ron-t kayaking blog
25 May 2013 .............. Porth Dafarch to Abraham`s Bosom
Bank Holiday Saturday - a beautiful day to be out on the sea - except it was Bank Holiday Saturday.
Well I went to Porth Dafarch, cars were parked everywhere - so I was having doubts about the whole idea. I nipped up on to Dafarch Head, and looked out at - at least 8 speed boats, 3 jet skis, lots of SOT`s, and an infinite number of fisherman on every headland - hmmmm - was it worth the effort of fighting my way through it all.
Eventually I reckoned that few of them would venture out beyond Dinas Stack, so further out it would be quite quiet. So I went for it. And it was, beyond Dinas Stack there was almost nobody.
Having got round Dinas Stack, I relaxed and started to enjoy the coastline - and once again I could see just how amazing this bit of coastline is - so out came the camera, and I went a bit snap happy. Here are several pictures of this bit of coastline - all taken between Dinas Stack and PorthRuffydd.
I also discovered two caves that I don`t recall ever seeing before.
One of them was quite unusual - it had a narrow entrance, then went in a few metres, turned round to the left, then round to the right, and went away in. I could hear the swell breaking away in in the distance, but it was too dark to try and head in. here is what it looks like from the outside, then looking out from around the first bend.
The other cave was a bit bigger, here again are the inside and outside views.
Then it was off to Penrhyn Mawr - here it is from somewhere around Porth Ruffydd, you can just see the Fangs to the outside of Tide Rip Rock.
It hadn`t quite got to low tide at this point, but the flood tide had just started, so I played around in the outer race for a while, then headed off towards the westerly point of the Penrhyn Mawr headland, and Abraham`s Bosom. This is looking west from Penrhyn Mawr out towards the westerly point.
Now I am afraid it is confession time - last time I was out this way I thought I had got to the westerly point - in fact I had only got to the headland before the westerly point. But I definitely got there this time.
It is another quite spectacular bit of coastline, with a lot of examples of amazingly folded rocks. Here is another wodge of pictures taken between Penrhyn Mawr and a bit beyond the westerly point.
Once you are past the westerly point, you can look down the coast into Abraham`s Bosom, then around a bit across to the other side -
Round a bit more, and you get the classic view of South Stack.
It would have been nice to carry on across to South Stack, but I was beginning to run out of afternoon - I should have spent less time taking pictures and more time paddling. So I headed back to Penrhyn Mawr, here are a few more pictures taken along the way.
By the time I got back to Penrhyn Mawr, the tide level had dropped a bit, and the outer race had a bit more of a bite to it.
The two Fangs were now quite exposed, and each one had a seal sunbathing on it.
Then one of the numerous small motor boats with fishing rods hanging out the back decided it wanted a better view of a seal, and came right in to one of the Fangs, and the occupants stood in their boat and waved at the seal. Not surprisingly, the seal didn`t wave back, but it did stay put.
Eventually they gave up and went away.
However then two kayakers in river kayaks turned up, and went right up to the other rock - this seal wasn`t so brave, and it flopped down the rock and dissappeared.
Do bank holiday weekends turn people into morons, or are they like this all the time, and we just don`t see them ?
Here are the Fangs taken from a wee indent in Tide Rip Rock, looking out across the outer race, with the seal still sitting on the left rock.
The outer race had a bit more meat in it now, with some waves. I did manage to get a few very brief rides, but the waves really needed to be larger and more continuous, rather than a bit broken and lumpy, and I did stay well away from the Fangs.
Looking back at the Fangs as I headed away, the seal still sunbathing on the nearer one.
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