Rhoscolyn Beacon and Beyond…

It was one of those splendid hot summer days on Anglesey, perfect for a trip out to Rhoscolyn Beacon to say hi to the seals and to play in the races.

“ The coastal exposures around Rhoscolyn exhibit some of the finest examples of polyphase fold structures known in southern Britain and are amongst the most intensively studied sites of structural geological interest in the British Isles. Rhoscolyn Beacon tower stands on a small rocky island off the coast at Rhoscolyn, Anglesey, North Wales. The island is one of a group that are known as Seagulls' Islands (Welsh: Ynysoedd Gwylanod). The beacon has served as a navigational aid for well over a century. Originally the beacon would have been painted black and white. Seals are often found on the islands.”

After about an hour of exploring these isolated rocks we picked up the flowing tide and headed down the coast in the direction of Trearddur Bay, rock hopping and exploring the coastline along the way. Having reached to Bwa Gwyn,the White Arch, we found somewhere to pull up the kayaks and take a spot of lunch. We then took an open-crossing of about 4 kilometres to Porth Dafarch where we took another well earned break before heading back to Trearddur Bay where Terry, kindly acting as mother, supplied us with tea and biscuits and to talk about the many other journeys yet to be undertaken.

CAN’T WAIT!

Paul M ( Additional images by Philip )

Paddlers: Paul, Terry, Philip, Mike and Graham from Cybi Kayakers

Penhryn Mawr Begins to Stir...

Although there was a strong north-easterly wind blowing across the island, we were fairly well protected as we left Trearddur Bay to head out along the coast towards Porth Dafarch and onto Penrhyn Mawr to look at the tidal races. Although it was getting near to slack water, once we’d made our way out to the races we discovered that the tide was running faster than we'd anticipated. Graham and Mike, under the watchful eye of Eila, ventured a little further out to take a look at this infamous tidal race, only to get themselves caught up in the strong flowing rush of water and found themselves paddling like madmen to pull themselves out. At one point Graham seemed to be paddling on the spot and making no headway at all, while Eila looked on with some amusement; and this was Penrhryn Mawr at it’s quietest. It’s not until you’ve been up close do you really appreciate the skills involved in paddling these kinds of treacherous waters…

We turned and headed back towards the safety of Porth Dafarch only to find ourselves paddling into a headwind that felt gale force. As we approached Porth Dafarch the wind seemed to build, the bay acting as a kind of funnel for the wind to gain in strength. By the time we found sheltered waters I was exhausted. On the way back to Trearddur Bay we rock hopped and explored the caves and enjoyed the warmth of the setting sun on our backs. A splendid two and half hours of excellent paddling, along with great company.


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Music is by Mike Dowling.