Sunday 13 December 2009

No Better Place To Be 13/12/2009

The weather was much the same as yesterday except for the wind being stronger and I think a bit colder as there was a frost on Porthsele above the high water mark. The above picture also shows how much sand has been washed away from the top of the beach during the numerous storms we have had in November.
I had no paddling plan as such but decided to head out to Gwahan, the small rock to the north of Ramsey Island, and then let the ebbing tide take me down along the east side of the island.

I was quite surprised at the swell out at Gwahan and also the speed of the tide flow but it made things a bit more interesting.
Although flowing quite fast, the sea was pretty flat due to the wind being in the same direction as the tide flow. I made good progress down to Ramsey and made my way down the eastern side.

It was nice and sheltered and there was even some warmth in the sun, although Ramsey's sheep population had their winter coats on and were also pretty good rock climbers looking for that better bit of grass.

Entering one of the numerous small caves on the island, the inside was nicely illuminated by the December sunshine, shame about the plastic bottle which I only noticed when I loaded the photos onto the computer.

As I paddled southward, the Bitches were nicely silhouetted and looking very jagged. It is easy to see why so many ships have come to grief on these infamous rocks.

I was hoping to paddle through the large cave which joins the two bays of Rhod Uchaf and Rhod
Isaf but the tide wasn't high enough so I had to paddle round the headland and into Rhod Isaf where there was another waterfall to add to the many I saw yesterday.

As I reached the Bitches they looked even more impressive, the tide was pretty slack so I paddled through the arch near the landing jetty and through the narrow channel which brought me out on the other side of the Bitches.

Paddling through the flat calm water between the Bitches it was hard to believe that in an hour or two the water would be a confused maelstrom of standing waves and rough water.

Paddling back across a flat calm Ramsey Sound, past a deserted St Justinian and along the coast back to Porthsele I think it doesn't get much better than this and never mind how many times I paddle along this stretch of the Pembrokeshire coast I never get bored of it, a great way to end a great weekend's paddling.

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