Cable Bay to the Sea Zoo - 6th March 2016

I'm not a great fan of shuttles since they end up taking up a lot of time, but this one was worth it to be able to get a long and varied paddle in. We left a couple of cars at the Sea Zoo on the Menai Straits and returned to Cable Bay to launch.

Just a week before I'd headed north from the same beach, but this time we were going south, and uncharted territory for me. The planned paddle pretty much completed all the coast of Anglesey for me. I must do it as a continuous paddle one day.

A cool northerly wind greeted us as we left the shelter of the bay and the small choppy swell gave a bit of interest. We made our way round under the cliffs with the intrusive noise of the racing circuit just above us. The tide wasn't right for us to go in and paddle round the church of St Cwyfan on the island of Cribinau, so we stayed further out to sea to cut the bay off.

A tight squeeze through the channel separating Carreg-y-trai from the mainland saw us reach much more sheltered waters and a change of scenery. The coastline opened up into a broad sandy bay surrounded by low cliffs and dunes.

We passed another couple of rocky headlands and made our way over to Ynys Llanddwyn where we planned to stop for lunch and to wait for the tide to turn so we could enter the Menai Straits. I've never explored the small island before, and it is a fascinating place with its old cottages and the other buildings from the now deserted settlement.

Suitably refreshed we plotted a course across Llanddwyn bay trying to keep far enough out to not get grounded on the sandbanks. The shallow water caused a few moments of excitement as it caused the small waves to break and a circuitous route saw us enter the Straits and pass Fort Belan that guards the entrance.

The channel keeps to the southern side of the Straits so since we passed close to Caernarfon we decided to go up the river to have a look at the impressive castle built by Edward I.

With the tide now flooding into the straits we were hoping it would soon cover the sandbank that blocks direct access to the road in front of the Sea Zoo and luckily a zig-zag channel was navigable to allow us to get close to the cars.

A fine paddle of approximately 26km.

Cable Bay to Rhoscolyn round trip - 28th February 2016

For once the weather forecast looked as though we had a chance to grab a paddle in some sunshine and little wind. So four of us arranged to meet up at Cable Bay with high hopes of a pleasant paddle and perhaps a chance to clock up some fast miles.

We set off N, hugging the coast and weaving in and out of the skerries that guard the S end of the Rhosneigr bay. I must have left a fair bit of gel coat on those reefs over the years, and today was no exception as I misjudged the odd gap or didn't see submerged jagged rocks.

We picked up a bit of the cold easterly wind as we made our way across the bay, but the pleasant sunshine made up for it. We decided to have lunch at the E end of Silver Bay - a bit quieter than our planned stopping point at Rhoscolyn. Tucked out of the wind we enjoyed bacon butties and a fine cup of tea.

After a leisurely lunch we re-launched and made our way to Rhoscolyn and then out to circumnavigate the Beacon and surrounding islands. A narrow gap provided some entertainment and we were accompanied by the odd seal.

It was now time to head back, and two of us had arranged beforehand to paddle back at a reasonable pace, so we split up. As we crossed the bay we had the wonderful backdrop of the snow covered Snowdonia hills to use as transit markers to keep us on course back to Cable Bay. An hour later we were cruising into the bay and landed on the sandy beach.

As we packed up the sun was shining and lowering in the sky to the west. Seemed a shame to not enjoy it some more, so we had a quick half on the patio of the White Eagle pub in Rhoscolyn watching the sun go down casting an orange light onto the mountains.

About 18km paddled.

Rhos-on-sea, Little Orme and Llandudno - 6th February 2016

I must admit I was in two minds as to whether the paddle should go ahead - we had lost our planned trip leader and the forecast was foul. However I think we were all keen to get on the water, and the way the winter had been going, wet and windy was the norm with no sign of a let up.

So an intrepid group of five set off from Rhos-on-Sea in blustery conditions heading W towards the Little Orme. The forecast was for winds up to force 6 from the S and SE, but luckily either the land was keeping the worst of the wind off of us, or the forecast was over estimated, as we were not being blown around that much.

We made steady progress around to the Little Orme and peeked into the caves and blow holes on the E end of the cliffs. There was just a little bit too much swell to make venturing into the caves safe, so we could only peer in from the entrances. A large group of seals were beached at the back of the small bay and a few of them came out to see what we were up to.

Look hard and you can see the seals on the beach!

We carried on around underneath the impressive cliffs. It seemed unusual to see them without the thousands of birds that will shortly be nesting there, but it did allow us to explore the cliffs from close range instead of being worried about disturbing the nests.

The wind was quite strong against us now as it found its way around the headland, but we had a following swell that made for an easy paddle into the bay at Llandudno. We headed for the N end of the beach near to the pier and had lunch sitting on the beach under the shelter of the promenade wall.

We re-launched suitably refreshed and paddled underneath the pier and on for a short while around the Great Orme. Time was getting on, so we turned around and started our return journey. We decided to go straight across the bay back towards the Little Orme and as we were on this crossing the wind picked up - exhilarating for some, but tiring for others, and we were grateful or regaining some shelter under the Little Orme cliffs and a chance to see the caves again.

We made our way back past the bay at the E end, and were again met by the more inquisitive members of the seal colony. As we continued on, one seal stayed with us and become increasing boisterous, rubbing his face on the back of my kayak, bumping into me and splashing me. It's the first time I've had such a playful seal accompany me - normally they limit their attention to watching from a short but safe distance. We wondered why this particular seal was so tame? Maybe fishermen had been feeding it from kayaks?

By now we were back in the full force of the wind and the paddle back to Rhos-on-Sea was becoming a bit of a slog.One member of our group was finding it particularly tiring and not making much progress, so to save time I gave a tow for the last few hundred yards.

So in the end it was well worth going out, and the friendly seal made the day. The weather did end up pretty foul though, so we were grateful of the seafront shelters to get changed in on the promenade.

About 18km paddled.

Bridgewater Canal - 31st January 2016

The River Goyt wasn't running at a very exciting level, so Jim and I decided to get some miles in on the Bridgewater Canal instead.

We parked up under the M60 bridge and as we were getting ready some poor lad in a rowing boat capsized about 50 metres away from us, so we got on to offer assistance. He was pulled to the side by an attending bank crew, but Jim offered up some warm clothing and a flask of coffee. He was pretty cold, only wearing a tee-shirt and tracksuit bottoms and I bet it took a while for him to warm up again with the water temperature only being about 4-5 degrees C.

After that excitement we carried on down through Sale passing many new apartment blocks and people exercising on the towpath. Urban gentrification has taken hold hereabouts, especially since the tram line was installed giving quick access to the city centre.

As we made our way out of the southern Manchester sprawl, the scenery comprised of alternating industrial complexes and apartment developments, interspersed with the odd cluster of traditional canalside cottages.

An abrupt change to the surroundings occurs when the canal leaves Oldfield Brow and makes its way past Dunham Massey park. I'd just been talking to Jim about seeing kingfishers on the Macclesfield Canal, and he said they were also present here. Then on cue a kingfisher flew past us and stayed just in front of us for a couple of hundred yards.

We clocked up the miles chatting about future paddling trips and the merits of different styles of rolling a kayak and eventually arrived at the town of Lymm. Refreshments in Lymm normally involve visiting the excellent fish and chip shop, but being a Sunday, this wasn't an option. Luckily however, a recent new option is a canal barge that has been converted to a cafe and we partook of its excellent hospitality (and warmth) with a bacon and egg butty and a cup of coffee. (http://buttyandsweet.co.uk/)

Suitably refreshed, we relaunched into the increasingly heavy rain for the uneventful return trip.

We returned to our launch site and as we were loading up a police car passed us and went over to talk to the occupants of two other cars that were parked up further under the bridge. No idea what they were up to, but perhaps it isn't the safest place to launch from. We made our own getaway and had a post paddle crumpet and coffee round Jim's to warm up.

We paddled approximately 30km. Weather was pretty miserable all the time! Must have been paddling for about 5 hours total.

Macclesfield Canal - 2nd January 2016

First paddle of 2016, a fairly slow paddle on the canal from the clubhouse to Adlington Marina and back.

Macclesfield Canal - 24th December 2015

Quick jaunt on the canal trying to stave off the excesses of the Chrismas holidays. Launched at Clarke Lane and went out and back to Adlington Marina. Can't remember my time, wasn't spectacular!

Nice to see a kingfisher again, I hope it survives the winter. At the current rate there isn't much prospect of the canal freezing.

Macclesfield Canal - Hare and Hounds - 13th December 2015

Final round of the club handicap, and I did exactly the same time as the first event of the year!... 41:58. Nice to finish off with a Christmas lunch and prize giving in the Cock and Pheasant. Didn't do too well in Neil's quiz though!