Sunday 6th June 2010
Watching a race
As I left Porth Dafarch this morning at just before low tide, two guys where also leaving in their kayaks. They muttered a quiet hello, but seemed too busy to talk.
One of them was wearing the same dry-kag as mine and had the storm hood up, I though it a little strange, but soon realised that it would prevent the increasingly heavy rain from rattling on my head.
It was warm out on the sea, but with the hood up against the rain, and the dull sky it looks like a cold winters day.
I hadn't noticed where the other two kayakers had headed, but figured they might be heading to Penhryn Mawr for the overfalls & race.
On the way over I had a chance to have a good look in some more of the caves and inlets that had now changed in appearance due to the low tide, and wet rocks.
For most of the time I spent on the water this weekend these two ribs have been zipping around, with what I presume are divers
It was clear when I took this picture, that a building must have stood here once upon a time. A little research reveals it to have once been a lifeboat station, but I can't find out any more.
I arrived at Penrhyn Mawr to find the two kayakers enjoying what looked to be the worlds biggest overfalls, that 1st big standing wave kept increasing in size with a swell that came through every now and then.
These guys kept dissapearing for a couple of seconds and then re-appearing, when the swell picked up, they were getting some really fast rides down the front of the standing waves.
It was way too big for me, so I sat and played in the race between the island and the mainland, it was the real glassy surface type of flow, I could sea just how much power the water was forcing through this narrow gap with.
As I sat there, a group passed through the 'chicken shoot' to my left. It turned out to be Rock & Sea these guys were out on a trip or something.
The rock & sea guys pulled out on to theis beach, and I decided I'd better head back to dry land and make my way home.
On the way back I was sat mesmerized by the way the water was crashing up into this rock formation, it showed just how much swell there was. In the kayak it was barely noticable, but with something to gauge it by, I reckon there was a good 1.5 metres.
A nice little paddle, good to see a top Angelsey sea kayaking destination at totally different tide times. All good experience, and this little tri will certainly help me to plan any future trips safely.
2 comments:
Looked like a good few days. Have you seen the picture in the 'Welsh Sea Kayaking Guide Book' for Penrhyn Marw,scary stuff! Nice one enjoyed reading it.
I havn't seen the book at all yet, its on my list of things to get.
It did look rather scary, but even more so as I didn't really have any prior knowledge of how it runs & flows.
All good experience though!
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