Wednesday 28 March 2018

Days 4 and 5

Day 4 27/03/2018

It was forecast to be a bit windy in the night and a confirmation from waking up with the tent blowing onto my face; it was indeed windy. My tent had a small accident one year at the paddle festival where it went tumbling into the sea.. leaving behind many tiny hole which I have patched up. With rain through the night I made sure everything was packed up except me and my sleeping bag; to my surprise I did not wake up to any puddles. I had a late start as the forecast was windy but due to drop off by the afternoon.
I went for a little stroll to the local shop to get some breakfast. I’m not having too much luck with my morning porridge; it worked well for Ireland but I think that was it. So I find some flapjack bars which I scoff down with a strawberry milkshake and made my way back to the beach. I did pass the pub I had been in the day before and of course went in. “A cup of tea please?” The bar man asked if I’d like some toast too.. mmm yeah go on then thanks. He comes out with five slices of toast, on the House. Wow I had just eaten breakfast but I think I can demolish this toast too. Growing girl ha ha.
I get back to my tent and start packing up. Once everything is ready to go into the kayak and I’m dressed in my kit I decide to check the weather again. Unlike my earlier forecast the wind wasn’t going to drop. So we got 20mph winds and a soon to be flooding tide. Do I.. don’t I? Well I’m dressed and ready.. I could at least try and worst case I would get pushed or blow back by the wind and tide to where I started. So I get on the water.
To my surprise it wasn’t that bad. I stayed close to the cliffs which were stunning. Signs of spring with birds chirping away. Some lovely long beaches and I passed Nant Gwrthaein where we went with the school as kids. I can’t believe we didn’t even step food on the beach when we went, the school took us to slate mines and train stations.. really.
Anyway I wanted to make it to Ty Coch the famous pub on Porth Dinllaen so I paddled on, starting to feel the pinch against the elements. I made it to the lifeboat station on the small peninsula of Porth Dillaen. Beautiful beach all to myself and a short walk to the pub. Not a long paddle but I’m sure the pub will be worth it. So I packed my little bag and walked along the rocky path back to the pub to find it only opens 1100-1700 and it was 1740. How disappointing. Never mind. The bay is absolutely beautiful. And its top of my list to go back.

Day 5 28/05/2018 Porth Dinllaen – Aberdaron
High tide was a 0730 so the earlier I got on the water the better. The alarm goes at 0540 but the snooze button went off a few times until eventually I got up and was on the water by 0720. Lucky for me the rain started to hammer down just as I am coming out of the bay, it was almost hail stones. That’s great all my things are nice and dry in my boat. And I got my super duper kokatat jacket on to keep me dry, except I took the hood off and put it in my boat.. somewhere?...
Onshore winds and an ebbing tide. Not bad. Waves were sharp and steep in some places from the waves coming back off the rocks but it was nice to have a little bit of action. After disappointment of the pub my next stop was the café at the squeaky sand beach. And yes it was open. Wanting to get back into the tide I had a quick cup of tea and of course cake, leaked sand and salt water all over the floor and I was back on the water. Towards Bardsey sound her I come.
Coming into the third and fourth hour of the tide hitting each headland was hitting a new tide race, exciting to be thrown up in the air and getting sprayed with water. I think Tom the dragon needs a rain hat too. I did manage to get a wave crash down my front. That was a little cold but woke me up. Coming around the headland into Bardsey sound I was going around 6knots.. flying along, but not wanting to go out to the island I quickly get into the eddy and follow the coast along to Aberdaron. Beautiful sunny afternoon to do some sunbathing and drying on the beach. I stopped for a sandwich and the first thing the guy said about kayaking was there was a guy solo circumnavigating the UK who had also stopped there a few years ago. I wonder who that was.






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