ron-t kayaking blog
06 March 2013 .............. Around Cemaes Bay and Wylfa Head
During the last few days during the cold fine weather I`ve been up to Cemaes a few times for a play about there. This includes a trip close to Springs, a trip close to Neaps, and a trip halfway in between - I did this quite deliberately because I wanted to see how it varied between the various tidal flows. The photos that follow were taken on different trips, so there is some noticeable differences in the weather and lighting.
The name Cemaes Bay is usually associated with the beach and bay in front of the town of Cemaes, however it looks as if more correctly Cemaes Bay is actually the name for the whole area between Wylfa Head and Llanbadrig Head - so there are four beaches/coves in Cemaes Bay. This is looking in towards the main beach in Cemaes Bay - I think it is called Porth Mawr.
As you head out of the bay, to the right, you can look past Old Quarry Point towards Llanbadrig Head.
I don`t think my Vivitar camera likes cloudy days - what a difference a bit of sunshine makes !
From Llanbadrig Cove you can look out towards Llanbadrig Head, and you see the rock out to the side of Llanbadrig Head - this is at high tide. At low tide that rock is part of a large continuous rocky area that stretches south and west out from the point of Llanbadrig Head.
Here I am sitting somewhere along the side of Llanbadrig Head looking into Llanbadrig Cove - at low tides there is a considerable area of beach, so Llanbadrig Cove shrinks a lot at low tide.
From Llanbadrig Head, you can look up the coast to the north east, and you get your first view of Middle Mouse.
During both the flood tide and the ebb tide, the point Dinas Gynfor - which is the most northerly part of Anglesey - forces the current outwards, and Middle Mouse sits right in the middle of this tidal flow. This is a considerable obstruction to the flow, and a long tail sits out from the downstream end of Middle Mouse which has some very disturbed water in it. The tail is a good 300 - 500 metres long. Here is a view of it during the start of a Springs ebb tide, taken from up on Llanbadrig Head. I am afraid the tail isn`t to obvious on this size of photograph, but looking down on it from above it is very real.
Beyond Llanbadrig Head, the sea gets progressively more unpleasant as you head towards Dinas Gynfor, and I was far more interested in staying upright than in taking pictures. The tidal flow is around 5 knots during Springs, and about 3 knots during Neaps.
During Springs, there is a mixture of wee eddies, big eddies, and tide races that come and go. During Neaps, these are obviously less pronounced, but still there.
However more disconcerting than these during both Springs and Neaps is a constant agitation in the water, with an infinite spread of small haystacks. And they are out to get you - I am afraid the Anas Acuta did not like them at all. I don`t know if they are a result of the tidal current or the north east wind, but it is a kind of sea I have never met before and so far I haven`t got to grips with it. Whether it is me, or the boat I don`t know, but although I have got most of the way, I haven`t yet got as far as Dinas Gynfor. Going round Middle Mouse is a distant dream at the moment.
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However all is not lost, because Cemaes Bay has another side to it - the west side.
Halfway up the west side, there is another beach/cove, Porth-Yr-Wylfa. It is a rather unattractive place with a stoney beach, but it does provide a fairly sheltered location for a stop.
There is another beach further along towards Wylfa Head which is more atractive, but I don`t seem to have ever photographed it.
All along the west side of Cemaes Bay there are odd bits of rock hopping to be had, which adds a bit of interest. There is also a rather strange anomaly in the geology along there, as there is a small extent of sandstone, part of it forms a rocky island, and part of it is part of the cliffs, but both bits have fascinating erosion shapes caused by the sea.
Looking north from somewhere along that bit of the coast Wylfa Head doesn`t look to be that spectacular, it is more impressive from the sea looking at the north side of it, but so far I haven`t any photos of it.
Something to look out for is that it seems to attract rather a lot of fisherman who have lines out from the rocks.
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Coming back into towards Porth Mawr on one day when it was still quite a high tide, I found a small cave to investigate. At low tides it is high and dry at the back of the beach.
Finally, on one of my trips I was getting back fairly late in the afternoon, and there was a nice sunset over Wylfa Head, though not particularily colourful.
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