For the first few days there the weather was far from ideal, with winds reaching force six or more accompanied by large swells and crashing seas, so we spent a couple of days at the start of the trip prepping our gear, going on coastal walks, and even managing a spot of climbing at the intimidating Mother Carey's.
Eventually the weather window we were looking for appeared and we decided to give the trip a shot. The main problem with kayaking around Pembrokeshire is the number of military firing areas along the south coast, rendering paddling these sections out of the question until the weekends when the firing ceases. The other issue we had, was the fact that the bus service we were relying on to do the shuttle back to the van at the end of the trip didn't run on Sunday's. This meant that we had to paddle this section on Saturday, come what may.
So, to make best use of the tides, we set out from Fishguard in the dark at 0515 on Thursday morning, complete with head torches and glowsticks. We rounded Strumble Head just before 0700 into a fresh westerly headwind and slogged our way down the coast for a couple of hours to arrive at Porth-gain for a sheltered and much needed break and bite to eat. Not wanting to waste the favourable tide, we were back on the water within half an hour and making our way towards St. Davids Head. As we drew nearer to the headland and it's accompanying mountains the sun slowly started to make an appearance, and before long we were rounding the head to get our first views of Ramsey Island. We tried to push on southwards through the sound but the tide was already turning against us quite strongly, so we opted to call it a day and pull in to Porthselau for the night instead, ending our 35km paddle for the day by 1130. The afternoon was spent chilling out on the beautiful little beach, drinking tea, and plotting the next days trip.
We were on the water for 0630 Friday morning, and with trepidation we headed out towards Ramsey Sound which houses the infamous 'Bitches' tidal race. However, we needn't have worried because arriving on slack water as we'd planned the race was practically non-existent, bar a small section of breaking waves far across the water from us near Ramsey Island itself. Soon we were speeding southwards in the ebbing tide with the wind on our backs in a following sea. Progress was rapid to say the least, and we covered the 15km's across St. Brides Bay to Jack's Sound between the mainland and Skomer Island in just over two hours, clocking an average speed of over 7kph. Rounding Gateholm Island we pulled in to Marloes Sands for a welcome brunch break around 10am. Being so far ahead of schedule we allowed ourselves an extended one hour stop, soaking up both the sunshine and the breathtaking views in the process. By 1200 we had arrived off Ann's Head, and after waiting for a couple of tankers and a ferry to pass into, and out of, Milford Haven, we crossed the shipping lanes safely to arrive at our last section of coast for the day towards Freshwater West, right on the edge of the military firing area of Castlemartin. With live canon-fire booming off to the south of us and paddling in through 4 - 5 foot crashing surf, it really felt like we were on a secret mission into a proper war zone. Still, I caught a wicked wave from way out back and had a brilliant surf all the way into the shore on it, arriving right on 1330. Woohoo, stoked! We soon established a camp in the dunes at the back of the beach and spent the afternoon sunbathing, chilling out and doing the essential route planning for the final day of the trip. A slightly longer 38km day today meant we slept soundly despite the sound of surf pounding on the beach through the night.
The wind had backed to a fresh to strong southwesterly by Saturday morning and under overcast skies we launched out through the surf at 0745 and slogged our way on towards Linney Head. Conditions off the head were quite rough and choppy due to a mixture of wind-swell, ground-swell, and backwash off the cliffs, and even on the section of coastline down to St. Govan's Head we experienced a great deal of clapotis. However, the wind and waves were a little more in our favour now, and with a favourable tide we made good progress once more along the stunning and distinct cliffs that make up South Pembroke. In the shelter of a small cove near Broad Haven we stopped for a food break and a cup of tea around 1030, before setting off again at 1115 to pass Church Rock and head east towards our final destination of Tenby. Arriving at Lydstep Point around 1300 we noticed that there were red flags flying either side of the rifle range at Giltar Point, so we decided to head out towards Caldey Island to hopefully get out of the firing line a bit (if they were actually firing at all). Here we discovered the tidal flows were quite strong, possibly almost 3 knots, and we only just managed to break out behind St. Margarets Island after a furious ferry glide to get there. After a quick breather we set out for the ferry glide back to the mainland, and after an exciting and energetic paddle in some choppy waters we managed to pull in behind Giltar Point and into the calmer waters of Penally Burrows. With the tide still in our favour we sped easily onwards to Tenby, arriving just after 1400 into the safety of the harbour with another 35km under our belts for the day.
After a two and a half hour bus journey, followed by an hours drive in the van, I was finally reunited with Elisabeth again, and after loading all the boats and kit up we walked into town for a much-deserved fish and chip supper, which we devoured back down at the tranquil and pretty harbour side. What a great end to a great journey!
The last day of our trip was spent surfing our sea kayaks at Freshwater West and meeting up with some old friends at their farm just up the road. Oh, and thanks to Pete and Lydia for the omelettes and copious amounts of tea! Much appreciated!
Due to the strong winds we experienced in Pembrokeshire, either side of our kayak journey, we didn't manage to get out and around Ramsey and Skomer on any day-trips to view all the wildlife out there as we'd planned, so there's still what I'd call unfinished business up there as far as that goes. We'll be back to Pembroke for more, so watch this space! :)
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