I have tried out a few waterproof digital cameras and have listed below what I liked and disliked.

Vivitar V5188 waterproof digital camera

This little camera was fun at first but definitely not a worthwhile purchase for anyone serious or even semi serious about getting some good photographs. Unfortunately despite having some decent specs the pictures are more often than not blurry. That said, if your looking for a fun cheap waterproof digital camera that you don’t mind your kids getting their hands on the Vivitar V5188 is light, easy to use and comes with a funky underwater case that the camera fits inside ensuring no water can get in. The Vivitar is functional and did not let in any water when submerged.

Specs:

5.1 meagapixel
8x Digital Zoom
1.5” TFT Screen
Waterproof Case

Oregon Scientific ATC 2K Waterproof Video Camera

Described as an action cam the oddly name Oregon Scientific ATC 2K is designed to give a first person viewpoint. This camera is extremely tough and has excellent build quality. Strapping this waterproof camera to a helmet, handlebars or rocket you can get some video footage where other cameras fear to tread.  Unfortunately for me the poor sound and picture quality just wasn’t good enough in my opinion. However for the price it is a great video camera and you won’t mind letting the kids play around with it.

Specs:

Waterproof:      Up to 3 Meters
Resolution:       640×480
File Format:     AVI
Frame Rate:      30FPS Max
Support for SD memory cards

Panasonic SDR-SW20

I cannot recommend this camcorder highly enough. Both design and function are great. This shockproof and waterproof video camera is lightweight and extremely easy to use. For those people looking for high def pictures you will need to look elsewhere but that’s not to say the Panasonic SDR-SW-20 picture quality is not any good. In fact the picture and sound are perfectly acceptable with sharp images, bright colours and excellent sound quality. The Panasonic has a wonderful aesthetic value with its very stylish retro looks and small but chunky feel. It can easily fit into a shirts top pocket. With a tripod clamp you can attach the camera to the front of your cockpit combing and because it is waterproof you can get some quality first person action footage. Furthermore if you are kayak fishing you can video landing your big catch. The camera has image stabilisation so even when paddling the images are very good. The SDR-SW20 uses SD cards so your footage can be easily transferred to a computer.

Specs:

Waterproof:     1.5 Meters
Resolution:      640 x 480
File Format:    .MOV  (MPEG2)
Shockproof:     1.2 Meters

Olympus MJU 850SW Waterproof Digital Camera

I have been using this waterproof digital camera for over six months and it has yet to let me down. For me it is one of the most essential kayak accessories to have. It is rugged well built and takes beautiful pictures. Whilst this is obviously not a high end camera it is the perfect answer for anyone looking to take good quality pictures without spending a small fortune. It can be a tad fiddly going through the menus but once you get used to them it is really no problem at all. Point and click bliss without worrying about the kids getting hold of it and destroying it. In my opinion if you are looking for a waterproof digital camera that takes great pictures and won’t leave a large dent in your wallet this is the one to have.

Specs:

Walton-on-the-Naze backwaters offer some of the most beautiful and picturesque scenery in the Essex county and with its many low lying islands and creeks it is an ideal location for kayaking. Although tidal, paddling in the many creeks is calm and effortless which makes it both safe and enjoyable for novice kayak and canoeist and also children.

The island is approximately eight or ten miles round and is predominantly covered in coastal and salt marsh plants including the extremely rare Hog’s Fennel.  It has a few sandy beaches but mostly mudflats surround the island.  The island itself forms part of a nature reserve and is home to many rare migrating and breeding birds such as Terns, Ringed Plover, Curlew, Dunlin, Pintail, Wigeon and Dark-bellied Brent Geese.

Only a few miles away and from where Hamford Water joins the sea the ports of Felixstowe and Harwich (one of Europe's largest and developing ports) can be seen.

Several fellow kayakers and I planned to paddle around Horsey Island stopping and camping overnight on one of its beaches.  The kayaks being used for the journey were the Sevylor Ranger inflatable kayak, a sit on top kayak and a Perception Sundance.

Paddling along the Walton Channel in an inflatable kayak fully laden with camping equipment and kayak accessories is hard going in tidal water.

The sit on top kayak being paddled by Matt was easier to paddle as it quite happily bounced off the waves. Joel’s Perception kayak was the easiest by far to paddle in these waters.

Approximately one third of the way round Horsey Island is a head of land called Stone Point. It has a charming sandy beach and is situated right at the point where the Walton Channel meets the sea.  After paddling the kayaks for about an hour we had reached Stone Point which was our first resting point.  We stopped for a quick bite to eat and a drink.  At Stone Point you can clearly see the port of Harwich and just across the channel four or five disused and rusting barges have been deliberately run aground in an effort to, one assumes, act as tide breakers and sea defences.  We stretched our legs for five minutes and walked round the head of stone point to take in the sea views.

At this point we were making very good progress and although it was 7:00pm there was plenty of light left in the day. We agreed to keep paddling around the island until 8.00pm and then stop wherever we were at that time and make a camp.

I got back into my inflatable kayak and started to paddle off with the rest of the group.

As we rounded the top of the island and into Hamford Water we were conscious of the need to stay as close as possible to the shore line in order to avoid any river traffic entering and exiting the channel.

This meant we had to paddle our way through the derelict barges and as the tide was well on its way out I was concerned my inflatable kayak may sustain a puncture on a piece of broken off metal. Thankfully all the kayaks zig zagged through the boats and both the inflatable kayaks were unscathed.

We had been paddling for some time along the Hamford Water which runs along the top of the island when we came to a fork. We could not be absolutely sure if this was the left side of Horsey Island leading to Kirby Creek or just a large creek cutting into the centre.

Our original plan was to paddle clockwise around the island so we would not have had to make this decision coming out of the creek if it was in fact the left side of Horsey Island.  Up ahead the channel appeared to bear to the left after about a mile or so, indicating this also could be the correct way.

We stopped and braced our paddles across our kayaks while a debate ensued as to whether or not to continue ahead or turn off at the creek in the hope it would eventually take us back to the harbour.

I could remember there being a large creek on the aerial map I had studied beforehand but to be honest I was unsure if this was it. The decision was made to carry on ahead. We continued to paddle and as the sun hung low in the sky and it was now 8.00pm we started to look for a suitable place to camp.

As the tide was almost out it exposed mud banks about eight to ten feet high on both sides of the channel. There was no sign of anywhere suitable to stop and camp for the night. We continued to paddle.

We paddled down Hamford Water not knowing that we had in fact missed our turning to go around the island back at the fork after Stone Point.  Despite paddling further and further we could not spot a single place to portage. As it was nearly 9.00pm and the sun had dropped behind the horizon Hamford Water took on an ominous feel.

We were starting to feel lost, tired and hungry. My inflatable kayak was unforgiving and the weight of my camping and kayak accessories made paddling even harder. I had a five litre water bottle stuffed behind my kayak seat, a foot pump, tent, sleeping bag, food and so on, all of which were making the inflatable kayak drag heavily against the tidal water.

The banks along Hamford Water seemed to be getting higher or maybe it was just our moods getting lower. Having planned to pitch a camp long before sunset and travel back the next day, nobody had thought to bring a torch.   This added to our worries as we were in a channel used by other boats. Still we pushed on looking for any nook or cranny where we could pull ourselves out.

As it was now getting quite dark and we were starting to become desperate one of the group tried to get out and climb the mud banks.  He instantly sank up to his knees in the mud and knew that it would be impossible to get out and pull the kayaks up the banks.

We had no other option but to keep paddling.  The channel seemed to go on and on until we eventually rounded a corner to find to our horror that the channel come to a dead end.  It was evident we had simply been following a large creek inland and were now around the Beaumont Cut area.

We were extremely tired, hungry and stranded in this creek with the only option to either call the coast guard or attempt to paddle back to the beach at Stone Point. Although exhausted nobody wanted to call the coast guard so we wearily began to head back in the dark to Stone Point with the feint hope we had missed an exit point along the way.

It was now gone 9.00pm and we had a three or four mile paddle back to Stone Point ahead of us.  Not much was spoken on this stretch and the two of us paddling the inflatable kayaks started to lag behind. At 10.00pm and what felt like hours had passed we started to see the silhouettes of the rusty barges in the distance. This uplifted out spirits but as hard as we paddled they never seemed to get any nearer.

Before I knew it two of the guys from our group had already jumped out of their kayak seats and were knee deep in the mudflats and swearing liberally.  I had not been that afraid for a long time and I remembered many stories of people being trapped in mud and stuck there until the tide came back in and they drowned.

I had a very bad feeling about the situation and knew the Walton backwaters were predominately marshland and mudflats.  I tried to persuade the others that it was a bad idea and that we should call for help on our mobile phones. Before my appeal had even been considered everyone else had got out of their kayak seats and were taking their chances in the mud.

I was so tired and ached to get out of my inflatable kayak.  A desperate need to just go for it took over me.   I took a deep breath and leapt out of my kayak seat and sank immediately knee deep into cold, wet, martian like mud that surrounds Horsey Island. Within the first two steps I lost my trainers and was now wading barefoot.  I was thankful only that it was so dark I could barely see where or what I was stepping on. What made progress through the mud infinitely worse was hauling my inflatable kayak weighed down with all my kit and paddles.

It was impossible to take more than a few steps without collapsing on top of my inflatable kayak from exhaustion.  I longed to just leave it there but I knew the tide would come back in soon and I would have no way of returning home.  At one point I took a step forward and sank right up to my backside.  At that split second I thought my luck had run out.   I lunged backwards and grasped for my kayak. This scared me senseless as a few inches further and I would have been stuck and I doubt very much the others would have been able to pull me out.

I just wanted to be at home in my warm bed. Once I got my breath back I slowly and timidly stepped forward again. I could feel sharp pain in my feet and prayed it was just stones and shells I was stepping on and not broken parts of the rusting barges that we were passing uncomfortably close to.

I could just make out the shadow if Joel dragging the Perception kayak who was now a couple of hundred years up ahead. I shouted to him asking if he had made it to the beach yet and was dreadfully dismayed when he swore back that he hadn’t. I cursed my inflatable kayak that although filled with air still weighed a ton.  This was by far one of the worst experience of my life and I could not understand how on earth an easy paddle around Horsey Island had ended up with this nightmare scenario.

Amongst our kayak accessories we had a portable stove and the sound of the kettle boiling started to cheer us up. We used most of the water we had brought along trying to clean the mud off ourselves but we made sure we left enough to make hot drinks.

Sitting in the openings of our tents and sipping a hot drink we even started to crack some jokes about what we had gone through, thinking that things could not get any worse.  How wrong we were.  Looking at the ground more closely and upon examining what we had thought to be grass turned out to be a seaweed type of plant.  It quickly dawned on us that in the confusion and haste to get our tents pitched we had made camp on a flood plain.

We could not believe it but at the same time we were not prepared to set up camp anywhere else as it would be pointless anyway having absolutely no idea what area would be safe from flooding.

We decided to take our chances with myself and one of the other guys agreeing to stay awake as long as possible and until after high tide which would not be until 4:50am.  I tied my inflatable kayak to the tent to stop it floating away if we accidentally fell asleep and didn’t notice the tide come in, and used the kayak seat for a pillow.

I sat under the stars with Nick while the other members of the group slept. We drank tea to keep awake.  At 3:00am we checked the camp perimeter.  To the south and about 200 yards from the tents we could see the water flooding the plain. We couldn’t be sure from where it was coming from but most probably an inlet or creek.

We carried on checking every half an hour and at 4:30am the water was within fifty yards of the camp.  We hoped it would not come any closer and upon checking again at 5:15am thankfully it was no nearer.  I went back to my tent and collapsed.

I woke from my short sleep at around 7:30am.  It was a glorious morning and the water had not reached our tents.  My neck ached from sleeping on an inflatable kayak seat but I didn’t really notice because just about every other part of my body ached profusely.

In the light of the day we could see the many cuts and grazes to our feet we had sustained getting through the mud but I was mainly concerned with a rather deep 4 inch gash on the bottom of my right foot.  I hadn’t noticed it last night, perhaps because it was packed in cold mud but now it started to throb with pain.

We had planned to have a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs. This however was not possible as we were conscious we needed to get off Horsey Island before the tide went out again leaving us to deal with the mudflats once more.

Adding to our misery one of the group had lost his paddles when dragging his inflatable kayak through the mud.  This meant we would either have to tow him or split one of the paddles in two and the rest of us take turns to paddle single bladed.

What should have been a relaxing paddle back to the marina took twice as long and involved a combination of towing and taking turns with single blades. Nobody really said much on the return journey, we simply wanted to get back home.

Once back at the marina we unpacked our kits and stowed the kayaks.  Later that day I went to the hospital and for my troubles had a tetanus jab and six stitches in my right foot.

The river Stour is a sedate river in Essex England and stretches for some forty six miles. This was the river for one of my first kayaking adventures which threw up some unexpected events.

On this particular paddle I was accompanied by four friends and we each had an inflatable kayak for the journey. Four of us had Sevylor Rangers and one had a Sterns Cordova

Due to a very hot summer the river was low and the rise had practically dried out so we started from a place called Henny Street which is about three miles further down river.

As this was one of my very first river runs and the first time I had ever paddled an inflatable kayak my friends and I had little experience and had not planned our journey as well as we might have.

As any experienced kayaker will tell you what is detailed in a map can look very different from what the river is actually like. It certainly does not provide information on river heights, conditions and the effects of the weather.

After spending a few minutes pumping up my inflatable kayak and loading up all of the kayak accessories, my friends and I were ready to go. It was early morning around 8am on a beautiful sunny Sunday.  We began our journey near the Swan public house, much to the amusement of its patrons.

Within seconds of being afloat we were faced with our first dilemma. The river immediately forked into two separate paths, one blocked by an over hanging tree and the other by a weir.

One of my fellow paddlers decided to try and tackle the weir which was a daunting prospect especially as he had never shot a weir on an inflatable kayak before.

Needless to say he got stuck half way down due to the rubber skegs on the bottom of the inflatable kayak and the weir only having a few inches of water running over it.  Luckily he was still high enough on the weir to get out and drag the kayak back up to the top much to the increasing amusement and ever growing crowed at the pub.

We then decided to take the route blocked by the tree which we did manage to negotiate but not before getting covered in leaves and pieces of bark. Thankfully all of the inflatable kayaks made it through this first obstacle without sustaining any punctures.

No sooner had we made it past the tree we came to a dead end and found ourselves in a small pond with nowhere else to go.

Confused about what to do next a local man appeared on the riverbank that seemed to be unhappy with regard to our presence in his garden pond. To our total embarrassment it now became clear to us that we were not in fact in the River Stour but in some ones back garden hence the reason the people at the pub found us so amusing.

Fortunately the pond owner quickly realised that we were hapless and inexperienced kayakers and pointed over to where the river was, a couple of hundred yards away.

One of the major problems paddling a river after there has been a long hot dry spell is the build up of weed and algae. This river weed is not dissimilar to pea soup and smells a whole lot worse!  Upon rounding a bend in the river we were faced with a huge patch of ‘pea soup’ that spanned across the entire width of the river.

Nick, one of the paddlers in the group was not as athletic as the rest of us, and as a result was lagging some way behind. Whilst waiting for him to catch up we let the kayaks drift up to the ‘pea soup‘ using it as an anchor. We took the opportunity to have a quick sandwich and a drink.

Not wanting to hold us up, Nick decided not to stop and to push on through the weed in order to make up some ground as the rest of us looked on.

The further he paddled into the duck weed the harder it became to paddle. The more he paddled the more the weed tangled up in his paddles and as he lifted the paddle to take a stroke the weed fell into his boat. We couldn’t help but laugh at his plight.

He eventually became stuck in the middle of the weed. Unable to paddle any further due to the thickness of it. However his predicament soon became ours when we made our attempts to get him out.  Upon seeing how difficult it was to paddle through the weed we decided to portage up the steep grassy bank.

At this point we realised one of the most important kayak accessories to have in your kit bag is nettle spray!  As we climbed up the river bank in our shorts we all sustained many nettle stings which soon stopped us laughing.

Another important item in your kayak accessories should be a decent rope. Luckily I had brought a rope with me but unfortunately it was not a good quality one. We threw the rope to our fellow stranded paddler who in turn tied it to the front of his inflatable kayak. As we tried to pull the boat the rope snapped and kept snapping every time it was retied.

At one point Matt slipped down the bank and fell waist deep into the stagnant weed. By this time Nick had worked out that he could edge forward by bumping along but it was a slow process and was extremely tiring.

It was vary rare that any flow in the river could be detected which meant we had to paddle every inch of the way. We successfully navigated a small weir and managed to paddle the shallow waters following it. The Stour really does have some spectacular and remote spots along its course. One minute the river is fifty feet wide and the next it is barely wide enough to paddle.

Soon we were in Bures which is a typically quaint English village complete with water mill.  At this point there was talk about getting a taxi back to the cars which we had left at Dedham on the assumption that we would easily make it to Dedham by four or five o’clock.  Joel, who was paddling a Sterns Cordova inflatable kayak, was suffering from quite a bit of back ache due to the kayak seat in the Cordova being low and unpadded.

After a rest and a drink at this stunning location we agreed to push on as were able to fashion a more comfortable kayak seat in the Colorado using one of the spare Sevylor rangers inflatable kayak seats.  Fully refreshed we headed further down the winding river Stour.

Up ahead we could see some low hanging trees and as we drew closer we could see the dreaded pea soup weed covering the entire width of the river. Whilst the length of this latest patch of weed did not seem to stretch for more than thirty feet and the width of the river at this point was only about ten or fifteen feet wide, this latest patch of weed did have a dead ram hanging from a tree inches above the water line.
This poor creature had obviously slipped down the bank and in its attempts to make it across to the other side had become entangled in the tree.

Bumping our inflatable kayaks across the weed it was quite disgusting as we paddled uncomfortably close to the bloated and fly blown animal. This was the sort of thing that when you are planning your leisurely paddle you don’t take into account and you will you never find this on any map

The river Stour continues to twist along at a very sedate pace through various idealic locations with the river hardly seeming to be flowing at all.

The weirs every few miles break up the journey but unfortunately in view of the time of year and the recent dry spell many of them were unable to be shot in our inflatable kayaks.

Shortly after midday we stopped for a late lunch by a public house called the Swan in a place called Nayland which is yet another idyllic sleepy village.  Here the river runs straight through the village. After lunch we set off again and due to the dry river in places we had to drag our inflatable kayaks for about a mile or so.

We quickly found that the easiest way to get back  into an inflatable kayak whilst in the river was to jump into it at the same time as pushing it forward much the same way as a bobsleigh rider would.

When I considered the water was deep enough to paddle I pushed the kayak forward and jumped into it only to find that the water was not deep enough causing the inflatable kayak to stop dead in its tracks making me fall forward onto the bow where all my kayak accessories were packed.

Unfortunately I fell face first onto my metal flask causing the bridge of my nose to split open. If the water had been deep enough I could have fallen in and would have been in real difficulty as I was a bit dazed and confused on top of my nose bleeding quite heavily. To say our paddle along the river Stour was a leisurely one is far from the truth as we seemed to be faced with one issue after another.