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.
After a very early start (I left home at 05:40) I arrived at Anglesey, just in time to see Rob emerging from his car at 08:30, parked at Porth Dafarch. Rob had traveled over the night/morning before, from Lincoln and spent what was left of the night sleeping in his car under two duvets....
Unfortunately my paddling buddy wasn't feeling very well on Tuesday and decided not to paddle. This was a difficult decision for him as we had planned and discussed the trip to the Skerries the night before. But he said there was no point in him trying to paddle, only to have a problem whilst...
Monday morning saw my paddle buddy and myself meeting with Phil Clegg (of Sea Kayaking Anglesey) at Anglesey Outdoors and deciding where to paddle. After lots of discussion and referencing of tide tables, guidebooks, weather forecasts, surf/swell forecasts etc, a good mug of tea and using Phil's expert knowledge of these races, we decided...
Having not Sea kayaked since May due to illness, I decided there was only one way to find out if I was now fit enough to return to sea kayaking... Meeting up with my paddle buddy at Four Mile Bridge and leaving a car behind, we set off to Porth Dafarch. The plan was...
Day three started with me packing up my tent and meeting with my paddle buddy at the usual spot for 10:00 am. Consulting the tide tables and the excellent Welsh Sea Kayaking guidebook, we realised that by the time we had run the shuttle, we could paddle From Puffin Island to Benllech. For the...
Day two started with us meeting at 10:00 am to decide where to paddle. The tides and wind combination were not once again ideal, with us ending up once again paddling into the wind, but with a little tidal assistance. We carried on from where we left off at Porth Eilian and paddled down...
Having met my paddling buddy at 10:00 am, we consulted with the excellent Welsh Sea Kayaking guide book, checked the weather and the tides, and decided to paddle from Cemlyn Bay to Porth Eilian. This did mean we would be battling into the wind, but at least the tidal flow should help cancel the...
Following a quick chat with Gareth Jones on Facebook, we decided to meet up at Bangor Services for 9:00am. The forecast looked ok, with N/NE winds forecast, so we decided to do Moelfre to Puffin Island. Having met Gareth in the services and watched him devour a full English, we set off to run...
This was definitely a weekend of two halves! The Saturday was a glorious day, but the Sunday was a complete change with gales of force 7-8! Someone suggested to me earlier in the year that I join Liverpool Canoe Club, as unlike my local club in Nottingham HPPCC, they are very active on the...
Having recently joined Liverpool Canoe Club, I replied to a message from Helen Bolister asking for any paddlers interested in free sea coaching! Helen needed paddlers to practice on as she had her coaching assessment coming up. An 6.00am early start saw me once again at Rhoscolyn for 8:30am, where I met Gareth Jones,...
1st April 2013 saw a good days coaching with Roger Chandler of Coastal Spirit. Also it was my first day on the sea in my new "podless" Valley Etain 17-7I met Roger for a coffee and a chat about what I needed help on and then we decided where to go. The weather was a...
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