Paddling over calm winter sea in mid January is quite a unique experience. Sea kayak smoothly sliding over glassy sea surface, not loaded with summer camping gear and food…it just goes faster. And then there is that winter peace. Everything is calm and quiet. Not a living soul in sight. I passed one small fishing boat right from the start and that was it. Complete isolation and wilderness. Hidden bays that are only semi hidden in summer, were now completely deserted. Just a few seagulls and cormorants kept me company. It felt like I was at some far away coast exploring places that have never been walk on by a human.
Cloudy weather added to the mood. Sometimes I could not tell where the sea ends and the sky starts. Different shades of gray blending into each other. I loaded the 15L Bear Dry Tide dry bag with a thick warm sweater in case I got cold and a rain jacket because the forecast promised some rain in the afternoon.
In the smaller 5L dry bag, I’ve put my DSLR camera, wallet, knife, GoPro and some apples (check here for how to properly close a dry bag guide). Rocky cliffs interrupted with bays were flying past and after 15km I was again in the civilization. I have made it to the sailboat marina in a deep protected bay. Lines of empty sailboats waiting for summer days and almost the end of my winter kayak trip.
In one of the bays I took the time to make some shots of the new dry bags from DryTide. Three differently sized dry bags are available:
The smallest one is the 5L Seagull dry bag. For me this is the most useful size. I use these 5L bags all the time. I use them to store all my smaller personal items like my hone, car keys, wallet, documents, small snacks, gopro camera, powerbank, sunglasses, t-shirt, bluetooth speaker and also bigger items like my Canon 80D DSLR camera with two lenses or the DJI Mavic Pro. I use them when I am on or near water and I use them elsewhere. My DSRL is actually stored inside a 5L dry bag all the time.
The bigger one is the 15L Bear dry bag. It was perfect for a really thick sweater and a rain jacket. It can also fir your wetsuit and a tower or a towel and some clothes and snacks for a day at the beach.
And the finally, the largest one, the 30L Whale dry bag. This one is actually a waterproof backpack. It has two shoulder straps and an external pocket. Pocket comes with a waterproof zipper! So your phone is safe inside even if you drop it into the sea. Other dry bags that you will find always have only splash proof pockets meaning the zipper won’t really stop water. So this is a really nice extra.
I will make a bit longer review of the bags in another post. And if you want to learn more about dry bags, check this guide. Here is a video from the winter Adriatic sea kayaking:
Next day the forecast showed there could be waves. But even more it looked like there won’t be any. When we made it to the spot in the afternoon in look pretty small, but after some shopping and walking around we were like meh…there is nothing else to do :D.
So we went in. Wind died down so in 5/4 hooded wetsuit with gloves and booties it was really warm and fun. One of the waves before we went it:
20km spot, 19.1.2020