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The first few weeks of December continued with the run of dry and reasonably sunny weather for the time of year, allowing me to carry on deep water soloing at Berry Head despite the cooler water temperatures by then. I had some great sessions down there with the rock in perfect condition, and for some strange reason had the place all to myself too.
The nicer weather also allowed a few more coasteering trips around the Berry Head area, and on one of those trips, with good friends Carl, Josh, Jack and Stef, we had a real up close encounter with a wild Dolphin which was pretty amazing!
Then as we approached Christmas time the rains came again, allowing me to dig my Raptor out and score a series of solo Upper Dart runs in superb slab covered levels. Awesome!
On one occasion I solo paddled my Riot Dominatrix playboat down the Upper Dart in a nice lapping over the slab level, before joining Elisabeth on the Loop for a fantastic playboating session of surfing, squirting, and spinning. Wicked fun!
Probably one of the most enjoyable things we did around this time on the higher level days (ie: 3rd arch levels) was when we took the boogie boards down the Loop - just for a laugh. Surfing the top and bottom waves on the boogie boards was so much fun, and a nice change from kayaking it all the time. Running the river on them was hilarious fun too - bashing through stoppers and bouncing down rapids - all super-close to the action. We were grinning from ear to ear! :)
With wet weather forecast for Christmas and into the new year, looks like we'll be hitting the river some more before the year is out. Excellent! :)
After our Portugal holiday I did manage to get out deep water soloing a handful of times, up to and including 19th October, until the weather finally changed and the rains came again. We'd had some good weather for climbing over the summer, but I guess it had to come to an end at some point!
The latter part of October and the first part of November saw a great deal of rainfall, with the River Dart holding good levels for several weeks on end. This meant I was able to get on the Upper Dart section for some superb kayaking sessions! Overall during this period I solo paddled the Upper Dart 11 times, walking the shuttle on most of these occasions too, and led my partner Elisabeth down on one trip making that 12 runs in about two weeks. I also completed 3 upper dart runs in one day during this time too.
When the rains finally subsided and the weather became drier and cooler from mid-November onwards, I was able to get back down to Berry Head for some DWS again, though making sure I didn't fall in as it was pretty cold by then.
Also towards the end of November I managed to score some nice local surf sessions, including a really good clean day down at Bantham in the sunshine riding some sweet and crisp little waves.
I also managed to get a last bit of coasteering in just before the end of November too, with some good trips along Anstey's Cove area in Torquay and a superb adventure along the cliffs of Berry Head, with some nice big jumps thrown in for good measure.
So a pretty good couple of months in all really. Loving it! :)
Well, Portugal came and Portugal went with not much to write home about really. Disapointing would be a good word to sum up the trip as far as the deep water soloing went, or 'didn't go' to be more accurate.
I had less than a handful of quality climbing days right at the start of our two-week trip. During this time I climbed a bunch of great routes at the Ponta Garcia area near Sagres, but nothing above F6c. The main route I'd wanted to climb on this trip was a terrific F7b called Magnum. Over those first few days I had about three tries on the route, making it halfway through the crux with only a couple more moves to victory on my third attempt. I was planning on sending the route over the next few days, so gave it a rest that day to climb a few easier lines in the afternoon. In hindsight, and being so close, I should have given it a few more goes because the next day the wind and swell picked up, followed shortly after by varying amounts of rain. This was to be the state of affairs weather-wise for the rest of the trip really, rendering the climbing out of the question due to rain and large seas, which kept soaking the rock and keeping it that way.
I never got to get back on Magnum, and I was really gutted about that!
As some consolation, the arrival of surf on the plentiful and varied beaches of the area meant I got back into my surfing a bit during the rest of our holiday. I hired a surfboard from one of the shops in town, whilst Elisabeth bought a cheap boogie board and had fun whizzing about on that. My best session was down at Carrapateira in solid and clean six foot plus waves, where I scored some wicked rides and had an absolute blast. Stoked!
Now we're back home again, and I've already had a nice weekend of DWS down at Berry Head climbing a few of my old favourite routes in the sunshine. It sure felt good!
My plans for now are to keep the deep water soloing going as long as possible, and also to get back into my surfing a bit more over the winter again too. I already have my sights set on a super-snugg new winter wetsuit to help keep me warm during those cold winter sessions out riding the waves. And not forgetting the white water kayaking when the rains come again too of course.
But for now I'll just make the most of the warm ish weather we're having while it lasts! :)
Pics: Tackling the crux of Magnum, F7b at Ponta Garcia, Sagres, Portugal.
Halfway through my porridge breakfast the sky darkened with thick black clouds, and within moments the heavens opened and rain hammered relentlessly down on the lean-to roof outside. Things were looking far from ideal for my proposed climbing plans for the morning!
Five days previous to this I'd had a look at a route called Killa Gorilla, a F7b, whilst out climbing along Magical Mystery Tour at Berry Head as part of my training for our Portugal Deep Water Solo trip. The route looked fantastic, with a long and super-steep rising traverse into the entrance to the Great Cave leading to a fingery crux near the end before the finishing jugs. It was then that I got all psyched to try and climb the route before we flew out to Portugal in just one weeks time. I decided if I was going to climb my first 7b, I wanted it to be on a route that inspired me and was on my home turf.
Killa Gorilla fitted the bill perfectly for me. The race was on!
Over the weekend of 14/15th September I managed a couple of sessions down there trying the route in the mornings before work. I made pretty good progress on the Saturday, making it up to the final crux, but failed to unlock the right moves to victory. On Sunday, with some of the finishing holds chalked up, I had a couple more goes on it, but inadequate rests, a broken hold, and lack of time put an end to any chances of doing it that day too.
Time was running out for me with our flight booked for Thursday, and on top of that the weather was conspiring against me too with rain forecast for Tuesday and Wednesday!
Not only was I getting fed up of falling off the route all the time, but I was getting extremely frustrated as my likelyhood of climbing Killa Gorilla before we flew out to Portugal seemed to be quickly slipping away from me.
Monday was the only option, and with a forecast of sunshine and showers it would be the best chance I'd have before we flew out.
However, as the rain poured down outside my heart sank, and I started thinking that it was 'game over' for my attempt on Killa Gorilla. Then I got angry, and remembering the forecast of strong WNW winds and showers, I got even more determined to try and climb the route that morning - the crag would be sheltered from the prevailing wind and rain, and any sunshine should dry the rock out pretty quickly I reckoned.
After breakfast I walked the dog, and it wasn't long before the sun started to shine down on me again. Things were starting to look a bit better for the attempt!
Once down in the Great Cave I discovered that the rock was indeed very dry providing superb climbing conditions. Excellent!
It wasn't long before I'd traversed around to the big ledge near the start of Killa Gorilla with my dry bag of gear. I climbed on up the long way around to the last few holds on the route to check out that broken hold and re-chalk it if neccessary. Luckily the hold was ok, as only a small part had broken off, and it was still useable. I lowered down onto it, and the other crimp, and climbed back up to the finishing jug, just for my own peace of mind that I could do that move and hold onto the holds okay.
Back at the big ledge I made sure that I had a good half an hour rest before my first attempt on the route that day. This had been my downfall the day before, and I wasn't going to make that mistake again! This gave me plenty of time to visualise the climb and the moves on the crux I'd need to execute correctly. During this rest period I chose to listen to some tunes on my MP3 Player, something I'd not done before climbing a route, in the hope this would help me relax and put me in a positive mindset before the ascent.
At about ten to twelve, and with Bonnie Tyler's 'Holding out for a Hero' still playing in my head I started to climb the route, now that the tide had come up enough. I climbed quickly and relatively smoothly through the first fingery bit of climbing, before heading up the line of jugs through the ever steepening roof ahead of me. I made use of a couple of semi-rests to shake-out a bit and help me relax some more, prior to my arrival at the corner just short of the final crux. From here I made the strenuous move out rightwards and matched on a thin slot, but my foot popped and I took a wild cut loose swing. Managing to hold the swing, I didn't waste time trying to get my feet back on, and instead lunged out rightwards to gain a couple of jugs on the very lip of nowhere. Once I'd got these holds I swung a heel hook back on and had a quick shake-out whilst I eyed up the next fingery crux holds. I tried to reach up to the righthand hold but couldn't reach it as my body was too bent in the middle. I quickly re-positioned my heel hook further away, which then allowed me to reach the hold. I wrapped my thumb around it too for extra grip, then launched up to latch the lefthand crimp. Yes, I was almost there! Don't blow it now! Focus! I re-positioned my feet again and set up for the dynamic move to the finishing jug. One two three, bang! I got it! Yes!!! I quickly matched on it, before blasting up through a few more jugs to a more vertical and less strenuous position. I'd done it!!! I'd climbed this amazing route; my first F7b!!! I let out several massive hoots for joy and punched the air! Yeahhhhh!!! Woohooooo!!!! I was SO happy man!!! Yes!!! :D
Climbing Killa Gorilla really meant a lot to me. Obviously being my first 7b in pretty much my back garden was extremely special to me, but added to that was the fact that I'd done it on the last possible day before we flew off on holiday, which had added a lot of pressure. The relief I felt on completion of the route was overwhelming, and in fact a bit emotional really.
Overall though, I was just filled with emense joy and satisfaction. And that sure felt good!!! What a perfect day!!! :)
Really amped and looking forward to Portugal now! So excited!!! :D
Sunshine, jug-fest climbing over the beautiful Atlantic, what could be better?!?!! :D
PS: I think listening to music prior to climbing really worked for me and I'll be trying it again whilst I'm away climbing in Portugal too! ;)
One of my DWS trips to Berry Head recently was undertaken by open canoe with my partner Elisabeth. We paddled the canoe around Berry Head from Breakwater beach in Brixham, in beautiful sunshine, to access the multitude of climbing areas more easily from the water, and to make it quicker to get from one spot to another. This worked really well, allowing us to step right off the canoe and onto a route without all the faff of down-climbing and traversing into the base of the routes. It also allowed us to climb a hell of a lot of routes in just the afternoon that we had available, as well as giving us a great platform and series of angles for some quality photographs! I climbed all the best routes at the White Rhino area, plus the Wave and the awesome Cod Tympani, as well as parts of Magical Mystery Tour, while Elisabeth had a nice climb along some of the nicer parts of Magical Mystery Tour to get back into her climbing again after a bit of a break from it for a while.
It was while bobbing along past Magical Mystery Tour in the canoe that I noticed a really steep line that climbed through a series of roofs off the hanging block in the middle of the traverse that looked like it might go. It looked fantastic and I wasted no time in getting straight on it! Swinging onto the black rock of the block from the right I heel-hooked up and made a big reach up to the next hold above. After a few more really steep moves I gained a huge jug in a recess for a bit of a shake-out. The climbing was a little pumpy because I had to spend a some time searching for holds and chalking them up a bit en route. From here I moved up through another roof and onto a less steep white-ish wall, before climbing the final bulge to arrive on the Guano covered ledge at the top of the route. Woohoo, what an amazing climb - almost as much horizontal as vertical climbing - steep as!!! :D
I have a feeling this route might be a first ascent, as it doesn't appear in any of the climbing guides to the area or on the UK Climbing website.
I climbed this route on 2/09/2013, and feel it to be about F6b, with the left-hand start to be about 6b+, and I would call it 'Guinness' after the contrasting black and white rock, and because it is also the name of our much-loved dog! :)
We had a brilliant day canoeing and climbing our way around Berry Head, and decided this is the way forward for DWS climbing and the accessing of new routes! :)
Photos: New route - 'Guinness', 6b/6b+.
Over the last three weeks since my last blog post, I have spent a great deal of my time deep water soloing at Berry Head due to the really good run of sunny weather we've had. Making hay while the sun shines, so to speak! Some long trips along the classic Magical Mystery Tour and plenty of climbing on the steep routes at the White Rhino buttress were undertaken to help improve my power-endurance, prior to our Portugal DWS trip in a few weeks time. The fact that these routes are my favourite climbing spots at Berry Head is an added bonus!
During this time I hooked up with a few climbing friends to guide them along Magical Mystery Tour, and of course the superb Rainbow Bridge. It was on one of these trips along Rainbow Bridge with Gil Wood and her friend Gary, that I had another crack on the 7a+ crux pitch, having almost given up on it the year before because I got fed up of falling off the thing all the time. Anyway, because I was expecting to fall in I was actually super-relaxed climbing it, and just focused on doing the next moves rather than trying to get to the end. This approach worked really well, and I made it all the way to the last big sloping block before the crux finishing jug, just a few metres from the rest at the bottom of the finishing groove, before falling off. This positive progress inspired me to give the route a really good go this season, in the hope of finally sending it and gaining the full Rainbow Bridge tick! I installed a knotted rope at the Crystal Cave so that I could try the crux pitch repeatedly, without having to swim all the way back to the Great Cave and climb the first few pitches each time. This way I only had to swim a few yards back to the Crystal Cave, where I could change into fresh shoes and re-chalk for another go! This worked great, as the moves were much fresher in my mind for a second attempt after I'd fallen in, and in fact on my first visit after installing the rope I shocked myself by actally climbing right through the crux to latch the finishing jug and on into the corner rest on my second attempt of the day! :O Holy moley, I'd climbed the 7a+ crux of Rainbow Bridge!!! All I had to do now was climb the easier 6b/6b+ finishing groove to the top. Surely it couldn't be that hard?!? After much too short a rest, and with immense pressure on myself to 'HAVE to climb this now', I set off up the groove, finding the climbing to be quite technical with poor footholds on the most part. This all resulted in me getting mega-pumped out after a lot of faffing about to get through the bulge, up the vertical cracks, and past the small crimps near the top of the groove, and I finally fell off after failing to latch the huge juggy pinch at the top of the groove. Dammit!!! To say I was rather annoyed would be a massive understatement!!! I was furious with myself!!! Now I had to do it all over again!!! Grr!!! On Thursday the 5th of September I returned for a re-match with the Rainbow Bridge crux pitch! I started off climbing smoothly along the first few easier pitches, focusing on my feet and trying to take the majority of my weight on them, which allowed me to gain the Crystal Cave without really getting pumped at all. After successfully making it across the crux pitch again after utilising a nice rest at about the halfway mark, I made sure I had a good rest in the niche at the bottom of the finishing groove before setting off for the top. This strategy worked really well for me, and this time I made it up through the groove and latched the juggy pinch, before climbing the last few steep moves to a good rest at a large thread. From here I traversed off to the right and climbed the broken corner to the top of the cliff, topping out whooping for joy with a massive smile on my face - I'd finally done it! Woohoo! I was SO happy!!! :D To get the full tick, I then down-climbed Eight Ball and climbed the Rainbow Bridge extention, through The Wave and all the way along the 6b section into the zawn, finally stepping off onto the Terminal Zawn white ledge at the official finish of the amazing Rainbow Bridge! I was SO chuffed and it meant a lot to me to have finally completed it! It sure felt good! Yipee! :D
Looking forward to our Portugal DWS hols more than ever - super psyched for it now!!! :)
Photos, top to bottom: Whoomze got der Keys to Me Beema, 6c, Crossing the Tea, 7a, Cave Woman, 6c, and Cod Tympani, 7a+
Since getting back from our North Wales seakayaking trip, I have been mad-keen and psyched to get back on the DWS now that the weather has improved and water temperatures have slowly increased! After several trips to the Meadfoot area of Torquay to get back on it and rack up some mileage on the abundance of quality routes there, I turned my attention to an area I hadn't been to before - Black Head, over Ansteys Cove area, Torquay. There are only a small collection of DWS routes here, but the climbing is super-steep and you can do laps on the routes to get a full power-endurance work out. It's a super little venue! I managed to onsight the brilliant Bazuka, 6b+, and the superb cave traverse here on my first visit, but couldn't commit to the powerful moves of Veruca, 7a/7a+ due to the rough sea state that day. After a bit of beta and a route description from Dave Henderson, who put up the routes, I went back a week later in more favourable conditions, and after a little bit of a play around and the chalking up of some holds, I managed to climb the route first go with no splashdowns. Result! :)
Next up was a few trips to Lulworth Cove and the amazing Stair Hole! On my first visit the main steep sections of cliff were suffering from damp conditions and I was unable to get on the classic 'Horny Lil' Devil', 7a, that I so wanted to do. Instead I onsighted the fantastic 'Laws Traverse', 6b+, which had a great roof section and some splendid steep climbing in it, as well as other classics, including; 'The Maypole', 6a, 'Last Seasons Loozas', 5, and 'Cheddar Direct', 4+, to name but a few. On my second visit conditions were much better, with dry rock and neap high tides in the middle of the day that coincided with sun on the main steep sections of the crag. Perfect, Super! The first day there I spent some time trying the classic 'Animal Magnetism', 7a+, but couldn't unlock the right sequence in the middle of the main steep section of the route. After several splashdowns and a sliced up finger I admitted defeat that day and went back to cruising a few classics to get my flow back again. Second day, and I was super amped to get Horny Lil' Devil in the bag, so I wasted no time in getting straight on it! This route is steep and juggy with some big moves in it - much more my style! On my first attempt I made it past the halfway point and up to a large recess, but found it quite technical and struggled to get from here to the next big porthole jug, resulting in pumped arms and my first splashdown of the day. Second go, and I managed to get past the recess, and the next few juggy holds, and into the finishing corner, but getting my hand-sequence wrong here saw me pumped out and taking my second splashdown. Third go and I had the route and sequences wired, so all I had to do was climb efficiently and get it all right and the route would be mine. Halfway through the route and a kayaker paddles right underneath me coming out of the cave entrance! Undeterred I carried on, climbing smoothly and speedily to help avoid the pump. On the last big move into the corner I failed to latch the last porthole hold, but luckily held on! I tried it again, and still couldn't reach it! Getting a bit pumped now, I readjusted my feet and just threw myself at the hold, finally latching it. Woohoo! A couple more moves up and I was onto a ledge for a bit of a shake-out, before completing the final finishing moves to the top. I'd made it! So happy! Woohoo! Yeah! What a route - fantastic! :) Mission accomplished, I did my victory jump! Then I bashed out the Laws Traverse and The Maypole before calling it a day and heading home again. Loved Lulworth! :)
And then Berry Head DWS season arrived! Awesome! :) I was on it on the 1st of August, the day the bird-ban lifted, smashing out the classic Rainbow Bridge (upto the crux pitch) before heading over to the White Rhino buttress to bang out most of the super-steep routes there too. In fact, I was up there for the first three days straight, with the Saturday being by far the best day of the three for me. I was feeling pretty strong both physically and mentally that day, managing to complete the following routes in just the afternoon: Magical Mystery Tour, 6a+, The Wave, 6c, Rainbow Bridge Continuation, 6b, Cod Tympani, 7a+, White Rhino Tea, 7a (x3), Whoomze got der Keys to me Beema, 6c, Barnacle continuation, 6b/6c, Pink Roadster, 6c, Crossing the Tea, 7a, Watting yer Ouzel, 6c+, and the superb Cave Woman, 6c. After a couple of rest days, due to wet weather, I was back on it for most of the following week, adding The Oz Wall, 6b+, High Tide Running, 6b, Aeronautics, 6c, and Rainbow Scoop, 6c to the list, as well as spending a great deal of time lapping routes on the White Rhino buttress for more power-endurance training, prior to our proposed DWS trip to Portugal this year at the end of September.
I've been to the DWS Mecca of Mallorca now for the last two years, and although it is indeed a fantastic venue for rope free climbing over the sea, I fancied a bit of a change this year. The Portugal section in the Mike Robertson 'Deep Water' guide book looked really inspiring to me, with lots of super-steep juggy routes above the beautiful blue atlantic, and the added bonus of surf on the menu for some of the rest days. The other key ingredient that swayed the decision for me, was the added bonus of about four routes in the 7b range, with at least two of them holding the coveted three-star status! My aim for this trip is to climb my first 7b route. Weirdly, Mallorca doesn't really have any three-star 7b's, and certainly none that suit my climbing style, so Portugal with numerous top-quality three-star 7b's that are steep, juggy, and 'SO' seems to fit the bill perfectly for me! :) Super-excited! I can't wait! :D
In the meantime it's back to climbing at Berry Head to keep the training going and hopefully get a bit stronger in preparation for Portugal! Can't complain! Love it! ;)
Photos, top to bottom: Black Head Cave, climbing the Crux of Veruca 7a+, Horny Lil' Devil 7a route, Lulworth Cove and Stair Hole view, climbing White Rhino Tea 7a at Berry Head.
The middle two weeks of June were spent sea kayaking up in Anglesey, North Wales. The first day there we went out through the Penrhyn Mawr tide race, stopping on the way for bit of a play, and then on to the Stacks - North and South, to explore the massive caves and cliffs there and get up close to all the wildlife. Spring is the perfect time to visit, with a chance to see all the nesting birds there such as; Guillemots, Razorbills, Cormorants, Arctic Terns, Puffins, Gannets, Fulmars, kittiwakes, and gulls, as well as many seals, and the abundance of flowering flora that are very prolific at this time of year. It was a stunning trip!
With a small window of a few days of good settled weather, we decided to have a go at circumnavigating Anglesey. To make best use of the tidal streams we made sure we were loaded up and on the water at Rhosneigr by 0530, paddling out onto classy smooth waters heading clockwise around the island. Arriving at North Stack we radio'd the coastguard to check it was clear to proceed past Holyhead harbour before paddling the 12km to the Skerries in just one hour with spring-tide assistance! Heading east along the north coast we eventually stopped at the idyllic Porth Wen for a nice long afternoon break while we waited for the tide to turn in our favour again. That evening we enjoyed a pleasant paddle on past Point Lynas, including a bit of tiderace excitement, to Dulas bay near Moelfre where we camped up in a secluded spot for the night. Next morning we set off at 0730 with the flood tide heading across Red Wharf Bay, arriving at Puffin Island by 0930. With the last of the tidal push we cruised up to the Menai Bridge in the Menai Straits, where we stopped for a bite to eat, before hopping on he ebb tide which took us speedily down the straits and back out into the sea again on the southwest corner of the island. We stopped at the beautiful Llanddwyn Island for several hours that afternoon to rest and wait for the pushing tide once more, before setting off at 1930 into a brisk headwind on the final leg up to Rhosneigr. Having the tide with us cancelled the wind out a bit and we still made good progress, arriving at dusk around 2200 back at our starting point, having completed the circumnavigation in just two days, or 40.5 hours!
The wind really picked up the next few days, so we spent our time rockhopping in our kayaks along the rocky coastine, walking on Holyhead Mountain, and visiting the wildlife centre on South Stack where we could view the birds on the nests, as well as eat cake and drink tea in the cafe there too.
After a pleasant stay at a friend of Elisabeths at Menai Bridge, we drove out to the Lleyn Peninsular on the Sunday lunchtime with the aim of paddling around that, including a trip out to Bardsey Island if conditions allowed. We set off at 1500 that afternoon from Trefor with the ebb tide and made really good progress down the coast in overcast and windy conditions, arriving at Porth Oer five hours later after covering 33km! We did however end up eating in the dark and going to bed late as a result. Next morning we had a bit of a lie-in, as the tides wouldn't be in our favour until later in the day. It was a good time to relax, tinker with kit, and plan the crossing to Bardsey Island. We eventually set off at 1500, paddling out through some clean medium sized surf off the beach before heading on down to the tip of the Peninsular, utilising a strong back-eddy to aid our progress. The tidal flow in Bardsey Sound was running at 2kn to 2.5kn, necessitating a steep ferry angle and some strong paddling to make it across to Bardsey Island itself. An hour later we arrived to a welcoming committee of hundreds of Guillemots, razorbills and Puffins, as we followed the rocky coastline around to the safe and sheltered harbour slip, not far from the lighthouse on the island. After a brief stop and a bite to eat we set off back to the mainland again, timing the return crossing of the sound with slack water for a much easier and faster return journey. It was a long paddle from here up to our eventual camp for the night at the eastern end of Hells Mouth Bay, passing hourds of jellyfish en route. As the sun was setting we made our final, and exciting, surf landing onto the beach, getting some good rides on some clean four foot waves into the beach. Next morning we paddled out through the surf around 0800, with me making it out dry, whilst Elisabeth had to effect a speedy 'hat rescue' after losing it temporarily following a breaking wave that tore it from her head! On the paddle up towards the Tudwal Islands we were joined by a small pod of dolphins that swam with us for around 20 minutes, which was just amazing, and with more puffins and bird life at the Tudwal Islands it was like a wildlife extravaganza! The last section from here back to Pwllheli was a bit of a slog into a headwind, so we broke it up with a stop on a lovely sandy beach in the sunshine, before arriving at our destination around 1500. A short bus journey later and we had the van back and were loaded up and heading back to Anglesey, with the aim of paddling out to the Skerries to see the wildlife there in the next day or two.
The inshore waters forecast the next morning was looking promising, so after a speedy breakfast, and equally speedy drive, we arrived at Cemlyn Bay around 0900 near Carmel Head to get ready for the crossing out to the Skerries. By 1000 we were heading out of the bay and setting our ferry angle out to the island, with compasses set to 304 degrees. The tidal race out there had some quite lumpy sections in it, but nothing too bad, and we covered the 6km in under an hour! Arriving off the northern tip of the Skerries, we broke out behind one of the outer rocks in a good 3kn of flow, before ferrying back to the main island and paddling on into the inner lagoon near the lighthouse there. The wildlife here was phenomenal, in part due to the lack of man's presence, and we saw very close up massive colonies of Razorbills, Guillemots, Arctic Terns on their migration, Puffins in and out of their burrows, and some very inquisitive seals. We had a couple of hours of this all to ourselves, before the tide started to turn and we had to press on with our return journey. On the paddle back we agreed that we were very priviledged to have witnessed all that wildlife up so close, and of all the 'twitchers' on Anglesey at that time, very few would get to see that, proving that kayaking is one of the best ways to get up close and personal with the coastal wildlife that inhabit our shores.
The next few days were spent playing in the tiderace of Penrhyn Mawr near Porth Dafarch to hone our skills, and exploring the North and South stacks again where we found some superb rockhopping and cave paddling, and got to see all the birdlife again.
We both agreed that Anglesey is a true seakayaking paradise, and we'll definitely be heading back there again for more of the same! Absolutely loved it! :)
