ron-t kayaking blog
08 January 2018 .............. Penrhyn Mawr
Out on my bike in the morning up above Aberffraw, I realised what a super day it was, with no wind, and I should be out in my boat.
So back home, a quick lunch, and off to Porth Dafarch to see if I could catch the last of the flood tide through Penrhyn Mawr.
Porth Dafarch was very quiet, the only other sea kayak to be seen was an SKUK Quantum - it was the first time I had seen one, and I guess that it sits alongside the Taran and the Pace.
These boats are not for everyone, but if you have the power and forward paddling technique required to drive them then they are very fast - he launched maybe about ten minutes before me, and fairly disappeared away out of Porth Dafarch and away passed Dinas Stack on his way to North Stack by the time I was coming out of Porth Dafarch.
By the time I got out to Penrhyn Mawr the flood tide was nearing the end, but there was still enough of a flow to give me some playtime, so that was good fun.
The clear sky and the low angle of the bright winter sun produced some super lighting, and I still had some time to wander around what is a fabulous bit of coastline - looking back from Penrhyn Mawr across to the so distinctive shape of Dinas Stack -
Heading into the hidden cove at the back of Penrhyn Mawr -
It was quite a high tide, so the cove was well full - funny to think that in a couple of hours it would be totally dry -
Heading back out again -
Beautiful lighting on Tide Rip Rock -
The current may be away, but there was still quite a swell hitting Tide Rip Rock -
A bit of wildlife on Tide Rip Rock -
Looking into one of the caves just past Penrhyn Mawr -
The swell was creating some fairly evil conditions inside the cave so I couldn`t get too far, but I did get in a bit -
Near the start of the hidden passage, a great example of the incredible rock folding that went on in this area -
Looking into the hidden passage -
Right along at the far end, looking back -
Out of the hidden passage, and out to the most westerly point of the whole Penrhyn Mawr peninsula - and that classic view of South Stack lighthouse -
It was too late in the afternoon for me to carry on, so I headed back through Penrhyn Mawr which hadn`t quite made up its mind whether it was a flood tide or an ebb tide, and across to Dinas Stack, which was bathed in the late afternoon orange sunlight -
Round the back of Dinas Stack now, and there wasn`t just as much swell, so I got quite far in to the cave round there - and I think it is the first time I have had the sun lighting up the inside of a cave -
Looking up at the fabulous cliffs, and the dark entrance to the cave -
Around the back of Dinas Stack now. and a cracking shot of the sun through the arch -
The swell coming through the arch was coming in well defined sets, so it wasn`t difficult to select a good time to power through it.
Heading into Porth Dafarch now, and the sun is getting close to setting -
Slowly paddling backwards into Porth Dafarch whilst watching the sun setting below the bank of cloud that was low down just above the horizon -
And so back into Porth Dafarch in the twilight after a super few hours out, my only regret is that I didn`t realise that it was such a good day, and wished I had started out earlier.
And thanks to Mr Quantum for the boat carry.
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