Déjà vu...

Up for first light, again & with a growing sense of Deja vu on this paddle from sully Island to Cardiff Bay, as It was in the Bay just three day's ago that I ended a long paddle from Black Rock just past the second Severn Crossing.  Today I was hoping to paddle to Monkstone lighthouse but the weather wasn't settled enough for my liking to go paddling four miles into the channel without a landing spot...

It was a cold morning & the strong wind & spray soon got my camera len's wet, which became a feature on this trip...

The scenery if fab along this part of the coast & a big improvement over the vast mud flats on the last trip. I took a good look at Lavernock Point to see how the water to Monkstone looked but decided against it, (which I was later to become thankful for).

A kindly local left directions to the Bay...

But he was 38 degree's out(LOL). Go on, embrace the geekiness...

 The Soul Sound, surely a good omen?

 Back again, just with a lot more water under my boat...

Didn't stay this calm for long, as the wind felt the sea at the rannys it got highly entertaining & I felt the full force of the wind upon rounding Lavernock Point...

All in all a pretty good day despite the changeable weather, glad I got out...

The Mudblood Trail

Another day, another adventure. The goal here was to visit denny Island, a small lump of rock in the middle of the channel. Since I first heard of the Island, as a teenager, I've have had the desire to go there & this desire was confounded by seeing the Island in the new Harry Potter movie hence the cheesy title. In the movie Hermione, a half witch(Mudblood) took Harry here whilst evading the death eaters.
But the mud part is very appropriate as there was nowhere to land on this trip except for Denny Island as we were passing mile upon mile of mudflats.
Think I've outdone myself with the cheesy title this time(LOL)...

Paddling today with Richie & Stuart. The night before the trip Stuart text me to let me know that there was dangerous eddy currents in the area(nice, thanks for that). He then text me back to mention the lack of slack water, confused sea's & whirlpools(really filling me with confidence(I was looking forward to this trip till now).
So after a sleepless night(thanks Stuart) we all arrived at Black Rock to find what could best be described as a mill pond, or be it one with bloody fast currents. Not what I was expecting after Stuarts research info(LOL)...

That's me in black, image courtesy of Stuart
                                       

We made slow progress to start with as we all kept getting our cameras out, what are we, kayakers or journalists'?

We didn't realise how close we were to Denny Island till we saw the seagulls which gave a sense of scale. I'm buzzing at this point, it's been a long time coming & the Islands in reach. It's a proper seabird Island this, which is a polite way of saying 'it stinks of fish', which I strangely enjoyed? The oder reminding me that this is a place where human footprints have rarely touched...

This is a view of the tide ripping around the North Eastern side of the Island. The tides were prominent on this trip, holding a steady 8 knots during the fastest part of the tide & averaging 7 knots, this was a fast trip & we stayed well out in the middle of the channel for most of it so as to make the most of the fast spring tides...

I passed Richie my camera so I'd have a piccie of me to put on my blog, not quite what I was expecting (LOL). maybe he can get my head in next time...

Image courtesy of Stuart

Approaching Cardiff after A long trip(about 25 miles) & I'm strangely full of energy, which is handy as we had to carry the kayaks up very muddy steps to the car park...

Holm Alone...

 A gorgeous start to a very calm day. Penarth Pier, in the sunshine, I think I'm gonna enjoy this...

Eerily still out in the channel on my way to Flat Holm...

Whoops, despite the calm weather the spring tide is still ripping really fast & I overshoot Flat Holm & have to paddle hard to make the Island. My angle of approach is more what I'd expect if I'd travelled from Sully, not Penarth...

 Another foot of water & I'd of got through, next time I guess...

I had to paddle the long way around the Island to get here as I couldn't push through the rip to reach the slipway no matter how hard I paddled. The rip was making 4-5 knots but I had a go, grinning like an idiot at my futile attempt...

 I Spent a good hour just chilling & wondering along the shore & exploring the caves, Bliss...

Amazingly I was able to make Lavernock at slack water, a little longer than I needed to paddle but I fancied seeing if it was possible for future trips...

Back at Penarth It was apparent that I'd forgotten about the mud at low tide, oh well, at least I got my wellies on...