Nav Training...

With my upcoming 5 star assessment I thought I'd make the most of being in Pembrokeshire & do some training. Yesterday I did some rolling practice. A quick paddle out of lower town Fishguard & 7 rolls on each side & another not set up. It was flat calm but that was fine as I was just working on technique like I would in a swimming pool.

Today was nav practice day, again in lower town & then following the coast to the right. It wasnt going to be a big paddle, just enough to freshen my memory on some technique.

 All ready to go :)

So to get from the jetty to the first headland I need a distance measurement, 0.4 of a kilometre. I know from this & my ready reckoner (image below) that it will take me 3 minutes 24 seconds at 7KMH. Or thereabouts.
The general rule for pacing is 10 minutes per kilometre, this is based on a speed of 6KMH. Its nice & easy to work with at 6KMH but I rarely paddle that slow.

Next I need a bearing as I wont be hand-railing on this section. 10° in this case.

I use my deck compass to lead the way & happily my bearing & timing were perfect :)
All thats left now is to practice this a few more times as I make my way along the coast & make a note of things that could be improved.

So at the end of my brief paddle I could see three things that could be improved.
1. My ready reckoner gives the time in decimal, yes I have a converter on the ready reckoner but it would be more efficient if I edited & reprinted the reckoner to minutes & seconds.
2. I've got a habit of always taking a bearing but sometimes I should just hand-rail & follow the coast for the pre determined time.
3. The deck compass is a useful addition but I feel that a handheld compass on my skirt is easier to read & maintain accuracy.

I'll use these points on the next paddle :)

Rolls & Swims...

The title says it all with this one. I wanted to practice some rolls & swim landings.

I met up with Noel at Sully for what was to be an interesting morning.

As you can see the rolls went well, it was the swim landing that got interesting & became more dynamic.

I was doing ok swimming my boat in to shore on my tow line, it was hard work & just as |I was getting to the rocks I glanced back to see Noel swimming, that certainly wasnt in the plan!

I had planned to land on the rocks the when ready swim my boat back out & do a self rescue, a clamber on deck. With the new incedent I chose to drag my boat quickly to me, ignore the water in the cockpit & hop in between swells & paddle out to get Noel. I had to just chuck my towline into the boat which wasnt ideal but it all went well & |I was soon at Noels side ready to sort him out.

as it happens Noel decided to do a re-entry & roll which he pulled off nicely. A quick pump out & Noel was good to go.

I quickly did a rocky landing to empty my boat & stow the towline & I was ready too.

After that impromptu fun we then headed off to Lavernock Point to find some rougher water to play in. I wasnt big but it was entertaining enough as the pic below shows :)

A fab morning on the water...

Flock Of Jones'...

Its been a couple of years since a friendly stalker came to my tent whilst paddling around the Welsh coast. The stalker was dave (Sound Of The Seagull) Jones & today we finally got to go out for a paddle together. His Brother Gareth ( who I like to call mike?) was also joining us.

We had a loose plan, "I'll drive to abereiddy & see you when you get there" was how the phone planning went :oS

The weather was superb & we decided to head to St Davids head but with a diversion to the right to start with as the coastline there is lovely.

 Passing lovely Islets.

 And impressive caves.

 Mr Dave Seagull Jones himself admiring some natural Mammary formations.

After a very pleasant explore we then headed West into the wind trying to make St Davids Head before the tide turned.

We did get as far as the head but the tide was against us when we arrived & was likely to build forming a race so we decided to head back to Abereiddy.

And for me to go see the Blue Lagoon that i've paddled straight past a couple of times before.

Heading into the Blue Lagoon it was clear why i've missed it before.
It was an awesome day out, fab scenery, fab weather & rude stories with fab company.
It was great seeing Dave again & meeting his Bro & I'll hopefully see them both when I'm up on their patch next month :)

Deja-Wonderful-Vu...

Okay so I've done old faithful again (Flat Holm & Steep Holm), it was jules idea & of course I was up for it, it would be rude not too.

I am off to Pembrokeshire later today so I promise some new routes soon ;)

One things for sure though, if you need a guide to these magical islands then I'm most certainly the man to do it ;)

 Jules leaving Penarth with a forecast F0-3 becoming F1-4, sea state wavelets, gonna be hordcore this : /

 First magical island approaches, the more observant of you may have noticed we're doing this at low water.

A breif break on Flat Holm then on to Steep Holm. Here Jules is having a play in the race that forms over the spit at Steep Holm.

 Looking across to Brean Down, tempting!

 Instead we choose to lap the island, here on the dramatic North side.

 A slow  lap then Flat Holm again :)

 Getting ready to leave Flat holm, you can see Cardiff (Caerdydd) in the distance.

 Underway again in calm sea's.

 we're losing the sun as we approach Penarth.

And dodging dingies too. An awesome day out & about 14 miles, cheers Jules ;)

Jacksons Bay Playtime...

After yesterdays fab play on the water I was keen for some more & roped Jules in for some action.

It was a big tide & I was optomostically hopefull for some tide race action at Nells Point in Barry but plan B was rolling practice despite the nip in the air!

Our location for playtime, Jacksons Bay in Barry.

Jules getting into the spirit of it.

Playing with the tide in the race off Nells Point, its tiny today despite the big tide :(

Thats a coastwatch station on the cliff so its pretty safe here under their watchfull eye's. I'm sure we kept them entertained too?

Passing Barry Island of 'Gavin & Stacey' fame.

Passing the old harbour or Watch tower Bay as we head back to the Knap. A fun day on the water...