South Bishop 13/07/2008

Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday to me, seeing as today is my 21st birthday, (again), I thought I would treat myself to something, and what better than a trip out to South Bishop lighthouse. I have wanted to do this trip ever since I started sea kayaking. Today the tides were neaps, very little wind, no swell and perfect weather.

Although I had missed the south flowing ebb tide which is the preferred route, I decided to paddle south of Ramsey Island and let the north flowing flood tide take me up to South Bishop.... hopefully.

I left Porthsele and paddled down to the bottom of Ramsey Sound. Whilst having a breather before the assault on South Bishop a sailing boat came the other way.

Peace and Tranquility

Peace and Tranquility....shattered!

Peace and Tranquility resumes

By now the north flowing tide was just starting to flood into Ramsey Sound so I decided once I had broken across the main flow I would head for Ynys Eilun and paddle out past Ynys Bery and Meini Dud, the most southern rock of Ramsey Island.

Looking northwards from Ynys Eilun

I paddle in a south westerly direction heading for Grassholm Island, a tiny speck on the horizon, continually looking backwards using Ynys Eilun as a transit with houses on the mainland to check if the current was taking me. As yet there was no appreciatable current and as I paddle out, the Puffin population increased.

A lone Puffin for company

After paddling for quite a distance parallel to South Bishop, I decided to, hopefully, let the tide take me down to the Island.

This seemed to be working well until about ½ a mile from the light, the tide suddenly picked up and for a horrible moment I thought it would take me past South Bishop, but increasing my paddling speed I was finally there.

I can imagine this could be a very bleak lonely place especially in the winter. I had a well deserved rest and took some photos, hope the camera doesn’t pack up now or no one will believe I made it.

South Bishop Lighthouse is situated on an outcrop of rock in St George's Channel 4¾ miles south west of St David's Head. The lighthouse acts primarily as a waymark for vessels navigating offshore and secondly to assist vessels navigating around the Bishops and Clerks.

An application was first made to Trinity House for a light at South Bishop in 1831 on behalf of shipping trading to Cardigan and again in 1834 on behalf of those using the Bristol and St George's Channels. Eventually a lighthouse designed by James Walker was built and lit in 1839.

St David's Head and Ramsey Island viewed from South Bishop

The lighthouse was converted to electric operation in 1959, and in 1971 a helipad was constructed although care had to be taken since on occasions the pad was wave-swept when the wind whipped up the high tide.

With the tide flow ever increasing it was time for the long paddle against the current back over to Ramsey. I basically pointed the kayak in a south easterly direction almost parallel to Ramsey and paddled (a ferry glide) I made little progress forwards, just sidewards.

I encountered quite a few sections of overfalls on the crossing as the fast flowing water hits shallower rocky ledges causing standing waves which are great fun.

On reaching the island it was a decision whether to turn left or right or should I say port or starboard, I opted for the latter as instead of another ferry glide across Ramsey Sound I would only have a short sprint through the ‘Devils Hole’ and I could then have a leisurely paddle up through the sound using the North flowing flood tide to aid me.

On passing through the Devils Hole I just had enough time to have a last look at South Bishop before the tide took me up to the Bitches where there was time for a little play in the last remnants of the rough water.

Going through the top wave with rocks below

Confused water after the wave

Leisurely paddle through Ramsey Sound

Then it was onto Porthsele and a couple of nicely chilled cans of celebratory Guinness.

This was a great paddle with a great feeling of achievement covering 14 nautical miles (approx. 16 miles) with a top speed of just over 7 knots in a time of 5 hours.

Around the Head 12/07/2008

I hope yesterday was not a one off, as today things were back to normal with winds force 4-5 occasionally 6.

With the tide starting to flow southward I decided to paddle around St David’s Head against the tide and see how things went.

On rounding the Head the sea was very confused with waves bouncing back off the cliffs and hitting the waves coming in.


Progress was very slow and challenging but good practice all the same .

For about a mile from St David’s Head there are numerous small inlets but as can be seen from the photos, not much room to land,

which is a shame as this cave looks worth exploring, though I wouldn’t fancy the climb down!

On reaching the point at Penllechwen the usual overfalls were already building to a fair side, but even though the tide flow was against me, I could surf the standing waves and was soon into the calmer waters of the small beach of Gesail-fawr where I had a well deserved drink and munch of an energy bar!



From here I was able to see right along the North East facing coast of Pembrokeshire with the lighthouse of Strumble Head just visible in the distance.

I decided to head back which should be a lot easier as the tide will be in my favour. The overfalls at Penllechwen were great fun and got quite a soaking.



I made rapid progress back to the head with Ramsey Island coming into view and then disappearing as I dropped into the troughs between the waves.



After rounding the Head it was then a leisurely paddle through the sheltered water back to Porthsele with Pencarnan caravan site above. This was a relatively short paddle of only 5 ½ nautical miles but quite a challenging one and great fun in the rough water.

Pencarnan from the sea

Ramsey Island - The Long Route 11/07/2008

Arrived at Pencarnan late afternoon for, hopefully, 9 or 10 days of some good sea kayaking. I was surprised as there was very little wind, the journey down had been quite blowy.



I unpacked quickly and left Porthsele at about 6.30pm and headed out towards St David’s Head.
Paddling past the head on a course for North Bishop I would let the South flowing ebb tide take me down towards Ramsey Island.

Within a couple of hundred yards, I caught my first glimpse of many Manx Shearwaters returning to Skomer, gliding over the swell.

Even though it was a neap tide the flow was taking me at quite a speed and I soon passed Carreg Trai, all the time in the presence of ever increasing numbers of Manx Shearwater, Gannets and the occasional Puffin. Unfortunately there was quite a swell out there making picture taking not too easy. See my effort of North Bishop.

Missed it this time

There it is!

With the tide aiding my progress I quickly passed Carreg Rhoson and decided to make my way back across to Ramsey Island.

Carreg Rhoson

As I approached the rocks of Llech Uchaf and Llech Isaf I encountered a large area of overfalls or standing waves which was a shame as the air was now a mass of Manx Shearwaters gracefully gliding over the waves, picture taking was a bit too precarious.

No Shearwaters, just Gannets

Nearing Ramsey the bird traffic subsided with just Guillemots and Razorbills. There was a bit of adverse tide flow through the ‘Devil’s Hole’ between Ynys Cantwr and Ynys Bery at the South end of Ramsey, but I could surf the swell through the gap into the unusually glassy waters of Ramsey Sound. It was then a leisurely paddle up to the Bitches with the last of the south flowing ebb tide aiding me.

Looking North from the bottom of the Sound

St David's Head from the Bitches

Last of the wave on the ebb tide at the Bitches

Calm waters through the Sound

The sun was starting to set but unfortunately as I got to Trwyn Ogof Hen it disappeared behind a bank of cloud so no pictures of that either.

When I got to St John’s point I finally got to try my storm cag as the heavens opened. It was excellent as it can be put on straight over my buoyancy aid.

This heavy shower did not put a dampener on a pleasant paddle of just over 3 hours covering a distance of nearly 10 nautical miles, lets hope the rest of the week is as good.

Tusker Rock 15/06/2008

I left a deserted Dunraven Bay early on another perfect Sunday morning. Using the last of the ebb tide I paddled past Ogmore and the vast caravan site of Trecco Bay, and onto Porthcawl Point.

On the breakwater at Porthcawl Point there is a lighthouse which was built in 1860 and also the boathouse of the Porthcawl Lifeboat.

The flood tide was just starting to flow as I paddled out towards the west cardinal Fairy Buoy which marks the nearby Fairy Rock. Judging by the state of the buoy it has taken a bit of a hammering and could do with a bit of TLC.

The Fairy Buoy looking a bit battered!

With the ever increasing flood tide I made rapid progress to the Tusker Buoy which is south west from Tusker Rock.

From Tusker Buoy I was now able to surf towards Tusker Rock which is a large rock that only becomes visible about two hours before and after low water. It gets it's name from Tuska the Viking, whose fellow Vikings semi-colonised the Vale of Glamorgan.

Waves breaking on the shallow water around Tusker Rock

As you can imagine, Tusker Rock is a major hazard to shipping and numerous vessels have run aground here. There is much visible evidence still remaining around the rock.

When I first looked into the history of the wreck on Tusker I came across conflicting reports as to what shipwreck it was. Many reports say it was the SS Samtampa but after much research and help from Eurion, my mate Dave "the lone gunman" and the Receiver of Wrecks, the truth was unearthed.

It seems as though it is most probably the wreck of the sand dredger Steepholm which was built in Bristol in 1950 and owned by the Holm's Sand and Gravel Company. It was wrecked on the 03/10/1968 with the crew of 7 being rescued by the Mumbles Lifeboat for which the Coxswain, Lionel Derek Scott was awarded a Bronze medal plus an additional monetary award for himself and the crew.

It was now a nice leisurely paddle back to the mainland and onto Dunraven Bay where, for a change, on landing the wind began to rise!

Cliffs approaching Dunraven Bay

Carreg Rhoson 01/06/2008

Conditions were totally different to yesterday with the sea mist clearing some time during the night. I left Porthsele and decided to paddle straight out, roughly on a course for North Bishop and see how things went.

The sea was flat calm and the tide was still flowing southwards so it was taking me down towards Ramsey Island rather than round St David's Head. Progress was a lot easier than expected and before I knew it the rock of Carreg-trai was fast approaching. I made a slight alteration to my course, and paddling against the tide flow, headed straight for it.

I had a brief rest and took a few photos, the one below is looking back at St David's Head. It was surprising how fast the tide was flowing and before I knew it Carreg-trai was disappearing.

I was half tempted to carry on paddling out towards North Bishop but I knew the tide would soon be changing which would make my return quite a struggle, and also it did still look like quite a distance to paddle.

I was now in the main tidestream and made good progress down to Carreg Rhoson sighting numerous porpoises on the way but, as usual, they were far too interested in feeding than posing for a picture.

As I reached Carreg Rhoson the tide was just starting to change and flow north easterly and although South Bishop was looking invitingly close it would have been a long hard slog against the tide.

After another brief rest stop it was a leisurely ferry glide back across to Ramsey Island. I was tempted to carry on southward around the Island but the tide was already flowing quickly against me so decided to save it for another day.

On reaching Trwyn Sion-Owen, the northerly tip of Ramsey, I stopped again for a quick drink and to take a look back at Carreg Rhoson, and felt a slight sense of achievement at having done it.

By now, although not rough, Ramsey Sound was flowing very fast northwards so using the south flowing counter eddy near the Island I paddled southward until I hit the north flowing stream which took me nicely across to St John's point and back to Porthsele.