Fast Cats & The Last Invasion 17/07/2008

Launching from the slipway by the Celtic Diving Base at Goodwick, I paddled quickly over to the ferry terminal to take some pictures of the Stena Lynx III (the vomit rocket!) before she left for Rosslare. She does the crossing in 1 hour 50 minutes, but has done it in 1 hour 30 minutes. She has a top speed of 44 knots, a lot faster than me so I didn't hang around for long.

I then paddled across Fishguard Harbour to the picturesque little harbour of Lower Fishguard overlooked by Castle Point.


I have seen dolphins between here and the Lighthouse on the North Breakwater, but today I was not in luck.


On leaving the North Breakwater I passed the normal ferry on its way into Fishguard, which takes 3.5 hours, not nearly as fast and sleek as the Cat.


Today I decided to paddle straight to my intended destination of Strumble Head using the tide to my advantage making progress against the wind a lot easier, I would do the exploring on the return leg.

On reaching Strumble Head I had the second period of rain of the week, so far it was only a small amount but enough for the light to come on and after many attempts I managed to catch it with the camera!


Leaving Strumble Head numerous small beaches are passed before reaching Carregwastad Point, where on 22nd February 1797 a French force of 600 soldiers and 800 convicts in 4 warships under the command of an Irish-American Colonel William Tate landed here.

Carregwastad Point

'Valley of Cwm Felin' is this where they actually landed?

They were ill prepared with few provisions and raided local farms looking for food but instead found a cache of liquor recently 'rescued' from a Portuguese shipwreck by the locals. This helped to incapacitate the invaders who signed a surrender on 25th February in the Royal Oak Pub in Fishguard.

The local heroine of the invasions was Jemima Nicholas who, at the age of 47 armed with a pitchfork, captured 12 Frenchmen. It is thought the French may have mistaken local women like her dressed in their tall black hats and red cloaks for British Grenadiers. So ended the last foreign invasion of mainland Britain.

I had planned to have my lunch on one of the numerous small beaches of Aber Felin around from Carregwastad Point but there were numerous seals hauled out probably preparing for the pupping season. A very large bull seal appeared and kindly escorted me out of his harem!

All along the coast to Pen Anglas there were seals basking on rocks and beaches so I decided to paddle across Fishguard Bay to Needle Rock where I knew there were plenty of small coves.

Needle Rock is a large stack with an arch through it's base. Opposite this there are 2 smaller arches which make quite good photographic material.

A little further on towards Lower Fishguard I found a tiny steep pebbled beach with a large cave that went a long way back into the cliff, ideal for smuggling.

It was here, whilst having my lunch that I had to make a quick dash for my kayak as the wave from the returning Cat hit the beach. I would dread to think what it is like when it is further out at sea and going faster.

It was now a leisurely paddle in the sheltered waters of Fishguard Harbour back to the slipway. Yet another brilliant day covering a distance of just over 16 nautical miles.

"The Witches Cauldron" 16/07/2008

The main objective of today's trip was to visit the Witches Cauldron which I haven't been able to find the entrance to previously, but with a bit of serious research I am now hoping today will be the day.

I left from Parrog by Newport Boat Club. Even though it was nearly low tide I only had a short carry as I could use the Afon Nyfer to take me down to the sea. It was good to start a paddle with a leisurely float and letting the current do all the work.


I paddled in a north easterly direction paddling alongside high sea cliffs with numerous caves, small inlets and impressive rock formations, totally different to those which I paddled yesterday, wish I knew more about geology!




Just before the Witches Cauldron there is a great example of a natural arch.



When I reached the right coordinates it still took me a little while to find the entrance but it was well worth the effort.



I paddled into the arch which opened into a larger cavern with a large opening into the Witches Cauldron and a smaller opening to my right which accesses another smaller pool which, at this state of the tide was cut off from the sea.


As you paddle into the Cauldron it is pretty breathtaking as there is a small pebbled beach in front of me with another small cave to my right with a small stream flowing into it and all around me is amphitheatre shaped sheer cliffs almost 200ft high.

Apparently the Cauldron was once a sea cave which was eroded by the sea and eventually the roof collapsed forming the Witches Cauldron. I apologise for the amount of photos but it really was a pretty mind blowing experience.

Leaving the Cauldron

Entrance to smaller pool

In smaller pool going back into cave entrance

Out to sea on the left, into Cauldron on the right

I was going to paddle onto Ceibwr Bay but when I finally left the Cauldron the wind had picked up considerably so I decided to paddle back and onto Dinas Head. Even though the wind was against me I had the tide with me so progress wasn't too bad.

At Dinas Head there are again impressive high sea cliffs with Pen Y Fan being the highest point on the headland at 466ft (142m). There is a cave that goes straight through Dinas Head but the tide wasn't high enough to go through today.

Paddling away from Dinas Head I approached a seal who was having a crunching snack on a large crab. As usual soon as I got the camera out he heard me and disappeared. Still an impressive splash.

The coastline here again is riddled with caves which I took a bit of time to explore as this stretch was sheltered from the wind.

This cave when inside opened right out with another smaller entrance just big enough to get through where there were numerous jellyfish in the sheltered water.

Passing Needle Rock, which is a large sea stack where large numbers of sea birds nest, I found another inaccessible beach from the land to have a well deserved brew.

On leaving, again in the sheltered waters of the bay were large numbers of jellyfish.

Paddling on I entered Cwm-yr-Eglwys (the Valley of the Church). Here are the remains of the 12th century church dedicated to St Brynach which was destroyed by a hurricane strength storm, known as The Royal Charter Storm, in October 1859. Accounts say that in the morning following the storm, coffins from the churchyard were seen floating out to sea and had to be recovered by boat.

This storm was named after the SS Royal Charter which was a great hulk of a vessel; it had an iron-clad hull, and it had steam engines as well as sails. On October 25, 1859, she was nearing the end of a long journey, having set sail from Fremantle, Western Australia. She was carrying some four hundred passengers and also a large quantity of gold bullion, then valued at around half a million pounds.

The storm sprang up that evening. As the northerly wind strengthened to gale force and beyond, the Royal Charter dropped anchor off the north coast of Anglesey, her sails lowered and her engines shut down.

Other ships in the area were able to find shelter close to the Irish coast or nearer to Liverpool where the wind was much less strong. The Royal Charter's captain preferred to ride out the storm rather than continue to Liverpool, reasoning that such a northerly gale would tend to drive him towards the coast of North Wales. He was not to know that the strength of the wind was much lighter to the east of Llandudno.

In the event, the ship foundered during the early hours of October 26 off the village of Moelfre with the loss of most of the passengers and crew, and the entire cargo. By daybreak the ship had completely sunk, and the villagers had succeeded in saving just a dozen or so people.

An enquiry was held into the disaster, and as a direct result of the storm of October 25-26, 1859, it was decided to make use of the new electric telegraph to warn of storms in British coastal waters. Thus the first official gale warnings were inaugurated in June 1860. Between 25 October and 9 November 1859, a series of storms around the coast of Great Britain resulted in 325 ships being wrecked and 748 lives being lost.

All along the Welsh coastline 114 vessels were wrecked during that storm causing enormous loss of life, with 3 ships being wrecked between Cwm-yr-Eglwys and Dinas Head.

Along the coast back to Parrog there is much evidence of the sea quarries where slate was quarried. When I got back to Parrog the tide was in so there was even less distance to carry the boat.

Yet another fantastic paddle with the Witches Cauldron being the highlight of the day covering 16 nautical miles (approx 18m, 29km).

In Search of Shipwrecks 15/07/2008

Today was a similar day to yesterday with the sea mist still threatening on the horizon. My plan was to paddle from Porthsele to Newgale and back and en route look in on what is left of the 3 tugs that were wrecked near Solva in October 1981. I first visited these in 1982 and was last there in July 2006 so it will be interesting to see if much has changed.

I left Porthsele and let the south flowing ebb tide take me effortlessly through Ramsey Sound. As I approached the rocky outcrop of Carreg Yr Esgob in Porthlisky Bay, you can normally see my intended destination of Newgale, but today it was shrouded in mist.


I decided to leave the exploring until the return trip and headed straight across to the wrecks to arrive there as near to low tide as possible to see the most of the wrecks.

Picture I took in 1982

It was on 28th October 1981 that the tug Vernicos Alexia from Liverpool (formerly Formby, ex Weather cock) was towing the tugs Vernicos Barbara IV from Liverpool (ex Collingwood ex Heathcock) and Vernicos Georgos also from Liverpool (ex Canada, ex Peacock) to their new owners in Greece, that the towing vessel developed engine trouble.

Picture I took in July 2006

Whilst trying to sort out this problem the towing line became wrapped around the propellor rendering the towing tug without power and steering. All three began to drift towards the shore and in the strong wind their anchors did not hold and all three were subsequently wrecked a mile west of Solva.

The wrecks seem pretty similar since I was last here 2 years ago. After a good look around I paddled out to the 3 rocks of Black Scar, Green Scar and the Mare that lie south of the entrance to Solva.

Black Scar to the left, Green Scar to the right

By now the mist has almost lifted and as I approach the headland of Dinas Fach, the large beach of Newgale comes clearly into view.

I was hoping to stop for a brew on the very north end of Newgale which is usually deserted, but today there were people on it! So I turned around and started paddling on my return leg looking for a secluded beach to have my dinner.

I decided on Aber Dwyrain just before the headland of Dinas Fawr. This beach was a perfect suntrap and I was very tempted to stay longer but the wind had started to pick up and I knew it would be against me all the way back to the entrance to Ramsey Sound so it could be a long drag.

I stopped off in Solva which, as usual, was sheltered and with the tide being in I could paddle right into the harbour. As I paddled out of Solva there is a large arch which leads into a small bay with high cliffs surrounding.

The wind was increasing all the time and by the time I reached Porth Clais I could do with a well deserved break and entered the tiny harbour to shelter from the wind for a bit.

On leaving the shelter it was again a hard slog into the wind. It was not until I left Porthlisky that the GPS finally made it up to 3 knots as I began to be taken by the flood tide entering Ramsey Sound.

As I got closer to Pen Dal-adeyrn, the point at the entrance to the sound, my speed quickly increased and looking at the GPS I managed to get into double figures as I paddle effortlessly at a speed of just over 10 knots (nearly 12 mph).

This was another great paddle, hard work for a while but sea kayaking can't always be easy!. Good to see the wrecks are weathering reasonably well. Today I covered a distance of 21.5 nautical miles (approx. 25 miles, 40km).