Two Virgins For The Monk...

Finally after weeks of bad weather & not being free on the days that the wind did die down a little I finally got to go for a paddle :)

 I made my way to Penarth to meet up with Chris & John for a paddle out to the Monkstone & Flat Holm.

 Chris was in his new boat, a Dagger Exodus.

 We left Penarth keeping a far off buoy at 45° off our right shoulder as its a steep angle across the tide to Monkstone.

The Bristol Channel has the second highest tidal range in the World! Today it was a 13.9M range.

 We left Penarth mid ebb so I knew we would probably have to go around or over Cardiff Grounds, a big sandbank. We chose to go around to reach Monkstone.

 The tide was ripping as we got closer so we steepened our angle a bit & ferry"d the final stretch to the rock.

We were near to low water, arrive here at high water & the lighthouse looms straight out from the sea.

 I overcome/ignore my fear of heights & scramble up the ladder to the top of the lighthouse. It looks a long way down!

 Muppets!

The view from the top.

 Steep Holm (on the left) & Flat Holm in the distance.

 We have a short break before commencing on to Flat Holm 3 miles away.

 Enjoying the tranquil scenery.

 45'ish minutes later we reach Flat Holm & have a well earned rest.

 I hand Chris my camera & pose for a shot :)

 Man talk!

 And Man Love?

 Chris is happy with his new boat!

 We don't linger to long as we don't want to be ferrying across the tide too steeply. We leave 15 minutes after the tide turns & follows the early flood in the direction of Lavernock. We don't plan to get there, its just a ferry angle (13.9M tidal range remember!).

 I look back as we leave the islands behind.

 And then forwards as we approach the finish at Penarth.

And the end of an awesome day :)

All going to plan I'll be back on Flat Holm again tomorrow doing a pre dawn paddle from Sully to get there. The weather however is looking dubious at the moment. Fingers crossed!