Sunday saw HW Liverpool being at 12:59, so we decided to paddle out to Puffin Island. This paddle works well for getting home at a reasonable time, as it is err... "sort of" on the way home!
From studying the guide books, Cruising Anglesey and Welsh Sea kayaking we could see that leaving from Tywyn y Penrhyn, we would be slightly against the tide (1 kt), but by sticking to the coast and using back eddies it would be fairly easy going against the flow. We would then have to ferry guide across to Puffin island.
Sunday was a beautiful blue sky day, but with a moderate (f3) wind from the North. Having parked up in the lay-by we had a very small carry to the sea.
When we arrived at the Trwyn Du Lighthouse you could see the current racing through the sound (4-5 kts!). The water was very smooth followed by a large area of large choppy water behind it. So we went as far as we could up against the flow, using any available eddies, before setting across the smooth water to the island. As Abo was not use to moving water PL stuck with Abo to guide him across.
At the island, we had previously talked about going anti-clockwise around the island but with the wind, we decided it would be better to go clockwise. The wild life was excellent, with Shags, a Cormorant, hundreds of Guillemots, Razorbills, a few Shelduck, Black backed gulls, Herring Gulls, Artic Terns and of course seals. Abo and I spotted one solitary Puffin. No Puffins for PL - Denied!!
Turning the corner at the NE end of the island, we ran into some rather messy waves. Abo stated it was about the limit of his comfort zone, so we kept a close eye on him. He did really well. He may have felt at the end of his comfort zone but he didn't look it. If he can manage those kind of messy conditions then he can manage just about anything.
All too soon we were back where we started at the sheltered SW corner. As it was so good, we decided we had to go around the island again.
By the time we were back again at the SW corner, the current in the strait had eased off, so it was a fairly easy crossing back to Anglesey and to the cars. I took over from PL on the return and stuck closely to Abo.
With the tide being extra high, the carry back to the cars was all of about five feet! In fact approaching the cars I was a little worried they were flooded. A few more inches of tide and they would have been!
Another great day out.
