South West Wales
After yesterdays tidal battles, and getting back late, I had gone to bed early and slept in aswell.
I decided to get lunch together, and paddle over to Porth Melgan.
This small by straight across from Porthsele beach is about 1 1/4 miles across the water.
Today was flat calm, and the sun was beating down.
I had managed to miss the fore arms just around both wrists with sun block yesterday, so I would need plenty today.
I made my Jarlsberg & Salami on french sandwich up, brewed some coffee and carted it all down to the beach.
I paddled across with a very slight quartering wind on the bow, which I noticed everytime the gusting breeze blew. The skeg did work well to counter-act the effect but there was still some extra work to do with the paddle work.
There was very little swell this morning, but there were a few surfers out hoping for a ride at Whitesands.
I arrived at Porth Melgan at the same time as a small inflatable with an outboard and 5 or 6 people.
With a couple of sets of rollers breaking in front of me I decided to wait and see how these boaters faired, they made it so I landed to their right.
The beach was crowded! There were people coming down the cliff paths, two families already there, the boaters, and it seemed everyone of them had a dog!
I managed to get a spot on a rock, I had a coffee and decided to sunbath for a while. I'm not very good a just doing nothing, so i managed about 10 mins!
I thought I might try a swim at one point, but I knew it would be cold!So I ate the fancy sandwich and gathered my self back together for a paddle across to Porthsele.
Whilst I was sitting on my rock, a lady approached me and said ' scuse me, are you a life guard?'
To which I obviously said.... 'no I'm not sorry', 'Oh' she said... my son thought you were, and what with my hair colour and white skin, I have to stay out of the sun, and I need to know that if I put up my sun canopy that it wont suddenly be washed away with the sea coming in'!!!
I replied that I was pretty sure that it would be no problem as the tide was going out.
Her son and husband now proceeded to inflate a small kids play dinghy which I though may provide some excellant entertainment. I waited
I watched for a while expecting them to get tipped in or something, but it never happened, then when I was leaving I noticed them dragging back to shore a somewhat deflated boat.I over heard the son telling mum, 'the paddle blade just snapped off, the sharp bit of plastic it left went straight through the side of the boat'.
I missed the 'kodak' moment.
With my ego on a high after being mistaken for David Hasselhoff, I returned to Porthsle beach.
Not a big paddle, just 2.5 miles or so. Good to be on the water though.
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