The PSK Hub – Performance Sea Paddling Stuff
Day 5 – Porth Colman – Porth Dinllaen – 14 km We travelled through Bardsey Sound and rounded the end of the Llyn yesterday, the difficult bit was done now. Of course, it doesn’t work out like that; it’s the simple bits that cause you hassles. The high pressure system that sat overhead, brought blue …
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Day 4 – Abersoch – Porth Colman – 37 km We finished at Abersoch and had to head home for a few days, or so we thought. But, we had Bardsey Sound to paddle through and February just did not bring any weather that made that a good idea. It was late March before we …
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Day 3 – Criccieth – Abersoch – 25 km We stayed not too far away in Porthmadog last night. Even with the necessary car shuttle, the relaxed tide timings meant we had an easier start today – OTW after noon! By contrast Criccieth was flat calm today and we headed out for a steady paddle …
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Day 2 Barmouth – Criccieth – 25 km The forecast was for a stiff breeze from the S, increasing as we headed N, and with only a little swell. The plan was to follow the coastline to Mochras/Shell Island, staying far enough out to avoid any surf, and then straightlining it to Criccieth – with …
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The idea for the CC Challenge drifted into my peanut brain whilst paddling the GB Circumnavs. It felt like a challenge that might appeal to the more adventurous PSK paddlers, but somehow it also felt a little bit ‘full-on’, the time never really seemed right. So the idea lived on the back burner. Then Ian …
Continue reading “The Coastal Counties Challenge – Gwynedd – Day 1”
Getting started again. It’s just coming together now, it’s starting to feel good and I can see the benefits, I’m pleased about that. But it doesn’t start out that way, no siree. At the beginning of the training year it’s all quite unpleasant, demoralising even. It hurts and you wonder why you bother. If you …
Continue reading “Training Week 8 – Nobody Said It Would Be Easy”
The Holy Island Lap The circumnav of Holy Island (Anglesey, UK) demands the usual tidal planning required of a short circ, but here the 32 km lap also brings a few added challenges: Accurate timing is needed to enter and leave the Inland Sea, the tidal window is only a few minutes wide. Get it …
As I mentioned on the lap of Holy Island last week, there is a trick to getting round the island efficiently. The crux-point is the tidal window at Stanley Embankment. This in turn dictates the (usual) counter-clockwise (CCW) direction of the trip, as the embankment-timings match you with the CCW ebb tide. So this means …
Continue reading “Holy Island Circumnav 2021 – The Wrong Way Around”
Holy Island lies to the immediate west of the Isle of Anglesey, North Wales, UK. It is separated from Anglesey by a shallow ‘Inland Sea’ , created by a couple of short(ish) embankments that in turn link Holy Island to the Isle of Anglesey. I like paddling the lap of Holy Island; it’s short enough …
Continue reading “Holy Island Circumnav 2021 – Record Attempt”
Anglesey The Isle of Anglesey lies just off the coast of North Wales and is a popular spot in the UK sea kayaking world. The island brings many facets of sea kayaking: cliffs, sandy beaches, tidal rapids, overfalls, islands, sheltered waters, crossings and more. It also has some of the fastest tidal flows around, this …