Monday 30 March 2009

'MIDWEEK PADDLE' by Paul Mattock

After putting out a request for some company for a midweek paddle we ended up as a group of six and a plan to leave Cemlyn Bay at 11am and arrive at Bull Bay by 3 pm.
A beautiful sunny day with calm waters; just what I needed as it was my first paddle of the year and I knew I wasn’t fit. This should do the trick. A 10-12 k journey along some of the most spectacular coastline of Anglesey and good company to boot. A quick stop at Cemaes for a bite to eat and then onwards to Bull Bay. I’ve never paddled this stretch of water before and was quite taken aback by how rugged and wild this piece of coastline was.
Some interesting caves that disappeared to no-where. (Here we have Graham and Andy showing of their new Rockpool kayaks.) I would imagine on a rough sea it could be quite intimidating. Long stretches of cliffs with no get-out and plenty of confused waters coming back of the shoreline. But today was calm and sunny and a joy to be out on the water. A quick pause at Porth Llaulleiana to look at the old china clay works and then a bit of a race to Bull Bay to beat the turning tide. 4 hours of paddling showed just how unfit I was and with aching shoulders was happy to round the headland and see the beach at Bull Bay. A well-earned beer was had by all along with a suggestion of a trip out to Puffin Island next time round. Sounds good to me!