sponges and anemones on the ironwork. I lined off the anchor.

I kept the dive short and avoided proceeding too far into the metalwork mess under the pier, as turning around and going downcurrent is always trickier than you’d think because you’re out of control and embedded in the cloud of silt you’re kicking up.


Back on the surface the rain was hammering down. It was easier to climb back aboard now that the anchor was loose and we were drifting with the current.

I had a brief ride on the peddleboard, but then someone thought it looked more fun and came to steal it from me.

This left me peddling the Island with its twin fish fins drive.

Then we unfurled the sail and got underway.

Keep peddling.

I had to look underneath to see what was going on.

I’ve no idea how I’ve never seen this thing before. It’s fascinating. And it would for sure be broken in a few months in my careful hands.