ron-t kayaking blog
19 April 2013 .............. An evening paddle from Cemaes to Dinas Gynfor
For a few hours today summer arrived - late afternoon and evening were beautiful and the wind dropped away, so I went for my first evening paddle of the year.
It was also the first trip of the year in a cag instead of a dry suit.
I left Cemaes Bay just a wee bit after high water, and headed straight out. I still find that the Anas Acuta just doesn`t like the kind of sea you get along this bit of coastline, so I was paddling quite defensively, but did eventually make it out to Dinas Gynfor for the first time, turned and headed back.
Just to describe this bit of coast - as you head out of Cemaes Bay, you first pass a headland - Old Quarry Point, then you are into quite a large bay, Llanbadrig Cove.
At least it is large at high tide, at low tide it shrinks considerably.
Beyond Llanbadrig Cove the next headland is Llanbadrig Head. Beyond this the coastline gets increasingly dominated by cliffs, and there are two distinct headlands each with their own tidal conditions at their apexes.
The coastline then heads inland a bit, and you come to a narrow beach, Porth Llanlleiana, which has a mixture of boulders, stones, and shingle, so landing is possible at mid to high tide levels. I don`t yet know about lower tide levels.
After Porth Llanlleiana, the coastline hooks back out, and you head round to the huge bulk of Dinas Gynfor, the most northerly point of Anglesey, where, during the ebb tide, even during Neaps, there is a very strong diagonal tidal current.
From my limited experience of this bit of coastline, it appears that the sea conditions get progressively more challenging as you head eastwards away from Llanbadrig Head towards Dinas Gynfor - this is not really surprising as you are progressively heading out into the main tidal current flowing around this bit of Anglesey.
The other thing that is worth noting is that slackwater is up to an hour before high and low water, and after slack water there is a strong tidal current close to the north coast of Anglesey which is going in the opposite direction to the main tidal flow further away from the coast out in the main body of the Irish Sea.
This reverse current flows along the north coast, round Carmel head inside the Skerries, and round the Stacks.
So a few miles out there is a massive shear going on between the main tidal flow and the strong reverse flow in the opposite direction closer to the shore.
The confusion and agitation in the water that this will cause will propagate towards the shore, so it looks as if the most challenging conditions will be during the hour before and the hour or two after high and low water. That`s my theory, anyway.
Which is when I was heading out to Dinas Gynfor.
By the time I was a good part of the way back, the sea was getting more user friendly, so I got my camera out, and took some pictures. At this point I was not too far from Llanbadrig Head, so this is looking back towards Middle Mouse and the next headland with its rocky calf. If there is a bit of swell you get some interesting dynamics in the water between the calf and the headland.
You will no doubt notice the distinct colour difference between the very blue evening north light and the orangey red light from the setting sun - the same on all these pictures.
Here is more of the same headland, it gives you a good idea of what this bit of the coastline is like.
A bit further on, and here is the same headland in the background, with a bit of Llanbadrig Head in the foreground.
Just before you go round into Llanbadrig Cove, there is a patch of rock which is quite unlike all the other rocks around Llanbadrig Head - it is quite smooth.
Back round Llanbadrig Head, and looking into Llanbadrig Cove about an hour and a half after high tide.
Its always nice to see the sunset after time out on the sea, so here it is, the sunset over Wylfa Head - curious how the sunset was completely colourless, compared to the highly coloured pictures from just a bit earlier.
It was a good wee trip, and I am pleased to have finally got out to Dinas Gynfor. The only dark bit about it was the fact that whilst I was cautiously creeping along the coast toward Dinas Gynfor, another sea kayak went whizzing past in the opposite direction about 200 metres out into the main current. He or she was obviously completely in their element being carried along by the ebb tide, making fast progress.
Sigh !
Maybe one day I`ll be like that, when I get my new boat.
Maybe !
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