ron-t kayaking blog
05 June 2013 .............. Cemaes to Middle Mouse
Another good day - I finally made it out to Middle Mouse.
Emerging out of the confines of Cemaes Bay is always good, as quite suddenly you are out in the open, with good views around you.
To the west Wylfa Head dominates the view, and round to the right you are looking across to Llanbadrig Head.
I didn`t hang about, I just paddled straight out to Dinas Gynfor, or Llanlleiana Head.
This is looking back from Dinas Gynfor back past the previous two nameless headlands, and Wylfa Head is in the distance.
Whilst I was paddling along towards Dinas Gynfor, I was looking out to sea, to see what it was like further out - now I was paddling along in some quite confused water which is quite typical along this bit of coast, but further out the sea appeared to be somewhat less confused.
However I was not too sure if it really was easier, or whether it was just an illusion, because it was further away. So I headed into Porth Llanlleiana, landed there, and climbed up the coastal path on to the folly on Llanlleiana Head to have a look.
The first thing that I was able to confirm was that the confused water was just in the 100 metres or so closest to the mainland. Beyond it, the sea was indeed a bit calmer.
I could also look across to Middle Mouse from there, and could clearly see the tide races around Middle Mouse. Here is a picture of it - although it doesn`t show in the picture, the whole sea is a tidal current, flowing somewhere around 3 - 4 knots. The tide races around Middle Mouse are caused by Middle Mouse blocking this flow. The tide race tail off Middle Mouse is always there - either to the west during an ebb tide, or to the east during a flood tide.
You always have to cross this tide race if you want to get to Middle Mouse.
Just for interest, here are the views you get from Llanlleiana Head looking first eastwards along the coast, and then westwards back towards Wylfa Head. It is quite an imposing bit of coastline all the way from Wylfa Head to Point Lynas.
On the way back down to Porth Llanlleiana you can look down on the coastline just out of Porth Llanlleiana - it`s a somewhat unusual perspective when you are more used to seeing things from sea level. You can get an idea of the scale of it all from the size of my kayak on the beach.
Having decided I was going to go out to Middle Mouse, I headed back down to the beach, and set off. There`s some good rock features on the left as you head out, and of course as soon as you leave the confines of the bay, Middle Mouse is waiting for you.
Once out across the confused water close to the shore, it was a fairly straight forward ferry-glide across to Middle Mouse. Then I had to negotiate the tide race before getting into the relatively quieter water immediately beside the rocks. Here are some of the local residents - there are an awfy lot of them, of various types - which I can`t identify.
Round the south west and west end of Middle Mouse was relatively quiet, and I took loads of pictures, just to prove I had been there. So here are a few of them, in a sequence starting looking eastwards right along to Point Lynas, southeast to Llanlleiana Head and Porth Llanlleiana, then southwest across to the coast heading down to Llanbadrig Head.
Because of quite a chunky tide race on the far side, I couldn`t see far enough around the west end of Middle Mouse to make a decision as to whether I should try and paddle round Middle Mouse - so I gave it a miss. I didn`t want to mess about anyway, I wanted to get back across to Llanbadrig Head before the tide changed, and it was getting close. So I headed off, and started back.
A last look back at Middle Mouse, before turning into Cemaes Bay.
Back in Cemaes Bay, I did some more rolling stuff, and did finally manage to do some full 360 degree rolls. I also played around with rolling without a bouyancy aid - I gather that Greenland rolling competitions are done without a bouyancy aid, so I wanted to try it.
Now if I just go and learn another fifty or so ways to do a roll, I can think about entering a Greenland rolling competition. Don`t hold your breath though !
Just as a final thought, if you are thinking about heading out along this bit of coast, do bear in mind that on this occasion, conditions were just about perfect, and my timing was about perfect as well - I was out at Middle Mouse about 30 minutes or so before the tide changed. In worse conditions, and during other parts of the tidal cycle, this stretch of coastline can be a lot more challenging.
Note that the tidal currents reverse something like an hour before high and low water.
website design by ron-t
website hosting by freevirtualservers.com
© 2024 Ron Turner
