Rhoscolyn Bay.

This is one of my favourite bays on Anglesey. Once you’ve negotiated the long and winding road that leads to the small car park, you follow the wooden footpath over the dunes that takes you onto the sandy beach known as Borthwen. The previous day I had posted a message on the forum inviting anyone from the club for a morning paddle, so I was a little surprised when about twenty-five kayakers turned up at the car park all at once. However, it wasn’t because of my forum invite but was a completely separate group of paddlers undertaking a one-way trip to Porth Dafarch, a journey of about 5 to 6 hours. I politely declined the offer to join them.
But what a beautiful day it turned out to be. Myself and Philip spent a while in the Bay working on our forward paddle stroke and then ventured out through some choppy waters at the entrance to the Bay and onto the open sea. We popped into the little cove next door and both decided it would be nice to own one of the houses that overlooked this tiny cove, and then headed off in the direction of Silver Bay. Sea conditions were quite bumpy with plenty of confused water bouncing us around, especially at the entrance to Rhoscolyn Bay. Once we got alongside the main coastline it eased up a little and we could relax and enjoy the paddle doing some rock hopping along the way. Because we only had a few hours to spare that day we pulled into a lovely little cove just short of Silver Bay and I showed off my very clever Kelly kettle which, with nothing more then a few twigs gathered from the beach, can boil a couple of litres of water within minutes. (If you what to know how it works you’ll have to join me on one of my paddles…)
We were joined by a flock of sheep who wandered onto the beach and started to graze on seaweed. now that's a first for me, and they were quite oblivious to anything going on around them. Very strange.
A nicely brewed cup of tea and April sunshine made it a perfect stopover before packing up and heading back to Borthwen beach, rock hopping and exploring along the way.
You know when you’ve had a great paddle because you just don’t want to get off the water. And that’s exactly how we both felt. Still, there’s always the next time.
Paul Mattock

From Treaddur Bay to Penrhyn Mawr.

Being relatively new to the world of kayaking I’d never ventured beyond Porth Dafarch when out paddling this lovely stretch of coastline. From Trearddur Bay via Porth y Post and onto Porth Dafarch is a pleasure to paddle and explore, but to travel beyond this point was always full of mystery and foreboding.
I’ve also seen what Penrhyn Mawr can do to both kayak and paddler. (Some of the most wild and dangerous overfalls and tidal races you could ever wish to meet, should you be so inclined.) Having seen the film and read the book I knew this was one piece of water that fell well outside my comfort zone. However, with plenty of local knowledge and a little encouragement, our paddle buddy Terry took me and fellow sea novice Philip around to Penrhyn Mawr to say hi to this infamous stretch of sea. With a friendly easterly wind and slack water he quietly introduced us to her while she slept.
We crept along the shoreline from Porth Ruffydd to Penrhyn Mawr as if not to wake her. And then with a flick of the paddle we rode over her while she slept. (Even with her fast asleep it was still a bumpy ride.) I can now lay claim that I’ve paddled Penrhyn Mawr and survived to tell the tale. Then a straight-line paddle back to Trearrddur Bay with the turning tide helping us along the way, and with a nice cup of tea in hand we watched as the sun set over one of the most beautiful islands in the world.
Don’t take my word for it; just ask Terry and Philip and all the other kayakers who have ever paddled these fantastic waters.

Paul Mattock

AROUND PUFFIN ISLAND...

Here’s a short history: Puffin Island (Ynys Seiriol in Welsh) is an uninhabited island off the eastern tip of Anglesey, Wales. It was formerly known as Priestholm in English and Ynys Lannog in Welsh. Puffin Island is the ninth largest island off the coast of Wales. It is Carboniferous limestone, 58m above sea level at its highest point and has steep cliffs on all sides. It has an area of 0.28 km. The island is privately owned by the Baron Hill estate and landing is not allowed without special permission. The island is a Special Protection Area (SPA), particularly because of the Great Cormorant colony of over 750 pairs, making it one of the largest colonies in the British Isles. It also has good numbers of Guillemot, Razorbill, Shag and Kittiwake nesting, and in recent years small numbers of Common Eider and Black Guillemot. The Puffins from which the island gets its modern English name bred in considerable numbers at one time, with up to 2,000 pairs recorded. The Brown Rat was introduced accidentally to the island, probably in the late 19th century, and reduced this population to a very few pairs. A programme of poisoning these rats started in 1998 by the Countryside Council for Wales appears to have eradicated them, and the Puffin population has shown an increase since that date. At one time the island was heavily grazed by rabbits, but these were wiped out by an outbreak of myxomatosis, leading to the growth of dense vegetation, particularly Common Elder (Sambucus nigra). The strong currents around the island provide for an abundance of marine life, particularly on the north coast where the depths reach 15 metres, and many people enjoy fishing trips departing from Beaumaris in these waters, catching mainly mackerel, but many other species are caught.

The Trip:
Setting of from Trwyn y Penrhyn to paddle the short distance to Trwyn Penmon where you cross over to the island. With a stiff breeze blowing and plenty of moving water coming through the channel, it became quite choppy and I needed all my concentration to keep myself upright and moving in a straight line. It was good to know that some of the other paddlers around me would be finding this a walk in the park, but this being only my second trip out this year, I was still getting the feel for the boat. Eight of us in total, out for a few hours of leisurely paddling; or so we thought.
As we made our way around the island in a clockwise direction we were greeted by a small colony of seals curiously watching us as we bounced around on the bubbling water.
At the far end of the island we took shelter in a small cove to take on liquid and snacks and to rest some tired limbs. Then around the end of the island and on to it’s Western side only to be confronted by a strong southerly wind blowing directly into our faces.
(Force 4 to 5 was our calculations) This was getting to be hard work. If you eased off for just a few seconds you’d find yourself drifting backwards. This was not the place or time to have a capsize. What felt like an age we eventually made it to the other end of the island and pulled onto a shingle beach to take another well-earned rest. At the far end of the beach a family of seals were making their way down to the waters edge and the sun came out to warm my tired limbs. Then back across the channel and onto a small sheltered beach for lunch. It’s interesting how food tastes so much better when you’ve really had to work hard for it.
Then another short paddle into the wind to arrive back at our put-in. Some 3 hours out on the water and some great company to share it with. What a great way to spend some quality time on a Saturday afternoon.
The question now is, where to next?