Holm For The Night...

Back at the familiar setting of Sully Island for another adventure, quite small really but something I've wanted to do for ages, camping on Steep Holm Island. I manages to rope Stuart in too :)

Leaving Sully about 17:30 we head straight for the race off the West Side of the Island for a quick play before settling into some miles.

It was a lively crossing. Pic by Stuart.

Seemed to take ages to get here as there was a lot off current flowing making us use a wide ferry angle.
As we got further out the wind kept increasing too & it was bloody chilly.

We hid in the lee of the wind for a bit to chill out. No need to rush now :)

Pic by Stuart.

We chose to land on the smugglers entrance to the Island which was bloody tricky with fully laden boats! I must get myself a glass boat so I no longer have to be first in, last off on tricky landings.

Once ashore it was a case of evade the projectile poo & look where your going as there were Seagull eggs everywhere.

This is their domain but evan here their numbers were surprising.

A good brood.

The mainland coming alive as darkness falls.

Stuarts being watched :S

Gonna live like tramps for the night. It was actually pretty cosy.
During the night I couldn't help grinning at the racket the Seagulls made, apparently they don't sleep.

Leaving in the Morning I think Stu was keen to evade the Warden as your not sposed to land on this island, never mind camp on it ;D

We pushed off into lovely calm sea's.

And settled into a very lazy crossing to Flat Holm at slack water.

Finally hitting some tide as we approached our landing spot.

Stuart took a swim trying to land but I wasn't quick enough with the camera.

Back underway & it was pretty lively & the tide was now ripping along.

It was going to be a steep ferry angle to get us home but at least the sea was calm just offshore off Flat Holm.

It was indeed a bloody long slog getting back, who needs to skull a kayak when you can easily paddle sideways on the Celtic Sea :)

A quick play & a surf on some waves that had developed on Sully Causeway before we head in & dig my camp stove out for a cuppa.
Another dream realised & two this week, not bad at all :D

Soul Asylum...

With the recession deepening, my finances stretched to the limit & my van still off the road is it any wonder that I take to the sea for contemplation & escape from life's bumfluff!

Alone on the sea your thoughts turn to weather, tide, sea state & bearings. life's troubles just drift away in the rhythm of each stroke of the blade & the gentle lapping of the passing water.

Distances are measured by strokes, sweat & aching muscles & new places of discovery by the smile on your face. Thats what I needed today, a smile on my face, a new horizon & with wavelets forecast I knew exactly where to go evan if it was gonna be a bit of a long paddle.

It was with this in mind that I headed for Sully (again) but this time my ambitions were bigger & a long held dream was likely to be realised before the day was out. all going to plan, England beckoned.

Baby steps to start with, I was to play stepping stones on the Celtic Sea. First a familiar trip to Steep Holm. No vectors required here, I just pointed my compass at a reliable aim off location on the English side & used that as my bearing. Familiarity has its benefits.

Arriving at Steep Holm there was a little tide running in the race but nothing to worry about. I was relishing the solitude on the way out here & the freedom to paddle without the constraints of slower paddlers, averaging 8.5KMH (4.5 knots).

I land for a wee break, excuse the pun :)

Before heading off into unchartered water I decided to play it safe so quickly worked out a vector to reach Brean Down. I'd decided to be more dynamic in my planning so worked out a detailed tidal plan at home & used it on location if & when I felt vectors were needed.

Looking back at an unfamiliar but most welcome veiw.

Getting very excited now, from Steep Holm, Brean is only 3 miles but theres a lot of tide out here.

My vector bearing was perfect bringing me directly to the tip of Brean Down & into some very interesting tidal currents. Because it was so calm today I could easily see the flow & eddies. Evan offshore there effect was dramatic. Pushing into the flow I'd make about 3KMH whereas just to the side in a back eddy I'd shoot upto 7KMH.
This KMH stuff is new to me at the mo, I normally rely on Knots but am learning to use KMH to use with OS maps.

I make an awkward rock landing to stretch my legs & have a quick look around. I'm no stranger to Brean Down however, I just havent kayaked here before.

There are some very impressive victorian battlements now owned by the national trust & open to the public.

This track was used for an experimental bomb that never really worked. The bomb would propel down the track in a cart before the sudden stop at the end that propelled the bomb into the sea.

Weston...

Notice how the waves have folded the roof back on this lookout tower.

Another vector bearing to get me back to steep holm.

It was a hard slog as I was ferrying across the still flooding tide. Proper sweating & only managing 6KMH.

I make the most of the Island for a well earned breather.

Before continuing once more into very familiar water. No vectors required for this short 3 mile crossing. No effort either, I was taking it easy now & just enjoying the paddle.

I lap the Island & choose to land on the West side in full sun & the lee of the wind. The tide had just started to turn as I arrived here, the whole trip so far had been done on the flood.
The trip back to Sully was so familiar to me now that I felt no need to rush & chilled on the beach for half an hour before getting underway.

Arriving back at Sully I was feeling very pleased with myself. This was a massive trip, not in distance but in what it meant to me as I've wanted to do it for so long.

Geek Stats...
Trip Odometer 32.6 KM (17.6 Nautical Miles)
Max Speed 13 KMH (7 knots)
Moving Average 7.1 KMH (3.8 knots)
Time Moving 04:37:00

A Star Too Far (Part Two)...

With just over a week passed since my 5 Star assessment on Anglesey I was off on the road again & heading to Pembrokeshire to work on my navigation & sit another assessment. I wasn't a total moment of madness as the points brought up by Nick in the last assessment should be reasonably easy to rectify with some practice. I would however have preferred a bit more time to practice.

Camp at St Brides, I've had worse days :)

Another, not strictly legal camp spot :S
I seriously hate paying to lie on a patch of grass :\

Day one of the assessment & it was at Abereidy that we were heading out from with the intention of reaching Porth Clais. There was a North to North Westerly wind & the conditions were pretty rough on the water, hence no pictures.
Despite the conditions we were all pretty comfortable paddling & enjoying ourselves.
however, one of the Guinea Pigs was struggling a bit with the conditions & had capsized a few times which were quickly sorted out. After one capsize it was decided that he should paddle into Gesail-Fawr, the last get out before St Davids Head, he was doing great considering he had a boatful of water but unfortunately he capsized again just before Penllechwen & got swept past that headland minus his boat. Just prior to this I was told to tow his boat onto the beach which I did. This left the swimmer, assessor & the other 5 star applicant heading around St Davids Head whilst myself, two other Guinea Pigs & the Assessors assistant landing on the beach.It wasn't an easy landing & the Assessors assistant quite badly smashed the front of his boat in the landing. the problem we had once ashore was an inability to communicate on the pre arranged channel due to the enclosed location & it was about 45 minutes before we were able to reach the coast guard. In the back of our minds was whether the other group were trying to contact the coast guard & not being successful either.We had a few options available but decided to take the offer of a lift from the coastguard leaving the swimmers boat above the tideline. It certainly wasn't an easy launch from the beach to reach the coastguard & I'm glad I wasn't last.We were told that the other group had made it around St Davids Head with the swimmer on the front deck of one of the boats, pretty impressive! & a relief too.Once back at Whitesands we all got back in our boats & paddled to shore reflecting on what had happened & how we all dealt with the situation. Hindsight is great in these situations & I will always learn a lot from them.To be honest, all though this was a very real incident, the Coast Guard were called as a precaution as we were unable to contact the other group & establish what was happening with them. We just weren't expecting two boats & A chopper to be launched, guess the Coast Guard were playing it safe too.

Everyone coped really well, especially the two guinea pigs on the beach who were invaluable on the day & I could learn a lot from them & as always the Coast Guard were fantastic :)

a few hours rest & some chart work & we were getting ready for the night Nav :S

Day Two & it was from Porth Clais that we launched, same as the night nav (that I thought went well) from the previous night.
Today we were heading into Ramsey Sound & I was feeling very focussed on my navigation, following our position evan when I was not in the lead & really enjoying the nav part too.

We all worked on some skills at the bitches, they weren't huge but there was certainly some flow to play with.

We stopp for a quick break on one of the Bitches.

A seal colony on Ramsey Island...

I didn't bother taking any more pics as it just wasn't a priority for the day, I was busy trying to keep it together. We had a few more challenges thrown in on the way back though it gradually chilled into a gentle paddle, think we were all knackered?
I havent mentioned who I did my assessment with as I got the impression they wanted to keep the rescue thing quiet as people post their own opinions & make the incident sound like something that it wasn't. It was a real incident, yes, but it was kept under control.

So did I pass? Unfortunately not :( There were some points brought to my attention from the night nav, leadership, equipment issues & lack of weather forecasting ability.
I think the leaderships points were harsh as I was focussing hard on my navigation (speed, time & distance) & never once put the group in danger. I'd expect an experienced assessor to understand & make allowances for this though I appreciate the comments as I'll try to broaden my focus during the next assessment.

I'm looking forward to receiving the breakdown of points that I need to work on & have already ordered a book to help learn weather forecasting. I am going to crack this, I've learned loads in the past few weeks & know that I can definitely sort the areas that need polishing.