After a pleasant morning spent in Solva launching my boy's Dagger Dynamo and their successful debuts to follow in their dad's wake, my paddling options were pretty limited.
I decided to paddle into Ramsey Sound and see how things went.
Leaving Porthsele conditions were pretty calm until I approached St John 's Point when the SW wind hit me and progress slowed considerably.
It was hard going and even on reaching St Justinian, the home of the St David's lifeboat, there was no shelter from the continuous wind!.
It wasn't until I approached the sheltered little cove at Carn ar Wig at the southern end of Ramsey Sound that I got some respite.
Just as I thought I would finally be able to stop and have a well deserved breather I noticed the white object (previously thought of as rubbish) begin to move and I realised it was a seal pup. I then spotted the mother who was already watching me, so my planned stop had to be aborted.
It was at this point that I decided to cut my losses and return back to Porthsele, at least I would have the tide and wind with me.
On the way back I dropped the skeg and could just sit there and let the conditions do the work, achieving a speed of between 4 and 5 knots without even paddling, just leaning the kayak to keep her heading in the right direction. This was a total contrast to my outward paddle and made a very welcome change!
Although this was only a short paddle of 4.5 nautical miles (approximately 5 miles or 8km) it was a good workout and my first sighting of a seal pup this season.
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