A Big Spring Tide 20/09/2009

Arriving at Penarth there was a slight problem. With it being a very big spring tide there was no beach to launch from, luckily I could launch from the lifeboat slipway.

Paddling up to the pier there was not enough space to get through under the main building but I could paddle through under the walkway.

With the ebb tide just starting to flow it was a bit of an effort to paddle the short distance to the entrance to the Cardiff Bay Barrage.

Inside the two breakwaters, one section of the road is raised up meaning that some boats are either entering or leaving one of the three locks. These locks allow boats to enter or leave Cardiff Bay at any state of the tide.

I decide to wait a while and in a few minutes the lock gates open and a small flotilla of boats steam out into the Bristol Channel.

As I paddle out of the breakwaters and back out into the Bristol Channel I can see straight into the lock and that the sea level has already fallen just over a metre, to a height of just under 12 metres, according to the scale at the side of the lock entrance.

Paddling along the outside of the breakwater I approach the five sluice gates that control the amount of water that flows from the Rivers Taff and Ely into the freshwater lake of Cardiff Bay.

I paddle towards the entrance to the Queen Alexandra Dock, I pass the White Sails Statue and the three navigational markers that guide ships into the dock.

The Queen Alexandra Dock was opened in 1907 and leads into the Roath Dock, these are the only two remaining working docks of the once massive Cardiff Docks.

The water level has dropped almost another two metres since I paddled the short distance from the Barrage. I paddle along the sea wall with a good view to Penarth Pier and Lavernock Point in the distance and also back to the dock entrance.

I paddle to the end of the jetty. It is looking a bit worse for wear and with the sails, in the background it is the new face of Cardiff with the rotten timber in the foreground the old.

I then paddle out into the main tidal flow where I am taken on an express train ride back towards Penarth passing the West Cardinal Outer Wrach Buoy straining at its moorings.

Before I know it I am back at the pier where, in just over an hour and a half, the tide has fallen very quickly with now plenty of room to get under the pier.

It is just a short paddle back to the slipway where there is now plenty of beach available to land on. Not a paddle of any distance but one that shows the huge tidal range of the Bristol Channel. It is the second biggest in the world behind the Bay of Fundy in Canada.

A Bristol Channel Millpond 09/08/2009

After another hectic 6 days in work it was great to get out on a perfect August Sunday morning. Like last Sunday I launched from the slipway at Penarth but with even better conditions than last week.

With not much of a plan I decide to paddle Northeast with the last hour or so of the flood tide and then use the first of the outgoing tide to take me down to Monkstone Lighthouse.

It was effortless paddling until drawing level with the Cardiff Bay Barrage when I had to put on a little sprint to get out of the way of the UKD Bluefin a 98 metre long dredger, one of two dredgers steaming back and for from the Barrage entrance out into the Bristol Channel.

There was not a breath of wind as I paddled on for about an hour across a glassy flat millpond like sea.

Stopping for a well deserved rest as it was getting very warm I noticed I was starting to drift backwards, the tide had turned so taking a photo looking back at Cardiff Docks I paddle further out into the Channel to the Welsh Water Buoy where I definately see that the tide has changed.

I now set a course for Monkstone Lighthouse with the islands of Flat Holm and Steep Holm behind.

With the ever increasing tide in my favour I make good progress to the lighthouse. Monkstone Lighthouse was built in 1839 on a rock outcrop nearly 4 miles from Penarth which is underwater apart from just before and after low water.

As can be seen from the photos the tide flows very quickly here and it is amazing to think how they managed to build the lighthouse back in the 1830s.

It is now a very long ferry glide back to Penarth across the shipping lane which today is exceptionally busy. The first of two ships leaving Cardiff Docks is a large cargo vessel which I couldn't quite make out it's name.

The second is the Soul Sound which is a 78 metre long cargo ship built in 1983.

The two dredgers are still busy and then the Balmoral puts in an appearance and like last week I follow her into Penarth where she docks at the Pier to pick up more daytrippers.

A paddle of just over 10 and a half nautical miles (just over 12 miles or nearly 20kms) in near perfect conditions.

Queen Alex's Locked Dock 05/10/08

With the shipping forecast predicting high winds I was very surprised on reaching Penarth to find not a breath of wind and a flat calm sea.

I was still not sure where to paddle as the shipping forecast is very rarely wrong, but on reaching the water's edge the wind suddenly picked up causing a lone fisherman to scurry off down the beach chasing his umbrella.

The forecast was right and my paddling options were very limited. I decided to paddle against the wind and tide towards the Cardiff Barrage. Within a few minutes of leaving Penarth the sky went black and the heavens opened. What I thought was going to be an easy paddle turned into a very hard slog against wind, tide and now torrential rain!


On reaching the entrance to the Cardiff Barrage the rain finally stopped and the wind dropped so I paddled into the shelter of the inner breakwater which houses the 3 locks used by the boats leaving and entering Cardiff Bay.

After a brief rest I paddle back out of the shelter and along the outer breakwater to the 5 sluice gates that control the water level of the 500 acre freshwater lake of the Bay formed by the Rivers Taff and Ely.

It is then a short paddle along the breakwater between the sea and Cardiff Bay passing the White Sails Statue and the 3 towers which have red lights which flash.

The nearest one to the sluice gates flashes every 2.5 seconds, every 5 seconds on the middle one and every 10 seconds on the one nearest to the entrance to Cardiff Docks. These mark the western edge of the Wrach channel which leads into Queen Alexandra dock.

The Queen Alexandra Dock was opened in 1907 by its namesake who was the Princess of Wales from 1863 to 1901 when Queen Victoria died and her husband became King Edward VII.

The Queen Alexandra Dock leads to the Roath Dock. These are the only 2 remaining working docks left of the once massive Cardiff docks. Today the dock has it's gates shut.

I then have a leisurely paddle aided by the wind back to Penarth. Only a short paddle with very changeable weather conditions.