out and about - 2014
02 February 2014 ............ Cemlyn during Springs
I had another visit up to Cemlyn, timed to exactly coincide with a very big Springs high tide - 6.3 metres at Holyhead
From a hill above Cemlyn, and just about 20 minutes or so before high tide there is a noticeable tide race off Carmel Head.
Now I can`t say whether at this point it was still a flood tide, or the start of the ebb tide - around the north coast of Anglesey, slackwater can be 20 - 40 minutes before high tide, although I am not sure that the water is actually slack, it is more complex than that, partly because of the huge eddys that form along some parts of the coast.
Here is why it may not be a good idea to park at Cemlyn during a Springs high tide - the posts mark the outer edge of the car park.
If you like a challenge, you can actually walk around the inner edge of the car park on the raised bank, but it is not easy going.
Out at Cemlyn Point, by the time I got there, the tide height had already dropped a bit, but most of the rocks were still covered.
It wasn`t the wildest of days, but there was a fair bit of wind, so the sea was quite lively.
Further out, and the Harry Furlough rocks were covered, but generating some breakers over them.
It was certainly an ebb current by now, with a very strong current flowing out through the gap between the shore and the Harry Furlough rocks.
In this picture, the Harry Furlough rocks are on the right, the race is on the left.
The powerful current against the incoming wind blown sea produced some quite big waves - sometimes they were long and green, sometimes they were shorter, and would rear up and topple over.
At times they would have been just about as big as anything I have seen at Penrhyn Mawr.
My guess is that the strongest current through there would be in first hour or two after high tide - after that the tidel level would have dropped, so that there are an increasing number of rocks showing, which will throttle down the current.
At very low tides, there is an almost complete half moon of rocks that connect the Harry Furlough Rocks to the shore.
By the time I got away from Cemlyn Point and round to the other side of Cemlyn Bay, it was well after high tide - but the access road to the other car park was still flooded.
So maybe it is not a good idea to park there either, during a Springs high tide.
website design by ron-t
website hosting by freevirtualservers.com
© 2024 Ron Turner
