One cannot fault the Aldridges for their ability to plan and organize a perfect weekend kayaking on the sea. Due to my own bad organization, I discovered that Summit-to-Sea had already booked out all of their sea kayaks for the weekend. I hunted around with very little luck. Martin quickly stepped in and sorted a boat for me from Desperate Measures [if you’re reading this, Barry, thanks a million times over!]. Other paddlers on the group also found themselves stuck for boats, and Martin and Nikki got in touch with their favourite sea-kayaking coach, Nick Cuncliffe, who kindly offered up a pair of really nice composites for us to use. Nikki is still in love with one of these boats and we should do our best to encourage Martin to consider parting with his earnings to get her one! 🙂
So, boats sorted. Campsite booked. I believe the Aldridges may even have spoken to the weather gods. All we had to do was the lengthy journey up to Rhoscolyn, Anglesey in north Wales. I was one of the first to arrive at the campsite, despite getting a little lost down a dirt track and having to ring Phil Riley and then having to speak to a few locals. Phil arrived 10 minutes behind me, followed by the Aldridges. I hung my hammock from the roof bars of my car and a home-made hammock stand. I believe that I provided some entertainment for the rest of the group as I fiddled with my tarp for a bit and got myself settled. The downside to this setup was that moving my car (or at least being under the wrong impression that I would have to do so) meant breaking camp first thing in the morning and then setting up again the next evening.
Something that you aren’t warned about on a sea kayaking trip is that 16-foot plastic boats weigh quite a bit. If you have a reasonable walk to the get-on, carrying your boat and kit works out to be a bit of an ordeal. Definitely consider wheels! Again, the Aldridges came to the rescue with 3 sets of wheels that we used to relay some of the 9 boats down to Borthwen Bay, where we would start our first day of kayaking on the salty stuff. The Saturday morning definitely had a bit of a chill in the wind and there was some concern that if the breeze picked up much more, we would have to move our paddle to something like the “inland sea” near Four Mile Bridge.
Fortunately, the weather held and sea conditions were not too rough. Martin and Nikki gave us a brief and we got onto the water in the sheltered bay to get some practice in and to have a chance to familiarize ourselves with our boats. Sea kayaks are interesting. On flat water, they are a real mission to turn and whitewater boaters tend to get caught out with the idea that you need to edge on the opposite side. Martin gave us all a few lessons about how wind affects these boats. When stationary, the boats tend to turn side onto the wind, while when paddling forward without a skeg down, the boat will start to head into the wind. Put a skeg down and the boat will try to head away from the wind. You can use all of these things to your advantage when you’re out on the water and I certainly found myself playing with all of these tricks over the whole weekend.
Once we had all familiarized ourselves and Martin had peeked out of the bay and into the wind around the corner to check that conditions were still suitable, we headed out of the shelter of the bay. The swell instantly picked up and the wind became much more noticeable. We hugged the shoreline and progressed slowly through the many channels and eddies afforded by the rocky coast. All of us had a great time “rock hopping” and exploring parts of the coast that are inaccessible to land-lubbers. As our confidence picked up, some of us ventured further out into the swell. I loved this stuff, and it brought back memories of sailing on the ocean from many years back. Certainly, I would have been happier with bigger lumps in the sea to play on and I expect that on future trips, I would really like to do more of this.
For lunch, we pulled up onto shore in Silver Bay, barely 2km down the coast. The wind was still pumping, so we took shelter in some rocks and Martin and Nikki showed us all of the safety kit and explained their leadership decisions and other gems of wisdom while we munched down on our packed lunches. When we returned to the boats, we discovered how quickly the tide had gone out and had a bit more of a walk to get back to the water. Once on the water, we all put our skegs down and turned our backs to the wind. The swell and the tide and the wind all behind us had us motoring back to Borthwen Bay. A brief incident, had Alice testing Nikki’s ability to roll in anger right up against the rocks. I believe this is the first time Nikki has had to do this. Apparently, despite the tippy feeling that you first get in a sea kayak, actually going over is pretty rare.
Our journey back to Borthwen Bay took us all of 15 minutes to complete. Which goes to show how powerful wind and tide are, considering that our journey to Silver Bay had taken an hour and a bit. Once back, Martin asked Sally and Emily if they would mind going ashore while he took the rest of the group out to the little set of islands that host Rhoscolyn Beacon. This involved crossing some tidal flow that was running at about 2 knots. That meant calculating an appropriate trajectory to approach the island and make sure that we could all hit it. Martin gave us a line to follow and we paired up for the paddle across. The little trip out to the islands had us dealing with bigger swell and more open wind. You could also really see how quickly our line altered due to the flow.
Much to our delight, when we got there, we were met by a host of seals. Most of these were basking on the rocks, but there were several swimmers who had us feeling a little uneasy. Its amazing how big these guys are up close. Also, they make some really weird noises. And they have sharper looking teeth than you would think. But those eyes win everyone over.
After a short while checking out the local wildlife, we decided to move on and leave them in peace. We paddled around the island and started to head back. This proved a lot more challenging than getting to the island. With a headwind against us and strong flow, we pushed back to the bay. By the time we got back into shelter, I felt pretty worn out. Clearly I need to work on paddle technique.
In the bay, I got Nikki to spot me while I tried my first sea kayak roll. I was a little nervous, as these boats are long and quite different to anything else I have paddled. I was delighted to come back up and felt much more confident getting into my boat the next morning after checking that I was capable of self-rescue. Once again, the get-off involved a bit of a trek to get the boats back up to the campsite. Its even more difficult when you’ve just been paddling for a bit and you’re feeling a bit knackered, but the group pulled together and everyone took their turns carrying boats back.
Martin decided to do a trip to the local Spar to get some firewood and a few bits and pieces and most of us took the opportunity to go along and pick up some extra supplies (read marshmallows etc). When we got back to the campsite, Martin channeled his inner-Ray Mears and put up his tarp and made a fire. This was an event that required the involvement of at least four of us, some gaffer tape, a paddle, several poles, lots and lots of guy lines and took about an hour to complete. Martin’s inner Ray Mears died a little in the process, but when we were done, our entire group gathered under the tarp and sat around a very awesome fire and chatted till late into the evening. Many marshmallows were roasted, and Phil defiled the fireplace with his manky teabags.
We woke up on the Sunday to glorious sunshine and the faintest breeze, that contradicted the weather forecasts that Martin had been following. This meant that we could plan a longer day paddling from Borthwen Bay to Trearddur Bay. This would give us a chance to do some more interesting “rock hoping” and to cover a lot more distance. We organized our car shuttle and headed up the winding track toward Trearddur. Once we hit open road, we realized that we had managed to lose Sally and her van, which was our ticket back to camp. Phil turned the Disco around and went to look for her. Meanwhile, we all just hoped that by the time we got back, the remainers would have taken all the boats down to the bay already. Sadly this would not be the case.
Back at the bay, the water was about as flat as it could possibly get. The sun was cooking us in our dry suits and it was definitely time to get paddling. Our first section of the paddle gave us an opportunity to revisit the islands at Rhoscolyn Beacon. Sally and Emily managed to get a glimpse of a few seals, but they were definitely a lot more scarce than they had been the previous day. Martin used the channels between islands to help demonstrate how you could identify tidal flow, which was great because you could literally see it coming over and between rocks. We even did a bit of ferry gliding to move around.
Much of the rest of the day was spent exploring caves and every nook and cranny that we could along this amazing section of the Welsh coast. Some of the caves are deep and the sound of the water as it rushes down holes and crashes about in unseen caverns is awesome. At one point, Martin took Phil, Erin and I out to some rocks a bit further offshore to let us experience a ‘tidal race’, which is essentially a rapid that is caused as the tidal flow rushes over the rocks. You get standing waves and eddies, just like in a river, but you have the added complexity of the surge of the swell that constantly changes the topology of the water. We had a bit of a play ferry gliding backward and forward across a little race before heading back in to shore.
Around about lunch time, I started to develop a headache. I have been struggling with sinus trouble (probably another roll while we were exploring a little cave exacerbated the situation) and sometimes the pressure triggers a headache. I think my usual reputation for looking grumpy got re-affirmed and for much of the rest of the trip, I think I lagged behind a little and kept quieter than usual. That said, I had a fantastic day and the sunshine couldn’t have been better timed. We reached Trearddur at about 3pm, as planned and our cars were right at the get off, making the short trek up the beach very bearable.
For anyone at about 2 Star level, I really recommend getting onto the next Intro to Sea Kayaking trip and giving this a try. Its a brilliant weekend and if its organized by Nikki and Martin, I can guarantee that you will have fun, learn a lot and feel very safe the whole time. You cannot ask for more from a trip.
Incidentally, as a thank you to Nick Cuncliffe for his boats… His website is at http://www.kayakessentials.co.uk, where you can buy his Sea Kayak Essentials DVDs or organize some coaching with him. 🙂
-Ro Puttergill 