So heres how it is, I fancied a frosty dawn paddle out to the Holm Islands whilst Stuart, Eurion & Elan were off to Weston Super Mare & planning to met up later than I wanted to so we arranged to meet up at Steep Holm for me to join them to Weston, well that was the plan?
Noel joined our group too & decided to paddle out with me so we met up at a very cold Sully car park & got ready to hit the water for 0800, half hour later than planned, ooops, I was so slow getting ready!
The crisp pre dawn light was started to kick in so we left the head torches behind.
And push off into some very calm seas.
I love being right & setting off at pre dawn was proving to be a very good idea indeed :)
Our destination of Steep Holm is 6.5 miles offshore & in the middle of the image. Just behind Noels boat is Flat Holm, we'll be visiting that later. The lump of rock between the Islands is Brean Down, I know it looks like an Island but its actually part of the English mainland, a continuation of the Mendip hills & made of the same rock as Steep Holm.
One of life's special moments!
About 80 minutes after launching we reach Steep Holm & the Southern side is bathed in gorgeous dawn light.
We head for the beach to wait for Stu & the others.
What I didn't know was that there was a message on my phone (back in my van) asking us to meet the boys at Weston as they were bypassing the Islands (whoops!)
By 1100 we figured they weren't coming & decided to push on, not for Weston but Flat Holm. We were now fancying a lazier day :)
We take a little break in the lee of Holm Middle Buoy as theres still some tide running.
Does the camera never lie? It looks warm & sunny here but trust me, it isn't!
Would be rude not to paddle into the cave :)
After a pleasant walk around the Island we start our paddle back to the mainland after a pretty awesome day out!
It was now lovely & warm at Sully so I was Me & Noel were in no rush to leave! We bumped into our mate Chris too so sat on the wall chatting.
Eventually these muppets showed up after there channel crossing and they all had a pretty awesome day too :)
Our Route...