Carreg Rhoson 31/05/2010

Leaving Porthsele an hour after low water and with about two hours of the southerly flowing ebb tide I plan to paddle straight out in the direction of North Bishop and see what occurs.
The sea is pretty flat and with not too much wind but as I expected the further I paddle out the tide takes me away from North Bishop and more towards Carreg Rhoson, the middle rock between North Bishop and the lighthouse of South Bishop.
I am taken by the tide south of the two rocks of Carreg-trai which lie about halfway between St David's Head and North Bishop. They are submerged a couple of hours before and after high water and as a result have claimed a fair few ships through the ages.
As I get nearer to the group of rocks that make up Carreg Rhoson the South Bishop lighthouse is nicely framed in one of the gaps between the rocks.

The tide flow increases as I reach Carreg Rhoson so I break out of the flow and take a breather behind one of the rocks. Looking northward I take a photo of the rocks that make up North Bishop. Looking southward toward South Bishop there is a patch of rough water where the tide is flowing through the gap between the rocks.

I am undecided whether to carry on to South Bishop but a strong wind warning on the VHF makes my mind up as it doesn't take much wind to whip up the sea around the Bishops and Clerks, so I begin my paddle back across to Ramsey Island.

The paddle across to Ramsey was through varying sea conditions with areas of flat calm but fast flowing tide to patches of pretty large standing waves which even stopped me taking photos at one stage but it all adds to the fun!
As I near the island the conditions calm and I don't have to worry toomuch about the tide flow, I can now let it take me down to the south of the island.
I paddle toward the steep pebbled beach of Porth Lleuog with the hope of exploring the numerous caves and holes that riddle the cliffs here but there is quite a large swell which is a shame but there is always another day.

One good thing about today's swell is the blowhole by Porth Lleuog is spurting out large amounts of spray.
Paddling on southward the waves are breaking pretty impressively on Martin's Point as it is now affectionately known (sorry mate) but as I paddle into Bay Dillyn the sea calms down.

AsI paddle through Twll y Dillyn and back into Ramsey Sound there are large amounts of Guillemots perched precariously on the cliff faces.

It is now an easy paddle northward through Ramsey Sound with the flood tide just starting to flow to complete a paddle of 10 nautical miles (18.5kms).