Watersports Info.

‘We can give a lot of good advice across a wide range of watersports because we understand what different conditions require and we use the equipment ourselves’
John Haynes - Owner

Ocean Kayak | Shaped by experience

Ocean Kayak

What do you need to get on the water? Besides the kayak and a paddle the other essential item is a buoyancy aid. A buoyancy aid is not a lifejacket but it gives you some floatation and freedom to paddle. An adjustable backrest gives you lower back support and extra comfort.

What should you wear? On a warm day in sheltered waters a pair of shorts or a swimming costume is fine. Reef sandals give good foot protection when launching on slipways or pebble beaches. For extra warmth go for a pair of wetsuit shoes or wetsuit boots.

What if the weather is cooler or you want to stay on the water longer?

For body warmth in most conditions we recommend a ‘Steamer’ or a ‘Shortie’ wetsuit. Under this you can wear a Lycra ‘Rash Vest’ for comfort or a ‘Thermal Vest’ for extra warmth. Over the wetsuit a nylon ‘Spraytop’ gives extra wind chill protection for the upper body.

OCEAN KAYAK - THE ORIGINAL & BEST SIT-ON-TOP KAYAKS

HISTORY In 1971 Tim Niemer created the concept of Sit-On-Top kayaks to paddle off the beaches of Southern California for fishing, diving and pure fun EXPERIENCE For over 30 years the original Ocean Kayaks have evolved into the best designs that are easy to use in a wide range of conditions DESIGN Most Ocean Kayaks have a ‘tri-form hull design’ with a built in ‘keel’ for tracking straight plus two ‘shoulders’ for stability CONSTRUCTION Ocean Kayak use the best materials, UV stable one piece construction means super strong boats, built to last WARNING - BEWARE OF INFERIOR COPIES!

Shaped By Experience

I grew up near Hengistbury Head between Christchurch Harbour and the beach at Southbourne. As a youngster if it floated I wanted to be on it, starting with a bright orange motor boat that had first a 5hp then a 7hp “Arrow” outboard stolen from it so I got the message and moved on to sailing dinghies. Away from all the bits of stainless steel and rope on my own racing sail boats I grew to appreciate that simplicity means more time on the water. This “simplicity” included canoeing, with minimal equipment, and water-skiing, behind a boat that I did not have to own or service, at a local ski lake.

In my teens I raced many seasons in the Solent Points plus cross channel RORC races on sailing boats of 30’ to 40’ including offshore races such as the ’79 Fastnet. I owned a 24’ sailing boat that we would race flat out one weekend then night sail across to Cherbourg for the next weekend. Sailing was still a raw sport not like the “corporate events” of today and there were very few paid crew and lots of cold, wet effort. In those days I liked the cold, wet effort but eventually decided to head for warmer waters and the way to go was a one way flight to Miami courtesy of Freddie Laker, the man we all have to thank for cheap air travel.

Besides racing in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference around Florida and the Nassau Maxi Series in the Bahamas I started delivering new yachts from Fort Lauderdale to the Caribbean. Because of deadlines these boats had rarely been properly test sailed before the 1000 mile passage so the problems were discovered underway. Part of this route would take us through the “out-islands” of the Bahamas chain. In the early Eighties this area was like the Wild West with most boats carrying firearms. You knew you were in the Bermuda Triangle but quickly worked out that recent losses of boats were more likely due to Castro emptying the jails of Cuba and a great deal of cocaine coming up from South America. Besides these waters sharpening your navigation skills you soon become very intuitive about people and situations!! The way back across the Atlantic at the end of a Caribbean winter turned out to be a very stormy crossing to Brittany via Bermuda and the Azores on a 65’ French Maxi yacht just in time for the Admirals Cup in the UK under a Swiss flag.

By my early twentiesI had qualified as a Yachtmaster Offshore & Ocean and for a couple of seasons ran a flotilla of sailing boats in Greece teaching hundreds of people to sail, water-ski and windsurf. One cold memorable November we delivered a 40’ sailing boat from Corfu to Brighton via Italy and the French canals. What a battle…it took eight solid weeks and a hundred odd canal locks to negotiate. The freezing Mistral wind kicks up short steep waves in the Rhone valley 100 miles from the sea that can almost stop a boat leaving the huge locks. Many nights we were frozen solid in the smaller canals and it was a relief when we finally came down the Seine and only had a Channel gale to deal with on the night crossing from Le Harve to Brighton a few days before Christmas!!

The following year the owner of the flotilla of 36 boats was looking to move to a new area so I suggested a research project. This turned into a summer sailing his 40’ yacht around the Mediterranean researching new charter areas in Turkey, Greece and Yugoslavia, which involved weeks of singlehanded sailing. In the middle of that season the Meltemi winds of the eastern Med blew at near gale force, day and night, for a solid 10 days. That windy year ended with an autumn crossing from Sardinia to Palma when we were hit midway by up to hurricane force winds for two days and the storm surges sunk dozens of boats in Balearic harbours. We had to divert to the island of Minorca and enter Mahon harbour at night in breaking seas. The final leg to Palma was heavy rain squalls and we were surrounded by lightning all night. This is the side of the Med you do not see in brochures!!

My route home from Palma was as navigator on a 110’ aluminium ketch, one of the super yachts of its time. We took the boat up to Amsterdam and caught another November Channel gale. Hot food, filter coffee and a heated wheelhouse for the night watch, knocked off the rough edges of crossing Biscay. It becomes a real effort to go outside into that cold air to reef a sail, even though it only takes a few minutes using a foot switch to control electric winches and tons of load…luxury!! In the Channel floating lines and cargo netting fouled both props and we had to tack through the Dover Straits at night. After taking the boat to Amsterdam we headed into the Islesmere, Holland’s inland sea. This was the coldest winter in many years and the easterly winds over the frozen Islesmere made touching stainless steel an instant way to lose skin. We were totally frozen-in with cars driving on the ice for miles. I ended up spending over half a year in a commercial Dutch shipyard overseeing the re-fit of the rigging and deck gear as the boat was ‘cut’ and extended to 125’.

My original experience of RIBs and inflatables was as reliable tenders. Small Avon dinghies used on our sailing flotillas were dragged along (and up beaches!!) for 200 days each year. I used boats like Avon Seariders as backup craft for sailing companies and as rescue boats for sailing events.. The dive version Zodiac was superb for exploring harbours and coastal waters but the 485 Ribcraft  took us faster and further plus it made a good wakeboarding boat. I am qualified as an Advanced Powerboat Instructor with Commercial Endorsement. The current boat is an Avon RIB with Yamaha outboard. I have used a variety of bigger RIBs but I do like the “motion of the ocean” and a small or medium sized RIB certainly gives you that!

To cut a long story short (?!) since the 1980’s I have owned and run specialist watersports shops including windsurfing, surfing and bodyboarding centres. I now have shops in Bournemouth and Highcliffe specialising in wetsuits, watersports and accessories.

‘Our aim is to offer high quality equipment and encourage all ages to get on the water. We only deal with companies that understand the high standards that we expect from our range of wetsuits and equipment’                                           John Haynes – Owner