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Bigge “Redman” Wilson says on our Facebook page – “Best day out in Pembrokeshire, all abilities can do it with a fantastic teacher and have the chance to see nature that cannot be seen from land”.

Full price is £57 per adult, £37 under 15′s

Explore the North Pembrokeshire Coast line on our, half and full day, guided sea kayaking trips during the London 2012 Olympic summer.

Meeting in Lower Fishguard, trips maybe anywhere in the Fishguard and Newport area, depending on the weather. We return on the Pembrokeshire Coast bus service back to your vehicle or bus stop, this is included in your price. You are able to view photos of your trip afterwards via our facebook page.

Our usual terms and conditions apply with the following two additions;

Offer is available from the time the Olympic Torch passes through Fishguard on Sunday 27th May until the closing Ceremony on 12th August.
Minimum Booking is 4 people.

There is a google map showing our progress Wales Circumnavigation by Sea kayak map.

Thursday 19th April – Aberthaw to Porthcawl. We sea kayaked into a F4-5 headwind and I have to say, “it wasn’t much fun”!  We had intended to reach Port Talbot but Porthcawl looked much nicer and we only had an hour left of tide, so we decided enough was enough.  Camping here would provide us with an ideal jumping off point and, weather permitting, would enable us to sea kayak across to the Mumbles tomorrow.  We found ourselves a nice, grassy camping spot by a coastguard tower, away from the crowds.  The afternoon saw us drying kit in between the rain showers, as well as planning our route for the following day.

When we walked into civilisation for an evening coffee, water etc., we noticed that Steve’s tent stood out like a blue beacon on the headland; although out of the way, we were clearly visible to everyone along the coast!  It was a pleasant sunset to watch.

Friday 20th April – Porthcawl to Port Eynon. Today the tide will run for us until around 1230.  We made good progress initially, with Mumbles Head quickly growing in front of us; I love the way in which the details like buildings, houses, cars amongst others gradually come together on crossings.  As the morning progressed though things changed.  “It could be worse though, it could start raining”, “oh it is!” was the conversation of the day; at one point we even had hail.! The last hour into Port Eynon was really hard, the walkers on the cliff were passing us; at least now the sun was shining.  It was difficult to stand on arrival at the beach, it was harder than after the Irish Sea Crossing.  Despite the conditions, we had sea kayaked 40km, the F4-5 wind and 1m swell cancelling out the 3-4 knot tide beneath us during the six hours; it felt like we’d started.

We found a great campspot; it was along a popular walk route and we met some nice people, the cards we had made being given out like hotcakes.!  It was due to be an early start for the the tide tomorrow and we both ached from the day.

Saturday 21st April – The alarm went off at 5am but both of us were stiff and very tired from the two days paddling into a strong headwind; we decided it was too early and would take another ten minutes. We woke up again around 9ish and kicked ourselves when we did; the wind had eased all morning, but we decided our bodies obviously needed the rest. The afternoon saw the wind pick up again but studying the forecasts, it looked like it would ease again in the evening for a few hours. This was handy as we’d since been told that the patch of grass we were on would be needed for parking on Sunday.  We added lightsticks to our kayaks and ourselves, wore our headtorchs for map reading and left at 9.30pm into little wind but a moderate swell; the shadow of Worms Head against the clear night sky was beautiful.  The swell rebounding from the cliffs meant we needed to stay out a bit further than we’d have liked, but watching Saturn in the sky we found ourselves landing at Worms Head to carry over, avoiding the breaking waves we could see and hear on the Head.  There were a few fisherman who seemed surprised to see us!  Staying away and avoiding the surf on Llangenith and around Burry Holms Head made navigation towards the end quite difficult; it was 1.30am the swell was quite large and I wasn’t looking forward to landing.  I asked Steve if he wanted time to put on his helmet, he said “no, I just want get off”, I fed him chocolate and we went slowly in.  We didn’t want to surf in if we could help it.  Slowly we approached the beach along the right hand side, as this offered the most protection in the swell direction we had; the sand dunes ahead getting closer, we identified an RIB Station and knew we were getting close, always ready to slow ourselves as the back of the kayak began to lift.  Then our paddles hit the bottom, we’d arrived on the beach with far more shelter than either of us expected.  We were dry, hadn’t lost anything and Steve was still talking to me; it was Steve’s first night paddle and wasn’t exactly the gentle introduction he needed but the landing couldn’t have gone better.  We had a 600m carry to get the kayaks above the tideline and found ourselves a patch of grass to camp on.  It looked like a great spot but we might have to move in the light to somewhere more sheltered from tomorrows expected wind.

Sunday 22nd April – gale force 8 winds forecast. We slept past 10am the next morning and seemed to be raising eyebrows from the dogwalkers passing by.  We were in a field overlooking the River Lougher and Carmarthen Bay; I’ve slept with worse veiws I suppose!  We wandered up to Limekiln Point to have a look at the sea and decided we’d best stay put; when you have the wind on your back and you can still see the white horses you know it’s not a good sea state.

The hills of the Gower seem to be sheltering our campspot perfectly and we leave them where we are, with the very kind permission of the landowner, who had been to see us.  We sheltered from the rain and drank coffee, occassionally checking forecasts for any updates.

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Monday 23rd April – Still the gale force winds were blowing, they had backed 180 and we were still sheltered, but the sea looked rough.  “It could be worse though, it could start raining”, “oh it is!” was once again the converstaion of the day; at least we had our humour.

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The forecast suggested that the wind might ease from lunchtime but then the tide will be on the flood.  We studied the chart and decided that the F5 easing to F3 crosswind would be bearable for a few hours.  We would leave at 3pm and paddle to Pendine, so we could cross to Tenby from there on the morning tide.

We crept around the inside of Carmarthen Bay, the sun appearing dried us out and the last two hours were nice to paddle.  The sky ahead displaying the perfect diagram for the passage of a frontal system.  We camped on the Dunes underneath the MOD Range.

Tuesday 24th April – Pendine to Freshwater East. We were up at 6am and ready for the start of the ebbtide.  The forecast was again telling us to expect gale force winds and we identified a campsite at Freshwater West, which would be better sheltered overnight and with a campsite, showers and facilities could be used!

We jumped on at 8am and headed for Caldey Island and Tenby.  At 9am we were approached  by the MOD Safety Boat and informed they were firing and we needed to be outside the special marks.  We’d almost crossed it on our route and continued the next 500m with an escort until we left the Danger Area.  He informed us that Manorbier were also firing today.  We had our VHF and would be able to call in once we were there. Another half an hour we were in Pembrokeshire; now we were going to make some progress, I thought.  I know where all of the little beaches were so that we could utilise the tide an ride that extra little bit further.

We passed Tenby and had the UK Border Agency decide to drop anchor right in front of our path; we’d seen them from way off but it wasn’t clear what their intentions were, so we kept an eye on them.

They went slowly round in circles, back and forth, from a few miles away and then as we approached they dropped anchor almost in front of us and certainly close enough for them to see us by then, “ok, I guess we’ll go round then”.  And then we are approached  by the Manorbier Range Boat, it was a day of authorities!  We explained we were going to call but were still 30 minutes from there, he seemed fine with that and left.  As we approached Old Castle Head we had the best seats in the house for the test.  We called in and were told it was safe to pass but take the shortest and most direct route through; Fresh Water East was straight ahead no diversions required!  The South Pembrokeshire sandy beaches looking great in the blue skies and gentle breeze; it was almost hard to believe that in a few hours it would all be very different.  We arrived at Freshwater West 12pm with thoughts of pastry and coffee but were surprised there was nowhere to have one.  We enquired where the campsite was and went of to search it out.  It was a Caravan and Camping Club approved site; we went to see the Warden’s, who were happy for us to stay despite them not usually accepting campers for another few weeks.

We secured our kayaks above the tide and sheltered from the overnight weather and carried everything we needed to the site.  With our kayaking kit and sleeping bags it wasn’t long before we attracted an audience and everyone was keen to hear our story.

Wednesday 25th April – Howling wind and rain overnight! Even in the sheltered campsite it was wild.  I think many of the caravaner’s were surprised to see us both there in the morning and looking well rested after a good nights sleep.  We used the facilities again, it was nice to have another shower.

Late afternoon we paddled around to Stackpole Quay so we wouldn’t risk waking the caravan park up early when we packed.  We cooked dinner surrounded by birds who were almost eating from hands.  As soon as we’d finished the heavens opened and we retired for the night, it was only 8.30pm!

Thursday 26th April – Stackpole to St Martins Haven, We were up early for the morning tide around the Castlemartin Range; we’d already been informed they had no planned tests until the follwoing week.  We paddled into a F4 headwind all tide again and once again put up with hail stones in our face.  It was a hard paddle through Jack Sound into wind and tide and we were glad to land at Martin’s Haven.  We talked about getting back on after some food to cross St’Brides Bay to Porth Clais but the wind had taken enough from us again.  We had coffee from the Skomer Island ticket seller and then set up camp, sheltered from the cold Northerly wind.  A long walk into Marloes was rewarded with a nice pint late afternoon.

Friday 27th April – St Martins Haven to Whitesands. We woke to the wind having veered to the North East which was typical of our luck; we were planning to round St David’s Head and head North East! It took us three hours to cross St Brides Bay when it should have only been two so we decided Whitesands would be enough. Approaching Ramsey Sound we were a little apprehensive but it looked like the calmest water we’d seen so far on the trip; I knew the line very well and we made our way into the sound.  Horse Rock looked absolutely amazing as we flew down the right hand side of it, over a large, unbroken North Westerly swell. The highlight of the day was watching Steve 15 foot above my head as we passed from the north end of the sound into Whitesands Bay.  Steve says he doesn’t remember it as he had his eyes shut the whole way through!  We battled the wind the final mile into Whitesands Beach, got changed and checked weather forecasts over a coffee.  It seemed likely that we were going to be around a few days.

Saturday 28th April – We didn’t fancy the paddle into the Force 5-6 NE headwind towards Strumble Head, only to then be storm bound by the Gale Force 9 winds for a possible two days on a remote beach. We were only twenty miles from home we jumped on a bus for a warm bed for the weekend. We hoped to paddle again on the Monday but it will, of course, depend on how long the storm takes to blow through.

Sunday 29th April – We were tired but it was nice and warm in front of the home fire. Fishgaurd Bay looked worse each time we looked out of the window; we were really glad we decided not to wild camp through the storm.

Monday 30th April – The forecast for F8 dropping to F5 NE and perhaps it was the warmth of the house or the half bottle of whiskey from the night before, whatever it was we didn’t go back to Whitesands to recommence our paddling.

Tuesday 1st May – The wind was forecast to drop and we headed back to continue from Whitesands. The bay had never looked so calm, and then we got to St. David’s Head.  Once again we were not in Neptune’s favour, with wind and rain in our faces. We had hoped for a big day after our rest but only made it to Abermawr, there was no way we were going around Strumble Head today. As we arrived the sun came out and the wind dropped, typical.  We decided to camp on the Aberbach beach and spent the afternoon drying out our kit again in the afternoon sun.  We gathered fire wood but it was too wet to get started properly for us.  The next tide was overnight and we were going to have to wait until the following afternoon to leave.

Wednesday 2nd April – Abermawr to Poppit. We had beautiful conditions around Strumble Head. We had a bearing to head straight at Camaes Head and headed that way. We had to wait for the ferry as we didn’t want to get run over but this wasn’t a problem. As soon as it passed we were on our way again. Off we went and the mist started to descend. I had been really looking forward to flying past my patch and seeing it from miles out and now it wasn’t to be. We stayed on our bearing and after a couple hours the wind picked up from F2 to F4 in less than an hour. As we arrived at Camaes we had to land as Steve’s skeg had stopped working and my temperature plummeted, I’d left the cag of too late in the wind, an error I won’t make again. We set ourselves up camping next to the old Lifeboat slip and I set about rewarming myself.

Steve repaired his skeg under a headtorch, a first for us both I think. Almost as soon as we finished eating the heavens opened again; we sheltered under a tree before turning in for the night.

Thursday 3rd May – Poppit to Newquay. Much calmer seas today; it was a pleasant paddle for a change. Neil came out to meet as at Aberproth and joined us for the paddle.  We landed at Newquay to call into the Cardigan Bay Wildlife Centre, for whom we were raising money.  They came out in full and photos were taken before we found a campspot and a Fish and Chip shop.  An evening pint with the Lifeboats Crew and a good banter was time well spent.

Friday 4th May -  Newquay to Tywyn. In the morning we didn’t want to leave until 10am so we packed our camping kit and went for a cooked breakfast.  Lots of people said hello, word had spread about the two sea kayakers, camping and raising money for their local centre.  We covered 45km today, an hour after we started the mist came in and we lost sight of the land.

I added 10 degrees onto our bearing to ensure that we wouldn’t miss our destination as there was no benefit to going further into Tremadog Bay if we missed Pen Bach Pt. 5 hours into our paddle the mist began to lift again and we were able to take a resection from two towers and a mast. This confirmed we were 1km to the east of where we had planned to be if we’d paddled our original bearing, so we were happy we’d done the right thing in case the fog hadn’t lifted.

The wind then started to back to the NE and I knew in another hour or so it would increase, which it did. It funnelled down the Dovey estuary and was hitting us side on; a little lumpier for a while and then the hills provided a little shelter for us in the last hour.  As we approached the beach the tide stream was visibly taking us from right to left and we landed next to a flat piece of grass to camp on.  A farm fence provided the perfect drying facility.

Saturday 5th May – One of us is a little stiff, with a few niggles today, it’s not me so I’ll let you work out who it is; we have to listen if our bodies are telling us something and stay put.  We wandered into Tywyn for breakfast at the railway and to use the supermarket.

The rest of the day was spent airing sleeping bags and planning the tide for the following day.  The wind was forecast F4 today and F2 tomorrow so a great forecast to cross to the Llyn Peninsular and hopefully beyond. A 12+ hour day?

Sunday 6th May – Tywyn to Morfa Nefyn 81km. “The day we rode the tide”.

Today was exactly how we’d imagined this exped to be when we first planned it, calm seas, no swell, no wind and a spring tide beneath us. We jumped on a little after 8am and paddled glass smooth seas across to Porth Ceriad. The tides around the Peninsular weren’t due to start until 1349 so the plan was to arrive around then and have a quick lunch on the beach before riding the tide to Morfa Nefyn and thats exactly what we did, we even had porpoise to keep us company at times.

It seems so long ago that I’ve paddled seas this calm, it was certainly our first on this trip; looking at the forecasts I fear it maybe our last too.  We landed at dusk having found a grassland immediately around the corner from the lifeboat slip, very pleased at the distance we’d covered, with half an hour of tide still to spare.

Monday 7th May – We were woken up by pounding wind and rain, why didn’t we spend a little more time last night finding a more sheltered spot? Its not too bad, the rain is horizontal. From the forecasts we knew we wouldn’t be going anywhere again today and decided to do what all marinas do when storm bound and head to the pub. Shame it was still only 8am!

The path the Ty Coch gets cut off at high tide and we wandered around just after 11am.  It was open and we met with a warm welcome.  Within an hour and the place was full of walkers sheltering from the weather on their way past, some stopping for food before or after their journey.  There was little space for the numbers and we had a steady stream of people perching on the end of our table to talk to.  After a couple of hours the lady sat on a table close by came over to ask what we were doing as it seemed like an interview Michael Parsons with everyone listening to our story.  I think that the three young brothers were very impressed and dad said he’d take them past our campspot to see the kayaks.  We went for another walk in the evening and again noticed that Steve’s blue tent shone out like a beacon to let people know where we were.

Tuesday 8th May – Morfa Nefyn to Porth-y-post, 40km. Tide wasn’t in our favour until 1630 but as it was a nice sunny day we didn’t mind. The wind was only F3 when we jumped on and headed north, passing seals on the rock as we left.

The first couple of hours seemed hard work but we appeared to be making our usual progress. As the evening went on the wind dropped and the sea went glass smooth; it was a nice sunset to watch.

At 10pm we needed to take a resection to work where we were and mistook the light on the Rhoscolyn tower for the mast at RAF Valley; we couldn’t work out where the tower was! It was only an hour later when we heard the roar of the tide and we were nearly swept around Penrhyn Mawr that we saw the mast for RAF Valley and realised we were far further north than planned. We’d been lucky and pulled into Porth-y-post at 2230.  As we arrived there was another group coming into the bay along the other cliff.  They didn’t notice us as we approached them from behind; then a voice says “what’s happened here, I had 6 and now it seems I have 8?”  To which asked if there was anywhere good to camp here.  It turned out it was James running a five star night navigation training exercise.

Wednesday 9th May – Again we have no tide until this evening, 1805 and forecasts suggested NE F4-5 for that evening, hmmm, Penryhn Mawr and the Stacks in that wind and fading light? I think not! Tomorrow morning the winds were going to be even stronger and tomorrow evenings no better, what to do?  We looked at our options all morning and into the afternoon; we decided that Friday evenings tide was going to be the earliest the weather would safely allow us to pass through Penryhn Mawr.

Saturday we needed to be heading home to Pembrokeshire so that Steve could collect his vehicle to drive back to Lincoln on the Sunday, in time for his commitments on Monday.  Instead of sitting for two days to paddle one more and finish, we decided to make a call and have someone come and pick us up Thursday lunchtime.  It gave an extra day that Steve could spend with his wife and his little boy and me a day with my wife before work would begin again on the Monday.

Skomer and Skokholm Track

We forgot to start the track when we left St Martins Haven to sea kayak around Skomer and Skokholm, doh!

Sea kayaking to Skomer Island

Heading to Skomer Island it was a little overcast and calm seas.

North Along Skomer Island

After crossing Jack Sound we headed along the North side of Skomer Island.

Mike Thacker Sea Kayaking

Neil Buckland Sea Kayaking

Sea Kayaking Garland Stone

We approached Garland Stone and it occured to us to start the gps track.

Matt Gregory Sea Kayaking

Steve Bunston Sea Kayaking

Sea Kayaking to Skokholm

A quick bite to eat and then it was time to head off to Skokholm, an hour away South, on the last of the ebb tide.

Once there we had another short break and this little fella came to join us.  He took a particular liking to the bow of my sea kayak.

Skokholm Lighthouse

Skokholm Puffin

The Puffins were about but being very elusive, it is still early in the spring afterall.

Sea Kayaking back to the mainland

Soon we were making the ferryglide back to the mainland for lunch.

Sea kayaking beach

Lunchtime Sleep

Some people found time for a quick nap!

Rockhopping

Before we headed off again for some gentle rockhopping.

Sea Kayaking Skomer

Before ferrying back to Skomer again.

Skomer Island Sea Kayaking

And down through Little Sound.

Little Sound

We headed for the harbour but couldn’t land as the seals were enjoying the sun like this one.

Sea Kayaking with Seals

And more Puffins!

Puffins

And then it was time to cross Jack sound again and head home.

Sea Kayaking Jack Sound

Steve Bunston

My journey to becoming a sea kayaker didn’t really start with a kiss, but I figured that would get your attention!  I’ve always been into the outdoor scene and in hindsight I guess sea kayaking was a really a question of when not if.  Five years ago I found myself on the Island of Skye at the foot of the Dubh Ridge – probably the best rock scramble in the UK.  As I climbed I saw 4 sea kayaks beached below me – they had been paddled up the Loch and from the voices I started to hear the kayakers were not far above me.  I met them at the abseil – they let me use their rope as mine was a tad too short!?!  We got chatting – they had come from Elgol and had kayaked into heart of the Cullins – awesome!  Time to become a sea kayaker…

Flat Holm

Fast fwd 4 yrs and the nearest I’d got to that ambition was buying a copy of Mark Rainsley’s Sea Kayak Guide to the South West (Amazon make buying stuff far too easy!)  The opportunity to work at Aberporth came my way and the idea of being paid to live by the seaside was just too good to miss.  Everyday I drive past the beach and the coastline was screaming out to be explored…  I toyed with the idea of buying a Sit on Top but I was persuaded (cheers Kev!) to head down the Sit-In Kayak route.

Steve B in Dorset

As sea kayaks aren’t cheap and it was some 20 yrs since I had last paddled I figured I better get some help.  A couple of emails later and I was stood next to trailer on Lower Town Quay on a perfect late March day listening to Mike explain the various features of a sea kayak.  He decided we’d paddle to Pwll Gwealod, which ticked all my boxes – I thought we’d be limited to the confines of Fishguard harbour – but a real journey was the Biz!

Into the Cave

Once on the water I was impressed how well the sea kayak tracked – really easy to keep it going in a straight line. Mike then explained the concept of edging and how you have to edge away to turn a sea kayak.  I tried it and yep whilst it wasn’t intuitive, it worked.  Now I should have given up while I was ahead but hey I’d been sea kayak for at 10 minuntes, it wasn’t that hard so it was time to push the (my) envelope…  I can confirm that whilst late March days can be warm, the sea is still chilly & Bloc sunglasses don’t float!  Mike calmly emptied my kayak and I successfully completed my first wet recovery.  I managed to remain in the kayak for the rest of the day and we paddled past (and through) some very impressive scenery.

St Martins Haven to Dale

Driving home I decided I had to have more of this!  For my second trip I joined Mike’s (ir)regulars for a paddle round Strumble Head – maybe  not a novice trip but it was a strong team…  All went well until I followed Andy into a gap…  Timing is everything when rock hopping – the suck back grounded me, the first wave spun  me sideways the next one had my name on it.  Being at eve level with a wall of green seawater for the first time was an experience.  After some fun in the soup, I eventually escaped & the team recovered me.  The paddle to Abercastle was an anticlimax that was brightened up by trying to get 4 kayaks on car roof (cheers Dave!)

Strumble Head

Other trips follow including a camping trip from White sands – Abermawr – Pwll Gwealod with a mirror sea and a bag of logs dropped of by Mike to ensure a good campfire,

F5 Downwind

a lively F5 down wind paddle from Cardigan to Llangranog, regular Monday night trips enlivened by locked kayaks, lost keys & seized bearings, a close looksee at the new Newport sewage pipe floating in Fishguard Harbour, the very occasional trip beyond Cat Rock (Ssssh!?),

St Martins Haven to Dale

a tough upwind paddle into Dale followed by a 300m carry though mud & sand but mainly mud and a visit to The Bitches on a perfect day – what’s the fuss about?!?!

Steve B and Mr T

With the arrival of winter, it was time to exchange the sea kayak for a white water kayak – the Teifi Tour was my first WW trip for twenty blah blah years.  The first rapid went fine – the rest were best described as challenging and wet!!  Each time Mike scoped me out off we went. Since then we’ve done trips to S & N Wales and I’ve cracked the art of boofing  & the inadvertent kayak back flip!?!  I also have some data to support the theory that there are 2 ways down every rapid – the Mayberry way & the Easy Way!!!!

Steve on the Usk

On top of all the fun paddling I knew I had to learn to roll.  Success came quite quickly in Mike’s pink kayak & the murky waters of Fishguard harbour.  Transferring those skills to my white water kayak via the Pool was achieved through a bit of technique & lot of brute force!  The sea kayak was having none of that.  No amount to brute force or Mayberry coaching was cracking that nut – yes I was close, very close on occasion but it wasn’t happening.  Then a miracle occurred – it clicked and every attempt since – pool & sea has been successful!   I’m not going tell you what happened other than to say if you want to learn to roll get in contact with Mike, listen to what he says & do exactly as he describes.  If you succeed – well done if not, go back & work out which bit you were not listening to!?!

I was due to meet with two others on the evening Sunday 18th March for a couple of days sea kayaking on Angelsey and decided that whilst I was in the area I ought to register a time for the much coveted Menai Straits Challenge. I chose to do the long course.

On Satuday evening I studied the charts and worked out that I should start at 1609 if I was aiming for a time of around two hours.  The current best time for 2012 was 1 hour and 39 minutes on a 9.98m tide.  I knew I wouldn’t get anywhere near this as it was my first attempt, I didn’t know the Straits and the tide was only 7.9m.  After I had done all the hard work studying tide stream atlases, working out times from charts etc., I then found a start time calculator on the Performance Sea Kayak website that would have done most of this for me!  I was quite pleased with myself after using it and finding that my start time of 1609 was exactly in the middle for the start window on my tide.

Rockpool Taran

On Sunday I had a four hour drive to Angelsey and seemed to have every tractor and 40ft truck in Wales on the road ahead of me.  I had organised to borrow a Taran sea kayak from Rockpool kayaks (thanks again Mike) which also needed collecting before I raced.  Needless to say I cut it a little fine but managed to be ready twenty minutes before my calculated start time.  I had missed the slipway opposite the Sea Zoo, probably due to my rushing and found myself talking to an fisherman from Manchester in the end of a pier.  He was keen to hear about what I was up to and helpfully pointed me in the right direction of the slipway.  It was about 500m away which was fine as it meant I was able to paddle and check that I had the rudder adjusted correctly.

I warmed up on the pier and then put onto the water and gently paddled up to the slipway, bidding farewell to my new fisher friend.  Once there I had about a five minute wait, paddling backwards to stop the flooding tide pushing me past the slipway.  This was hard work and I wanted to get on with it so actually started a minute early.

Sea Zoo Slipway

I shot off the start line, helped by the tide flow.  I had a little breeze, around force 3 against me but the Taran didn’t seem to mind at all.  At first I kept edging and using steering strokes and the Taran didn’t want to steer as the rudder would keep it straight.  I think it was about half an hour or more before I started to get into the habit of using the rudder instead, but it was far from instinctive for me as I don’t usually have a rudder with my sea kayaks.  The gps showed my speed as around 10-12km/h.

As time went by I got into my rhythm, I was really looking forward to seeing the Britannia bridge now, how far could it be?  I seem to recall it coming into sight at around 45 minutes in and I was under it within the hour.  Although I was racing I needed to take on some energy and opened a mars bar, I had a bite and continued paddling, with more bites before I reached the Menai Bridge.  I was hitting 17km/ hour between the bridges, I wonder what the speed is on a spring tide?

The Menai Bridge

As I approched the Menai Bridge I knew I was supposed to go through the big arch at some point and so decided I would go down through that arch and then back up through the smaller one.  As I went through there were people on the bridge above shouting down to me, I’m sure they were shouting “Go on Mike” but have no idea who they were. I made the turn really well and as soon as it was done I knew I was against the flow, worse than that the sun was in my eyes and I couldn’t see anything!  A quick at the GPS showed my speed now as only 3km so I hugged the rocks on the right hand side where the tide was less.  I made it round the next point and moved to the right again avoiding the worst of the flow.  I pushed on ahead and missed the gap between the rocks that would have found me further inside the eddy, that pesky sun was costing me, as I wasn’t making the best use of the eddy!  At times the GPS showed me as not moving at all although transits alongside me showed very slow progress.  I think it was over 45 minutes paddling the 1.5km betwen those bridges!  I was really glad to be through and making the ferryglide across the flow above the Britania Bridge, making easy work of it now I was getting used to using the rudder.

The Britannia Bridge

Again flying down to the straits the tide was now slowing, I think the speed this time was only around 11km/h.  I was through the Menai Bridge for the second time and now looking forward to seeing Gallows Point for the finish.  It came into view quite soon after and it bought back thoughts of the Irish Sea Crossing whereby you can see something and keep paddling towards it but it doesn’t seem to get any closer.  I knew the tide was due to be slack before turning as I continued on and I recall watching every buoy I passed to see if it was still with me or not.  They showed a small tide in my favour still as I pushed on but not much.  The gps now suggesting a speed of around 9km/h.  As I got closer to the point the buoys showed no tidal movement but my speed remianed the same.  I saw Steve B on the slipway waiting for me to arrive and I continued to push on.

Final time 2 hours and 8 minutes, distance 19.9km, average speed 9.3km/h, maximum speed 15.6km/h.  Looking at the gps track I need to take the bends wider and make better use of the eddys in the Swellies next time.

A big thank  you to Mike Webb of Rockpool Kayaks for the use of the Taran and Steve Bunston for meeting me at the finish point.

SURREY, HAMPSHIRE & SOUTH LONDON EXPRESS
MAYBERRY KAYAKING
DATE: 21ST JULY 2011

MAYBERRY KAYAKING
Gains Recognition with Prestigious Award

It gives us great pleasure to announce MAYBERRY KAYAKING has been chosen as this year’s winner of the B.A. AWARD FOR SPECIALIST INTEREST HOLIDAY OF THE YEAR 2011, an independent Award Programme recognised both locally and nationally that is sponsored by the Surrey, Hampshire & South London Express.

Mayberry Kayaking is the brainchild of founder Mike Mayberry and his wife Canadian born Shelley who bought with her excellent customer service skills from across the pond. In 2005 Mike decided to turn the passion he had for kayaking into a business by drawing on the experience he gained over the years including working as a coach since the age of eighteen, becoming a volunteer Kayaking coach for seventeen years with the Sea Cadet Corps and in local clubs, as well as having led groups on whitewater trips all over the UK and Southern France.

Mike commented: “It’s really important to get the right coaching as early in your kayaking as possible before poor technique becomes ingrained. At the end of our weekend course most people have an idea of what they are looking for to purchase their own equipment and are happy enough to be able to take to the water on nice days. We keep the numbers down to no more than four per course ensuring that you get the most out of your two days with us and if you wish you can also be assessed for BCU awards.”

Receiving this accolade not only forms the final piece of the jigsaw that confirms the company’s success, but it also acts as a seal of approval to prospective clients.

TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT COACH COURSES OR TRIPS CONTACT: Mike Mayberry on Tel: 01348 874699, 9am to 9pm Monday to Saturday; Email: info@mikemayberrykayaking.co.uk. Alternatively, visit website: www.mayberrykayaking.co.uk

Shelley and I talked it over and decided it could be a good opportunity so I replied. Within hours I had a phone call from a very happy Ollie Olver and I was onboard. My travel was paid for, accommodation was on the barracks, food was included, I wouldn’t mind more of this and on Tuesday 26th April I was on the train to join them. The evening before we were on skype talking to Shelley’s family who wishing me a good holiday. “Its work” was my reply but they weren’t convinced. It didn’t help when Shelley opened my bag and the top two items in it were Sandals and sun cream. People still don’t believe it wasn’t a holiday to this date.

Wednesday afternoon I was met at the station by Noel and little did I realise at the time, he was going to be one of the funniest people I’ve ever met. We travelled then to Bulford Camp, where during the rest of the evening a group of ten other people gradually arrived. It seemed that everyone on the course was a senior rank and knew each other. It turned out they had never met before either, I guess that’s the just the way of the Army, everyone just gets on with it. There were a couple of other coaches, two were BCU Level Two Coaches, one with a four star sea leaders award, another had recently done the UKCC Level One Coach and another was doing his UKCC Level Two assessment in a couple of weeks time. Ollie had really gotten the bug for kayaking, he’d been paddling white-water kayak a while and had recently discovered the excitement that kayak surfing offers. Steve was a three star white-water kayaker and Noel had only started kayaking the previous week, gaining his two star award on a course in North Wales. The following morning we were up at 0200 (that’s 2am to you and I) and were travelling to the airport. We arrived in Cyprus late that afternoon, met by a very dodgy looking guy driving a small bus, who took us to the base at Dhekelia. The view from our room wasn’t the best, but the weather was warm.

Friday morning we were up at 7am and heading off for breakfast very tired looking as I still hadn’t caught up on my sleep from the previous early mornings. A guy I had come to know as “Speedy” had been up what seemed like many hours before, they say that the early bird catches the worm and it definitely rang true for the next few days. I have no idea where Speedy went each morning but each day he would return full of knowledge of where to get this, that or whatever we needed. Afterwards we had a briefing about not being in Ayia Napa between certain hours, what to do if we have a road traffic accident and warnings about being ripped of by Russian Mafia in strip clubs. All standard stuff to worry about if you’re in the Army apparently, I just wanted to see what equipment we had to play with for the week.

The kayaking equipment was stored off the base and we were soon on our way down. The stores had to be signed for and responsibility was taken for the equipment. It was all brand new; we were the first to use it. There’s something exciting about unwrapping a brand new kayak, even if it’s not yours, the smell of the plastic that has been contained since the rotomoulding process is lovely. There was a fleet of Venture Skyes and Cappellas, ideal for the guys to learn sea kayaking in. Two of us coaches introduced the equipment to the group, before giving them the time to choose their favourite colour and make adjustments to thigh braces, footrests etc. By the end of the day everybody was itching to get onto the water but with sea kayaks that would now fit them properly it had been time well spent.

Friday 29th April and we finally got to paddle. I introduced most of the paddling skills to my group, spending lots of time on edging the sea kayak for turning and manoeuvrability.

It seemed everybody had read many books on sea kayaking and trying to get them to go and explore skills instead of talking about it was hard work to start with. I adopted a method with them of challenging the books and what they had read, with some interesting results. It seems that you shouldn’t believe everything you read. We also adapted their rescue skills to be sea kayak specific and spent time on low and high braces, building towards the roll.

Three of the group could roll already, only one reliably and for three others it was going to be new skill. It soon became apparent that meeting the requirements of the sea journey elements of the three star award whilst finding enough time to coach the rolling was going to be a challenge. I decided that the best way forward would be to do two hours at the end of each day coaching the rolling. Those that could roll, even unreliably could spot each other with me inputting tips, whilst I helped the others learn from scratch. Andy was particularly worried about the roll so I focused my initial time with him.

On day two we covered moving sideways, different methods of towing and more rescues. Beyond the syllabus, it was very amusing watching them all try a re-entry with paddle float. I think Andy must have been at it for close to twenty minutes before he was back in. He was offered help so that we could move on but declined it each time. I guess that’s the Army training in him, it was certainly amusing hearing his calls of “yes, I made it”, only to fall in the other side yet again.

At the end of the day Andy’s roll was almost there, Speedy and Steve’s were more reliable, Noel’s progress was slower but his bracing technique was very good indeed. Ollie, well he was just flying through everything and enjoying the sea kayaks. A strong onshore wind had gotten up in the afternoon providing some short period waves in the bay, it seemed a shame not to make the most of the opportunity and ride some of them, and so we did.

On 1st May I was glad to be out of the area we’d been using. We’d left the sheltered bay the previous day during the towing but it wasn’t a particularly interesting coastline. We planned a trip from Ayia Napa around Cape Greco to Grecian Bay about 15km. From the maps we had the trip looked like it had great potential for some swell and hopefully some rock hopping. From the forecast we’d be running with the wind and a slight to moderate sea until we rounded the headland where it would be offshore for us but calmer.

There were a few caves and arches along the way giving us some chance to rock hop but not much. The cliffs were a maximum 6ft high and wildlife was scarce, I was starting to miss the scenery of Pembrokeshire. About an hour in I thought it an ideal opportunity to find out where people though we were on the maps. For a group of people who probably have to navigate in unmapped areas whilst under fire and other pressure the replies were interesting. According to one we’d only travelled 500m in one hour! Navigating at sea is certainly different to navigating on the land.

Finding a lunch spot certainly covered the tricky landing part of the three star syllabus, with a gentle swell hitting the cliffs we found the best place we could, the photo doesn’t reflect how difficult I recall it. Their teamwork was excellent, but then that’s to be expected. After lunch the wind seemed to have picked up a little more and the sea state had certainly followed it. Within ten minutes of getting back on we were at Cape Greco in the top end of a moderate swell coming from the stern quarter. The group were coping well and then Andy fell in. Noel had been on a mission and was ahead, he didn’t seem happy at having to stop. Steve and Speedy were the first on the scene, Speedy started the rescue and Steve attached an anchor tow. Just as Andy was back in his boat set wave came through and had Steve over also. It seemed he hadn’t extended his towline after attaching and the wave took him into the other two and he lost his balance. They’d done very well with the rescue but now it was time for me to get involved. The rocks Cape Greco were getting close. With everyone back in their boat we continued round Cape Greco to calmer water where we could review the rescue. Sounds simple enough, but then we saw a large boat coming round the corner, its name “The Black Pearl”. It was full of tourists waving and taking photos of us and heading straight towards us. There was no more than 100m between it and the cliff, we waved our paddles in the air the get the skipper’s attention but it made no difference. I think the tourists thought we were waving back. The captain did see us but the boat didn’t change its course. In the UK the boat would have headed a little further out to sea but it seems they do things differently in Cyprus. The rest of the trip was uneventful and saw us landing at “Mike’s Beach” in Grecian Bay. We had a quick coffee and then started the rolling work. Andy succeeded in coming up, six times in a row.

Mayday Bank Holiday saw us plan another trip from Larnaka Bay to Dhekalia. This would bring us past a port so the group should see some buoys on the route. From the drive to our start point it was apparent that the coastline wasn’t particularly interesting again so on arrival we decided that once past the port we would paddle it straight across as an open crossing 15km. We would be around 1.5 hours paddling from the coastline at the most. As it turned out, all that the port could offer us in the way of buoys were Port and Starboard, there were some special marks on the crossing itself, but at least it was something in the flesh for them. The conditions were such that we were able to experiment with forward paddling technique, something which the conditions on the previous day had prohibited. The group learned how to paddle on a bearing, using timings to predict position, resections they were familiar with from experience. We had lunch at sea and the group had learned how to wee in a bottle in a sea kayak, particularly Speedy who seemed to enjoying that part so much he went every half hour. We surprised the two star group when we arrived as we were two hours sooner than expected due to cutting across. This worked out well as the group had the chance to practise individual skills once again and gave us plenty of time to look at the roll further.

Out of the corner of my eye I had the opportunity to observe the other group too as I we still had to plan when I was going to assess them for the two star award. It seemed that they hadn’t progressed anywhere near as quickly as the three star group, with some of them getting very frustrated in the canoes in the wind. A rethink on the weeks plan was needed.

Andy was being assessed for UKCC Level Two in a fortnight’s time and Speedy was interested in learning canoe as his two star was the old kayak version. With Ollie recently qualified to UKC Level One coach and looking to attend Level Two training soon I thought it would be a good idea to let them coach the following morning. With two UKCC Coaches looking after them the two star group quickly progressed in the canoes.

We organised the use of some general purpose kayaks for the three star group, giving them a rest form the sea kayaks. In the afternoon, I took the two star group in the general purpose kayaks. The three star group were given the task of going through all of the basic strokes in canoe, general purpose kayaks and sea kayaks considering body, boat and blade. The idea being for them to compare any similarities and differences between the various craft. We would all come together afterwards so that the two star group could hear their findings. They were all very surprised to discover that almost all of the techniques were the same and found the exercise very useful indeed.

Wednesday 4th May and the plan was to assess the two star group in the canoes. I let Ollie and Andy run sessions so that I could provide feedback to them on their coaching ahead of their planned courses and also so that the group wouldn’t feel like I was watching them to closely during the assessment. Once LJ finally cracked the j-stroke under Andy’s guidance they were all at the level required for two star.

Chris took the remainder of the three star group on a trip up to the “Green Line”, an area that splits the North and South of the Island.

Thursday saw our final paddling day on the expedition, with both groups coming together for a sea kayaking trip around the Akrotiri Peninsular. We’d read a report from a previous group that had been to island which mentioned this as the best they had found on the island. It was a two hour drive to the start and would see us finishing inside an RAF base. I was getting used to going to places that I wouldn’t usually be allowed. The final mile to our launch was interesting; fortunately we had four wheel drive vehicles.

When we arrived at the beach we were staring at a strong onshore wind paddling out through a choppy sea. Perfect for my three star group, but a little intimidating for the newly qualified two stars. After sorting the shuttle the group worked well as a team helping each other to launch and buddyed up to keep an eye on the weaker members of the team. It worked well but was easy to see that some of the two stars weren’t totally comfortable.

I knew that one we were round Cape Zevgari that things would be easier for them and sure enough it was. Once we were round we saw a long leg of 100m high cliffs, finally we’d found something worth sea kayaking! There were some rock hopping opportunities and I made sure that the three star knew I expected to see them following me through. The swell wasn’t great but it was enough for the level they were at.

We found caves and arches that went through and a place to land for lunch. It was a good paddle. Before we rounded the final headland I set up some “unplanned” incidents for the three star group to manage. They dealt with them very quickly and efficiently. All but one of them rolled before we landed. Everybody really enjoyed this final trip, it was certainly the best day of the expedition, and there was even some wildlife to see.

Since the expedition all have the group have been in touch about some further coaching. There is talk of a trip to New Zealand. Steve is a member of our team that paddled the canals from Chester to Sharpness in September 2011 in preparation for our Round Wales Circumnavigation in April 2012. I’m also helping him plan another big trip for 2013 but I’m not allowed to tell you what it is yet so watch this space!

In September we had planned to sea kayak from Newport, Pembrokeshire and circumnavigate Wales. We wanted to raise money for the Cardigan Bay Marine Wildlfie Centre. When it came time to leave, the forecast for the week was appalling so we decided to start on the canals. We managed two days sea kayaking down the estuary before the weather turned against us again and we had to land by a power station. With no changes in the forecast and deadlines approaching, we left and decided to go again in April 2012. The trip was very useful as the canals had previously been an unknown to us and we learnt lots to use on our next trip. Here’s our account.

Steve B, Starting our Trip

Wednesday 7th September 2011 – We had arrived at the Cheshire Cat on the previous evening and ate a hearty meal before sleeping in the vans overnight. Within an hour of starting we’d already lost a pair of glasses to the canal. That day we negotiated ten locks but hadn’t had to carry the sea kayaks around any. We’d been lucky enough to arrive as a narrow boat went through each time and there was just enough for us to squeeze the sea kayaks in behind them. It was a dry day which was nice until the last hour when it decided to rain. We kayaked 22 miles and stopped at Audlem for the evening. I was still getting over man flu so headed to bed early but the guys went to the pub. It turned out that Neil had forgotten a cooker, three to four weeks away sea kayaking and he had nothing to heat food up with!

Morris in the Canal Lock

Thursday 8th September 2011 – I woke feeling much better having had a good nights sleep. We had left the sea kayaks tied up on the canal, hoping that another narrow boat would arrive just as we were ready. We were facing 15 locks in a row and hoping to hitch a lift up through like yesterday. Just before we had packed the kayaks, we were lucky, one arrived. We rushed to secure our towlines and walked them through the first one, remaining equipment just thrown into the cockpit for now. Once through the first I was quickly packed and ready to go, the others almost, we didn’t want to miss the easy route through the locks. In hindsight this method took a long time. It was ten to fifteen minutes a lock, next time we will carry the sea kayaks around these ones. We covered 20 miles this day, arriving at Norbury where we managed to get showers. It rained in the last hour again. Someone kindly left the toilet/ shower block door unlocked for us, also to the fresh water taps that were there. We learned that keys are available for £7.50 and bought one the following day. It proved to be very useful.

The Beautiful Canals

Friday 9th September 2011 – As well as a key for the water, we decided we would also buy a windless key for £12 so that we could at least help the people we were sharing the locks with. This was an awesome idea as we now didn’t have to wait for a canal boat to come through or carry the sea kayaks. We set ourselves up in two pairs, two would jump out and do the lock, and the other two would tow the empty kayaks through. We would pass the key like a relay team and go ahead to the next lock, jump out and start the lock as the next pair arrived to tow our kayaks through. We started to get a good rhythm and it was nice to have the chance to stretch the legs.

Towing in the locks

I’d found that in the first hour each day my right leg would go to sleep and the left leg in the following hour. After that both were fine, but with 9 hours sea kayaking each day our legs were definitely feeling it! By lunchtime we had finished the Shropshire Union Canal and decided to mark the occasion with an ice cream. Paddling now on the Staffordshire and Worcestershire canal, we made Awbridge that evening. Once again it rained in the last hour but cleared for a very nice evening. We were greeted by a lovely family who asked what we doing. When we told them we were sea kayaking around Wales, they had a great story of two girls doing the same ten years previously. Justine and Fiona they remembered you fondly and gave us the same warm welcome. We were supplied with fresh eggs, butter and a few other bits.

Camping at Awbridge Lock

Saturday 10th September 2011 – We were up again and ready to launch by 9am, our routine was becoming ingrained. We made good progress, using our relay system to get through the locks. Everyone we met was intrigued by these sea kayaks that were “flying” past them in their narrow boats. We were only cruising but those boats seemed so slow! As usual, at around 4pm we were looking at the maps to decide where we would get to for the night. It was more relevant tonight as my wife Shelley and Neil’s partner Caroline were on their way to see us. Those two really can’t navigate so we had to find somewhere easy for them. We were approaching Kidderminster which would have been great for them, but not a great place to spend the night camping. The heavens opened as we arrived in the centre and the few locks we had to negotiate needed more than just the windless we had. We were all very tired and knew we had to leave the town for the night. We were all a little grouchy and the rain didn’t help. It took us forty-five minutes to lift the sea kayaks around a lock and get back in. It was the first one we’d had to do. The windless really had been a good idea but didn’t work here as the set up was different. We left the town and the rain stopped, we met the girls just outside of Stourport at a place easy for them to find from the main road. It didn’t look like it was going to be a good place to sleep but actually turned out ok. There was music blaring out from a nearby field, but that stopped by 10pm.

Waiting at the lock

Sunday 11th September 2011 – We were nearly at the river now, something I’d been looking forward to. The canals were nice but there was no flow to catch with the paddle and drive the sea kayak from. At Stourbridge we were now on the River Severn. It seemed very wide compared to the canals. The scenery was fantastic. The girls had stayed for the day, following our progress down the river. They met us at Worcester for lunch, Shelley had picked us up some filled buns, microwave only, whoops, I’d packed mine deep in the rear hatch and was willing to pull everything out to get to it! That evening we stopped at a field at the end of a lane. It was the only place where we could secure the sea kayaks without having to lift them out but turned out to belong to an angling club. Two arrived for a night fishing session at the same as we did. Fortunately they had no problems with us being there and offered to keep an eye on our kit overnight. It turned out that the lane went up to a delightful village with a great, friendly pub, the Rose and Crown at Severn Stoke. We had a nice meal there that night.

Relaxin at Severn Stoke

Monday 12th September 2011 – The forecast from the previous evening suggested that hurricane Katia was coming through today and when we woke it was certainly windy. We looked at the wind on the water, it wasn’t that bad. A look at the maps suggested we were heading to more open plains as we went down the river. I think it was all excuses, but the long the long and short of it was, the team decided to stay put and go to the pub! Steve’s wife arrived today to visit and I walked into Upton for a few hours, it was a nice break from the kayaking but I was keen to get going again the next day.

Rose and Crown Severn Stoke

Tuesday 13th September 2011 – Back on the river and we kayaked 26 miles, a reasonable distance but then we had had the previous day to rest. We went through Gloucester, not the nicest part of the river if I’m honest and had to re enter the canal system due to weirs further down. It meant that in Gloucester we were able to sample the “tastiest toasty in town”, right on the bank there; it was very nice. That evening we made it to Quedgley, opposite a pub called the Pilot. A friend of mine came to meet us that evening with some spare parts, a new deck as mine had started to fail. We don’t think his girl friend was keen on our smell, by now it had been five days since we showered. Apparently I was the least smelly which was nice; it must have been because I’d been kayaking in the Howies Marino Wool tops we’d been supplied with.

Getting ready to leave again

Wednesday 14th September 2011 – By now we were down to three of us. It was only twelve miles to the end of the canals and the start of the Severn estuary. We knew that the tide there wasn’t in our favour until the following day, unless we fancied a night paddle, so we were in no hurry. The morning involved a short walk to Tesco for breakfast before packing up and leaving. It seemed like we stopped at every coffee place along the way. We arrived at Sharpness at 4pm, the estuary was a sight for sore eyes, and we’d sea kayaked down the canals. What I saw in front of me, I knew, tides that moved with the moon, water that would help or hinder you if you got it wrong. That night we were told of a Dockers club up the hill so went to investigate. It was an excuse for a pint, a hope for a shower and food we didn’t have to heat up. We all ordered food, a meal and a portion of chips each. We were asked if we were shore about the extra chips each to which we replied yes, burning 3000 calories a day from the kayaking we’d learned that a normal meal was leaving us still hungry. When the food arrived we realised why they had asked, they were biggest plates of food I think I’ve ever seen. Their usual customers are big truck drivers; still, we managed to clear them, not bad for small, short people like us. After eating we got the charts out to plan the next day journey. By now people were wondering what these very hungry people were up to, so we shared our story. We asked about showers, thinking that there might be somewhere the drivers can use. There wasn’t, but once they knew what we doing the owners very kindly allowed us to use the one in their flat. I say “kindly”, it might have been the smell perhaps?

The Severn Estuary

Thursday 15th September 2011 – We were ready in time to catch the tide turn at 10am. We had a small party there to wave us off, a local guy who knew the estuary well and a young lad who was also camped there fishing for three weeks. They were impressed with what we were trying to achieve. The bridges looked a long way off but with the ebbing tide we kayaked there in no time.

THe Severn Bridge

Kayaking under those bridges is an experience that I will always remember, fantastic. The gps was reading over 12km per hour at one point. We arrived at Clevedon at 2.30pm and quickly decided it had been given the wrong name, it should have been called “Clevemud”. There was nowhere easy for us to land, it was either knee deep mud or the rocks. We chose the rocks and tied the sea kayaks together. I stayed with them, the intention to float them up with the tide, whilst the other two went to find somewhere we could camp. They returned an hour later. They had some possible places but we wouldn’t know for a few hours. It 6.30pm by the time we had finally found somewhere, the local kayak club offered us their store shed for the night, thanks guys! It was nearly 9pm by the time we were sorted out and I started to work out the bearing for the following day. Three times I checked it and I got a different answer each time, I was very tired, so we decided to leave it and went for food.

Clevedon Sunset

Friday 16th September 2011 – We were up and ready to go by 9am again and I still had to work out the beaing to cross the Severn Estuary Channel. We checked the forecast and learned that the wind was due to swing from north-west force 2-3 to south-west 5-6, expected around 5pm. We had hoped to take in Flat Holm on the crossing but thought it best to get across in case the weather arrived early. It did, at 3pm we were well across and just coming past Aberfraw powerstation when the weather arrived. We could see it on the horizon and it bought driving rain. It was clear skies beyond and we hoped that the wind at that time was just the front. After it passed the wind didn’t drop; we’d intended to reach Llantwit Major but instead decided that we would land rather than battle into the wind. We found a field to camp in. This would be our last camp spot on the trip. We remained for two days and there was no change in the weather forecast. We all had deadlines that were approaching and so we decided to return home. We will start again in April 2012 to sea kayak around Wales, hopefully we can start from Newport, Pembrokeshire this time, I’m sure it will be much nicer that way.

Storms at Aberfraw

Irish Sea Kayak Route

During the summer of 2011, Owen Gabb and Mike Mayberry crossed the Irish Sea by sea kayak. Owen had taken part in some of the Big 5 Kayak Challenges and was keen to sea kayak across the Irish Sea. It was a trip I had considered for a while but struggled to find a paddling partner to do it with.  We had met during the summer of 2010 and paddled together a few times before Owen went away again to work.

Sea Kayaks on the Ferry

It was June 11th 2011 before I saw him again. We decided we would definitely get this sea kayaking trip done this summer and the sooner the better, while we had the longer days. By the 16th we had confirmed with the Stena Line that we could get free passage on the ferry and planned the route as an exercise. The following day the forecasts looked like we may get in a window of opportunity on the 24th June. By Monday 20th, my forecast models showed that the winds would be force 5 from 7pm on the Friday; it didn’t look like it would happen that day after all. The forecast continued to get worse for Friday each time I looked.

On Friday 24th June, the forecast was correct, I was glad we had changed our minds. Looking ahead again it seemed high pressure would build again for the end of the following week. On Tuesday it still looked good for either Friday or Saturday. I packed my sea kayak on Wednesday. Thursday 30th June the forecast looked great all the way into Sunday now. We were going to catch the ferry that afternoon. I had worked booked in for Saturday, so we would have to paddle on Friday. I was getting excited!

We intended to leave Rosslare at 0300 so that we would arrive at Whitesands for 1800, 1 hour and 45 minutes after the tide turned in Ramsey sound and St David’s Head. This meant that we would be following a bearing of 124 degrees. The wind forecast was NW up to F3 and due to drop until early afternoon to almost nothing. The swell forecast told us to expect 0.5m seas, improving to 20cm throughout the day. Mid to late afternoon the wind would increase again to a whopping F2!

From the chart, we would travel south of the lighthouse at Tuskar Rock passing between it and the South Rock South Cardinal Buoy at 0500. We would then be pushed North on the flooding tide until it turned at around 1200 and then south until we landed at Whitesands. I was very happy with this arrangement as it meant that we would be coming in from above the Bishops and the Clerks.

I plotted on the chart where we expected to be each hour so I could check on our progress as we paddled. I don’t have a GPS but with the iphone the compass provides a Lat and Long reference. This had been checked for accuracy over the past few months and seemed to be great. I wanted to track the entire route with the Navionics app, but testing suggested we would only get 10 hours of tracking even with the extra battery pack I have so we decided we would only turn it on each hour, check our position and record it as a waypoint. We would track our final approach, the last two hours of our sea kayak journey.

Our Camping Spot

We arrived in Rosslare and found a nice spot under the cliffs on the sea dunes. We grabbed fish and chips and checked over our kit, making sure we packed everything exactly where we needed it to be. At 8pm a beach comber came walking past with his dog. What a really nice chap, I got the impression that he’d pretty much bumped into everyone that has ever done the crossing from there.  Two hours later we were in our bags for the night trying to get what sleep we could. He returned and gave us some drawings he’d done since he’d last seen us and wished us luck again. He said that we would get a good run on the tide from Greenore Point, much like the Navionics app had suggested. I was feeling very confident about the trip. Owen had set his alarm for 2am.

It was 2.30 when I felt his hand on my shoulder waking me. He was already dressed, he said he hadn’t slept at all and had assumed I had heard him moving about for the past half hour but was being lazy about rising. I woke refreshed and feeling good, but I now only half an hour to get ready to go. I put the water on for the flask, ate my cereal, packed my sleeping kit, checked the forecast again, called the coastguard and generally rushed to get ready. We carried our sea kayaks to the waters edge. It was 3.30; we were half an hour late. Our new Irish friend arrived to see us off, I really liked this guy!

Tuskar Rock Lighthouse Image

Off we went, the Tuskar Rock lighthouse was at 124 degrees, perfect, the sun wasn’t up and we had a light to paddle towards. We knew that it would be up shortly after we passed the lighthouse. As we approached the lighthouse I was able to make out the light sequence of the cardinal mark. At 5am we were between the two of them, we had made up the half an hour without trying.

Sunrise on our Irish Sea crossing by Sea Kayak

It seemed as though we were going to have a good run of the tide. Conditions were exactly as forecast, we were happy. By 6.30am we seemed to have gained half an hour. We were even able to listen into Milford Haven coastguard, which I’d not expected on a handheld from that distance.

We were due for our hourly stop at 7.30am, we knew we had to keep this routine to make it across. At 7.20ish a pod of about two dozen dolphin arrived. I knew from experience that if we stopped they would get bored and leave us so we decided to continue through the scheduled break. They were riding the waves next to us, I could see them swimming underneath me, and they were jumping about 2 feet in front of my sea kayak. It was the best dolphin experience I’ve ever had. At 8am they were still with us but we decided it best to take the break. Sure enough, by the time we started again they had gone. I would be looking and hoping they would return throughout the rest of the trip.

9am passed. 10am passed. 11am passed. Our routine, kayak for an hour, switch on the phone, check the position, eat something, wee if needed. My planning was working, we were exactly where I expected to be each hour, compensating for the fact we’d gained a half hour earlier on. The feeling from this was immense, I was confident.

Stena Europe

I think it was around 1130 when I was first able to pick out St David’s Head on the horizon. Somewhere along the way we had got back to having our breaks on the half hour again. The gps told us that we were still half an hour ahead. I thought we’d try to let the coastguard know our position, I never expected a reply. Back came the call from them, we assured them we were fine, on schedule and doing well. They asked if my partner was still with me. I found this odd, why would he not be with me? They requested we call them again at 12.30pm.

Stena Lynx

12.30pm we called in our position. Doing this every hour was going to put my timings out so I got in first and told them I would call in again at 2.30pm. They seemed ok with this. I’d been hearing a drone for about the past fifteen minutes, it sounded like the Stena Fastcat from Fishguard, but I thought it didn’t start for another two weeks. The noise was bugging me, we couldn’t see anything. 15 minutes after we called in our position, then we heard the coastguard side of the conversation with the Lynx. They were told our last known position was 10miles due west of them. 5 minutes later I could see it, it was heading straight for us. I didn’t want to alter our course as it would put my plan out. At the same time I didn’t want to get caught in the wash from it, I’ve seen it when it’s on a plane and don’t much fancy being that close, particularly after 10 hours of sea kayaking. We stuck to our bearing, hoping they would spot us and sure enough after about another ten minutes it turned to port and gave us a wide berth. We heard them give the coastguard our new position and tell them that we looked fine, were going well, and also an eyeball of the conditions. These were now pretty smooth, the forecast had held true.

2.30 passed, we checked in. 3.30 passed, 4.30 arrived. We called in, I really didn’t want to as I knew the Ramsey tide had just turned. They insisted we called in again in an hour. This concerned me as St David’s head still looked a long way off and we were north of it. Everything I could see with my eyes was telling me that we weren’t going to make it past the head. I remembered a tip from someone who had done it before, “don’t be tempted to turn early”. I also knew that the tide along the North Pembrokeshire coast turned before the tide further out. Owen wanted to turn south, I stood firm and insisted we stay on the bearing, knowing that we had Abereiddy if it came down to it. It would be slightly further, but in all honesty, my body felt fine, my legs knew that I had been sitting in a sea kayak for 13 1/2 hours but that was all. If I had to do an extra hour or so to Aberieddy with the tide I could do it.

5.30 arrived, it seemed like St David’s head hadn’t gotten any larger. We were easily picking out houses we knew, cars parked at Whitesands, but the head looked no closer. Our minds were playing tricks. We could hear the coastguard busy conversing with a French yacht skipper, it sounded like hard work, as they were calling the owner of the boat he was delivering to on his behalf, relaying messages, neither spoke English really well. It kept me entertained and my mind off of what was ahead of me. By now, I knew we were looking at a hard paddle across a tide running NE through the Bishops and Clerks which would join a North tide running through Ramsey sound. We would hit St David’s head as the third hour of the streams began. I expected it to be running at 5kn. This was going to be our punishment for starting half an hour late. I knew we had lost the half an hour we had gained in the morning gradually during the afternoon. I really didn’t want to have to stop and call in our position again, using time in a tide that was going to be against us. I made the call intending to say that we were fine but the tide had turned and I had to get moving again quickly. They were busy with the yacht and didn’t reply, which suited me fine.

Using transits from the point of St David’s Head, now clearly distinguishable from the background, we ferried across the flow which had increased as expected 500m or so from the point. We weren’t going to make it around, at least not from where we were. I directed my companion into an eddy just north of the point. There were three fishermen on the head, one with a line out. I figured we could use the eddy to accelerate up to the point and hopefully carry enough speed to get us around the Head and into Whitesands Bay. The fishermen were looking at us oddly, not many people paddle against this kind of flow. I relayed my plan to them, explaining we had just come from Rosslare and needed to get to Whitesands. I don’t think they believed us but they bought the line in anyway.

We sprinted forwards, the eddy providing some much needed speed. Owen was ahead of me, he flew straight into the tide, and he was going to make it. I was relieved as he’s not really done that before. Me? I hit a boil, possibly too aware of how he was going to do. I drifted down to the first eddy and tried again. This time I got the angle wrong and was ferrying back out to sea, fatigue was affecting my concentration. I could see him safely past the point this time and made the executive decision that I would carry my sea kayak over the rocks on the point. They were low as the tide was high. There was little swell, so climbing out and re-entering would be easy. The sea kayak was heavy with kit but two of us would do it. I climbed out and lifted it above the swell. I walked to the other side expecting to see Owen coming over them the other way to see me. I reached the other side and he was nowhere to be seen. I couldn’t believe it, he’d left me. I started to lift the sea kayak over by myself; it was heavy, very heavy. I decided that as I was on dry land I would make contact with the coastguard, after all they hadn’t heard from us for two hours and had been expecting a call at 5.30. I also figured that he had headed for the beach and knowing that my wife was there to meet us, a call would probably go out that I had last been seen in the tide off St David’s Head.

Whilst I was talking to them they received a call from Jeff of the lifeguards at Whitesands to tell them he was sending a boat out to me. They were going to patch me through to talk to them directly but I could see it coming and said it wasn’t worth it, they’d be with me in two or three minutes. Two teenagers arrived! They wanted to tow me but there was no way I’d kayaked all that way to accept a tow. I made one of them assist me carrying the sea kayak and re-entered, still annoyed that I’d been left.

I kayaked into the beach at Whitesands, surfing on a foot high wave. Dragged the boat up the beach, I had made it. My wife later told me that when Owen arrived he was all over the place and not too great on his feet. They were concerned about how I would look when I arrived, pleasantly surprised that I was fine, had minimal aches and was able to carry one end of my sea kayak myself.

Arriving at Whitesands

We would like to thank Milford Haven coastguard for the fantastic job they did for us that day, it was nice to hear a cheerful voice when we called in. Thanks also to Stena for the passage over to Rosslare, Nige Robinson for lending me a sea kayak at short notice as mine had sustained damage that week, Pip for running us home at the end and the youngster that helped me carry over the rocks.