ron-t kayaking blog
29 March 2014 ............ The Swellies and Menai Straits
A couple of days before a big Springs tide there was a good tidal range for my boat at the Swellies, which doesn`t really like it at its most chunky.
Or maybe it is the owner that doesn`t really like it .........
The wave started right on cue, and as soon as I arrived I hopped on to a very flat wave, but could surf it okay - I think the strong east wind on my back was helping.
This lasted for a good fifteen minutes or so, with the wave slowly growing, and a reasonable green wave off to the side which provided some okay surfing.
Then a big touristy RIB came through, and it completely changed the wave - after the wake had died down, the wave had developed a pile, and it was much harder to stay on it.
At this point I had an interesting demonstration of the power of a sail on a sea kayak - an Aries with a sail came right up through the Swellies running before the wind, passed just below the rocks at the South Cardinal marker, straight out into the rapid, and disappeared upstream.
It was quite impressive.
Eventualy I got bored with playing there, and headed off upstream to see what I could find.
Unlike the Aries, I had to creep up the south side - however it had an advantage, as I finally got a picture of a heron - they are quite tricky to photograph, as they usually take off long before you get near them.
So this picture was taken with a long focus lens, and then a lot of cropping.
It was a bit of a fight in places, but I did eventually get up to the Britannia Bridge.
Beyond the bridge there was a lot less wind, and it was a very pleasant late afternoon, so I headed over to the Anglesey side, to say hello to Nelson.
A bit further on, and there is a rather nice looking hamlet just down from Plas Llanfair, which you can`t see because of the trees.
Just around that area there are a few buoys, and nature must have been smiling on me, because I also got a picture of a cormorant, another bird that is somewhat elusive.
I still had plenty of daylight left, so I headed further along the Menai Straits to Plas Newydd - it is a huge house and parts of it date back to the 14th century, it is now owned by the National Trust.
By the time I got there, time was marching on, so I headed back right down the middle of the Straits, to get the most effect of the tide.
At one point I stopped to take a picture looking down the Menai Straits towards the Britannia Bridge, and I got photo-bombed by a seal !
I also found that out in the middle, you get a good view of Plas Llanfair - it is a lot more interesting than Plas Newydd, it has more character.
It is now owned by the military, and used as a recreation and training centre.
Back through the Britannia Bridge, and suddenly I was back into the east wind, and a lot of the stronger currents had gone, replaced by a lot of eddies and swirlies, so it was a bit of a slow journey back to the slipway.
There had been a few other boats around, but no-one else was playing on the wave when I was there. All-in-all it was a very pleasant outing.
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