The weather had been pretty wild the day before, but was calming down on the Saturday. We still opted to paddle on the more sheltered NE coast of Anglesey as the forecast was still up to F5 from the W. High tide was 3pm Liverpool, which meant the tide was flooding as we paddled north. In theory this should be against the tide, but the tide eddies around Point Lynas to create a N'erly flow.
The sun was shining and the conditions were quite pleasant in the shelter of the small cliffs on the outward leg.
In the more exposed bays the sidewind was noticeable and the Xplore had a tendency to luff towards the wind if the skeg was not deployed. This is normal handling characteristics for most boats, but it still seemed strange having to use correcting strokes or a bit of lean compared to using the rudder on the Epic.
We had a lunchtime stop a couple of kilometers short of Point Lynas, shuffling around on the rocks to keep in the sun as it moved behind the slope behind the beach.
Heading off again we made quick progress to Point Lynas and once around the tip we were exposed to rougher conditions with some confused swell of a couple of feet.
On the return paddle we rounded the small island of Ynys Dulas with it's tower and seal colony. By this time it had clouded over slightly giving dramatic cloud/light. The return paddle was against the tide and at times we were only making 2-3kph as a group.
Paddled as a group of 8 singles and one double. About 20km.
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