guyatsea

Lovely weather today, so I went for a paddle.  Just after passing Cardigan Island, suddenly two massive dolphins jumped clear out off the water right next to me.  They then swam alongside for about a mile until a powerboat (that probably wasn’t looking) went right over where they were swimming.  Hope they didn’t hit by a propeller.

Stopped on the beach just past New Quay.

I stopped in Fishguard yesterday and bought as much food as I could possibly fit into the kayak, after which I paddled on a few more miles to arrive at Newport Sands at sunset.

Today I used continued wrist pain, firing at the Aberporth range, and a headwind as excuses to take another rest day, relaxing in the dunes.

My wrists were a bit swollen after the crossing from Lundy, so I took a day off at Milford Haven, and sat on the beach eating and even went for a (cold) swim the sea.

Yesterday, I had a gentle paddle round to Abereiddy Bay.  The tide was helping a lot as I floated past the beautiful puffin infested coastline – I was doing 9 knots through Ramsey Sound at one point while hardly paddling.

I stopped to camp on the beach at Abereiddy Bay, and this morning have just paddled round to Porthgain for breakfast in a pub while I wait for the tide.  Now going to go round Strumble Head and into Fishguard to stock up as I’ve eaten all my food again.

It was an early start for the big crossing to Wales – up at 4am and on the water at 6.  It was worth it though – the conditions were perfect and the sunrise made launching seem like floating out into a painting.

It was a long crossing – I saw one ship, about a dozen dolphins and hundreds of puffins.  The flood took me further east than I expected, so I had to stop for a while to stare at the chart and make sure I avoided the firing ranges.

Stopped on the first beach in Milford haven.  Pretty tired now!

Paddled across from Clovelly to Lundy in lovely calm conditions.  Feeling a bit tired after the walk up to the campsite, but I have a much longer paddle to cross to Wales tomorrow.

Had a couple of pints and some food in the Marisco Tavern – saw entries from lots of round Britain paddlers in the sea kayak book, and recognised some other names including a trip from my old school canoe club.

Early start tomorrow for the big crossing.

The wind dropped on Friday and I paddled from Crackington Haven up to Clovelly.  More lovely coastline to look at.

I was a bit late leaving, so the tide race was against me at Hartland Point, but I managed to sneak past close to the shore.

On arrival at Clovelly, there were two other Tarans in the Harbour as Nick and Lee from AB4B were already here.
Was good to meet them.  They’re crossing the Bristol channel further east from here, while I’m hoping to cross via Lundy.

I had ordered a new trolley wheel to collect in Clovelly – (thanks for the offers of help with this).  I’d had it sent it to the post office here which I then discovered had closed a couple of years ago.  Fortunately, the parcel was at the visitor centre (and the arrival of a wheel in Clovelly has had no impact on the practice of sledding goods down the cobbled streets).

It was another lovely day yesterday … light winds and I paddled without a cag … and was warm.   I could really have done with the trolley yesterday as I chased the falling tide to launch from the beach.

I stopped for a break at beautiful Port Isaac where I was given some water and local advice. I left quickly while my illusion of the world of Doc Martin was still intact.

Heading north from Port Isaac towards Boscastle, and I was suddenly surrounded by a pod of dolphins. Swimming up to and under the boat for quite a while before I remembered to get the camera out.

It was a nice evening, and I kept paddling until quite late, arriving at Crackington Haven as the sun was setting.

I met a lovely family on the beach who let me warm up by their fire, and gave me some food and a donation for the fundraising. They even carried all my gear up the beach for me – thanks very much !

Looks a bit too windy for some of today, so I’m having a day off and enjoying some rest.

The wind at Sennen finally dropped yesterday.  I’d spotted the Tarans of the AB4B team in the harbour, but unfortunately didn’t meet the paddlers.  Good luck Lee and Nick ! 

A few miles after leaving Sennen, I realised that I had left my trolley wheels on the beach because I am an idiot.  I paddled back to find the helpful lifeguard waving one of the wheels at me, but the other had washed away.  So much for leave no trace.  I am now temporarily trollyless.

The spring tide helped make up for the delay, and it was a beautiful day to paddle past some amazing Cornish coastline.  I stopped on Crantock beach near Newquay.  The weather looks good again today.

Yesterday, I paddled west from Porthleven cutting across some of Mount’s Bay to Mousehole.   I stopped at Porthgwarra for a break, after which the exposed sea became a bit more lively.

I was chuffed to finally pass Land’s End (and complete the south coast), but resisted the temptation to make any jubilant gestures for fear that they may be mistaken for signs of distress by anyone on the cliffs.

I landed in the surf at Sennen and camped just off the beach.  The wind is stronger today and (inevitably) northerly, so I enjoying a welcome day off as I’m pretty exhausted.

There are a lot of granite boulders at one end of this beach, some of which have been carefully balanced on end.  I am impressed.

I didn’t leave Falmouth until Sunday, as it look a bit longer then expected for the the epoxy on my repair to cure.  The repair seems to have worked well – thanks to Sea Kayaking Cornwall and Mike at Rockpool for all the help and advice.

The sea was flat and the wind was behind me going down to the Lizard – it was warm enough to paddle without a cag (until I stopped on tiny beach just before the Lizard to put one on).

I stopped a bit before sunset, and camped on the beach near Porthleven. The weather looks good again today.