Welcome to my Sea Kayaking (b)log
Anglesey or Ynys Môn is an island off the north west coast of Wales. Two bridges span the Menai Strait, connecting it to the mainland: the Menai Suspension Bridge designed by Thomas Telford in 1826 and the Britannia Bridge. Formerly part of Gwynedd, Anglesey, Holy Island and other smaller islands now make up the Isle of Anglesey County.
Almost three quarters of the inhabitants are Welsh speakers and Ynys Môn, the Welsh name for the island, is used for the UK Parliament and National Assembly constituencies. With an area of 714 square kilometers (276 sq mi), Anglesey is the largest Welsh island, the fifth largest surrounding Great Britain and the largest in the Irish Sea.
Paddled with Wenders and Si. We decided to paddle across the top of Anglesey with the flood tide, lunch, then paddle back on the ebb tide. Managed to get as far as Porth Eilian, near Point Lynas, despite stopping for a leg stretch at Bull Bay. Saw some Porpoises around East Mouse. Some fairly...
I'd been thinking about doing the Holy Island trip for some time, but what with Covid, a knee replacement, a bicycle accident - which caused my bad knee to swell to the point I started getting DVT's (Deep Vein Thrombosis) in the calf muscle of my bad knee/leg, followed by a pulmonary embolism (from the...
Paddled with Ashley, Brian, Kris and Si on what turned out to be a super day weather wise. Everyone was keen to get some miles in so we headed down the coast with a following wind to Silver Bay. Stopped for lunch and paddled back into the wind, via a quick surf at Rhoscolyn...
The video says it all really, although the wide angle GoPro footage does flattens the sea. It was a pretty rough day, blowing F6+ when we got on at Trearddur Bay. The wind and swell did weaken throughout the day though, with even the sun making a welcome appearance a few times. Not long...
The weather was set fair for Sunday, so what could be a better option? A trip out to the Skerries. We met up at Cemlyn Bay. A rather large group too, so Si and I decided to do our own thing, separate to the group. Mirco was leading the other group and planned on...
My first time in back in Anglesey since, gosh, last year! And what a super paddle. I met up, as pre-arranged, with Si and Kris and we decided to get on at Porth-y-post, just down the road from Porth Dafarch. From there we headed down towards CRAIG-Y-MOR at Trearddur bay, before heading off towards Rhoscolyn....
Simon and I had arranged to set off from Anglesey Outdoors at 8:00am, for some breakfast, before heading up to Cemaes Bay. Cutting a long story short, someone (ahem me!) forgot to pick up their kit from the drying room at Anglesey Outdoors. I guess a combination of still being a bit sore about...
With Saturday 14th December blown out, and the weather forecast or Sunday looking only slightly better; Simon, Ashley, Kris and I decided to meet up at the Menai Bridge Slipway at 0930 for a session in the Swellies. We played in the currents under Menai Bridge for a while before moving out to the...
The final truck stop meet of the weekend, but this time SI and I were meeting Andras. A chap I'd met before at Rhosneigr and who Si knew from paddling with in the past. The wind and swell had picked up overnight. With both Si and myself needing to get home at a reasonable...
Sunday and another meeting up at the truck stop where some consumed their breakfasts and others looked on aghast! With the tidal flow timings, we decided to head to Bull Bay and paddle with the tide, taking in Middle Mouse and take whatever else we can get before the tide turns. The weather was...
Saturday. Si and I met the others at the truck stop at 9:00am in Holyhead. We were joined by Ashley, Matt, and Gareth. Due to the tide, predicted swell and anticipated weather - a strengthening SW breeze, we decided to paddle from Porth Dafarch to Rhoscolyn and back. We didn't get to see much...
With holidays to use up before the year end, I agreed to meet Simon Williams on the Friday for four days of paddling. All week the weather had been looking extremely unpleasant, but surprisingly on the Friday it turned out not too bad. We agreed to paddle from Cemlyn Bay and to potter around...
Brian wanted big and bouncy and having arrived at Porth Dafarch for 9:00am, it is what we got. You could easily see the white horses of the breaking waves out at sea. We paddled around the coast towards Penrhyn Mawr, giving Mini Mawr a wide birth. It was fairly hard going with a big...
Battered and a little bruised from my surf kayak exploits at Rhosneigr the day before, I met Brain as pre-arranged at the Anglesey Truck stop 9am Saturday. We both acquiesced to decline breakfast at the truck stop and get on with paddling. As it turned out both of us are not exactly fans the...
Storm Lorenzo, previously Hurricane Lorenzo, but thankfully downgraded to a storm, was forecast to hit our shores on Thursday 3rd October. Looking at the surf forecast (Magic Seaweed) I noticed they were forecasting 5 star surf for Friday at Rhosneigr! Surely this cannot be possible? Well, I had to see this for myself and...
I had arranged to meet Kris, Si and anyone else who was interested at the Holyhead truck stop cafe for 0900. Kris had a plan to paddle to South Stack and then to paddle PM tidal race later in the day. As we left the Truck Stop, Kris bumped into a friend of his...
I somehow managed to buy a new boat during the week between my previous paddle and this weekend! It all started last week; as I was slipping in my spare paddles under the bungie cord on the deck of my Valley Etain, the bungie went snap. I managed to bodge it together enough to...
So is it Harry Furlough's or Harry Furlongs? Ordnance Survey reckon it is "Harry Furlough's" as does Welsh Sea Kayaking, and yet the chart definitely says Harry Furlong's! Searching the internet I found: "Harry Furlough's Rocks, sometimes said to be a misspelling of furlong from the length of the rocks". I'll use both terms...
I've just come across a little booklet written by the UK Sepsis Trust. I wish I had been told about this following my little sepsis episode a year ago. Or at least been given some of the info by the hospital when they discharged me. But then again, if I was told, I would...
The weather forecast was looking good for a morning paddle, with the winds increasing over lunchtime. So Andy and I decided a trip to Harry's would be a good option, leaving us plenty of time to get home. Due to the swell, Harry's was fairly messy, but it was still good fun catching the...
