Macclesfield Canal - 13th March 2011

Clarke Lane <=> Higher Poynton Marina.

Back on the canal for a bit of "training". Not been out on the canal much over winter - it has either been frozen or I've had back problems.

Paddled the Xplore S, out in 58.33, then paddled back at a reasonable pace for the first half and then took it easy as I was getting tired and didn't want to over do it. Returned in 68 mins.

Lovely sunny day!

Bardsey - Day Two - 6th March 2011

Day two of the Barsey trip.

Overnight the wind had got up, but the grey skies had also cleared and we awoke to a lovely sunny day. Before breakfast we walked up the island's hill - Mynydd Enlli - to survey the island and inspect our route home.

We packed up and said our goodbyes to Stephen, his family, and his sheepdogs. Richard again taking our bags down to the slipway for us.

We set off in slightly lumpy conditions, with confused waves going up the E side of the island. We then headed across the sound on a slight ferry glide as the ebb was starting to flow.

We reached the mainland just N of Carreg Ddu, and passed through the channel between it and the mainland. We were swept through, bouncing over some reasonable sized waves and headed out past Pen Y Cil on a wide sweep of Aberdaron bay. The bay contains a large eddy on the ebb, so we continued around to pass between Ynys Gwylan Fawr and Ynys Gwylan Fach and to a lunch stop at Porth Ysgo. After a brief stop we then returned to Aberdaron to finish.

The day's paddle proved to be fairly difficult for me because my boat was taking on a lot of water. By time we had crossed from Bardsey back to the mainland the cockpit had about 2 inches of water in it and this was making the boat difficult to handle. I didn't diagnose the problem on the day, but when sorting my gear out on monday, I found my spraydeck had 3 significant holes in. They seem to have been created by rubbing from my waist tow belt (that I wear with the buckle at the back, and the rope at the front). Combining this with the fact that my bouyancy aid is fairly long, it pushes the tow belt down and it may also have been pushing the spray deck against the fairly stiff back rest pad of the boat.

16.7km paddled. We left Bardsey around 11am, arriving back at Aberdaron about 3pm.

Bardsey - Day One - 5th March 2011

First day of a weekend trip to Bardsey Island.

We launched from Porth Oer on the N Lleyn coast and set off into the increasing ebb tide that was draining out of Liverpool bay. The tide took us west towards Bardsey, but once near Bardsey sound we had to paddle in a W'ly direction to avoid being swept through the sound and into Cardigan bay. We should have left the mainland a bit earlier and headed out more into the flow as we only just made it across. Near spring tides were about 4 knots through the sound.

Once we made landfall on Bardsey we paddled around the W coast for a quick "comfort break" and food stop on the beach on the W side of the "waist" of Bardsey.

We then paddled around the S end of the island passing many seals, some of which came out to see what we were up to. We landed at the slipway on the E side to be greeted by Richard one of the island's wardens. He used the small truck to take our bags up to the cottage we were to stay in while we walked.

We stayed in one of the cottages on the island - 7 of us, but we also invited Stephen the farmer and his family plus Richard and his girlfriend to have dinner with us.

About 14km paddled. Launched from Porth Oer at 11:50, arrived at the slipway about 3pm.

Mawddach Estuary - 22nd January 2011

Launched from the slipway at the southern end of Barmouth beach at 8am! With a high tide around 10am this meant we would be paddling with the incoming flood up the estuary.

We passed through the railway bridge and proceeded down the broad mouth of the estuary at a reasonable pace - GPS was reading between 9-11kph and that was with a bit of headwind.



We were soon down to the point where the estuary narrows and round to Penmaenpool. This time of year the pub and buildings here do not look as though they get any sun, and by this time we all seemed to be feeling the cold, so we proceeded through the main arch of the wooden bridge and on to the far bank for a snack in a sunnier location. There was a lot of frost on the ground still and frozen pools of water - not the best conditions to warm up cold feet!



After about 20 minutes of rest we paddled a bit further upstream before turning to make our way back with the now ebbing tide. The return was without incident (running out of water and grounding was the main hazard) and by time we reached the Barmouth rail bridge the flow was fast through the first three arches given some playful conditions to practice breaking in and out of the current.



We were off the water by about midday. Paddled as a group of 14 kayaks and one canoe. About 23km paddled.

Macclesfield Canal -16th January 2011

Back on the canal now it has thawed... paddled the XploreS. 11.7km, 1:37 time. Not particularly pleasant in the rain, but I used the touring cag that I won at Oban which has a good hood. Good to be paddling again and testing my back out that has been bothering me a bit this winter (hurt it twice now sweeping snow off the drive).

Portland Harbour - 28th December 2010

Launched at Castle Cove beach and paddled out through the N entrance to the harbour. Followed the breakwaters S to re-enter the harbour via the S entrance and straight back across the harbour back to Castle Cove.

On the water for 90 minutes, 10.1km paddled. Wind S3-4, about 4ft swell outside the breakwaters.

Weymouth Harbour - 25th December 2010

Quick paddle on Christmas day morning to meet an old friend while providing support to the loonies that swim across Weymouth harbour in aid of charity.

It was nice to see Will Lawrence after nearly 30 years since we used to paddle together in the 70s!