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?

'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!

'Views From The Cockpit' by Paul Mattock

3rd of December 2008, the perfect winters day. Clear skies, crisp clean air and not a breath of wind. Launch at Cable Bay and meander down the coast to Rhosneigr. A spot of lunch on the beach and a leisurely paddle back with the sun on your face, and the only sound you can hear is the light splash of the blade as it moves through the still water beneath you, and the occasional cry of a gull, or a guillemot just before he dives beneath the surface of the sea in search of his own lunch.
Time stands still and all is right with the world.

" Where else to be,
but out upon the open sea."

'Tinned Fish on Mull' by Andy Short.

In May 2007 a hearty band of intrepid paddlers from Anglesey and thereabouts made great plans to canoe previously un-canoeable crossings between distant lands with faintly threatening names like ‘lunga’ and ‘gometra’ that might have come from a medical dictionary or maybe a monty python sketch.

However as D-day approached a plague of excuses laid low the team and five became two and a legend was born…..

Well enough of the hype.

Our original plan was to base ourselves at Fidden on the Ross of Mull just south of Fionphort where the ferry sails to Iona, and to do as much multi-day paddling as we could to take in the islands on the west coast of Mull – Iona, the Treshnish, Ulva, and Gometra included.

As the group had been cut to two we thought it unlikely that we would achieve our initial goals but decided to go and make the best of it. In many ways the fact that there were only the two of us and that we were pretty well matched as paddlers enabled us to do much more than might otherwise of been the case. We were also massively assisted by the weather, the winds remained manageable and the sea state slight throughout the trip.

Day One we thought would be a warm up day, a day for acclimatisation. Unfortunately the day dawned with a perfect blue sky and light breeze with a good forecast for the following day. A hasty change of plan saw us packing one of the tents into my boat, and as much food and water as we thought we would need for 2-3 days and by 11ish we were heading out into the blue yonder. Of course doing it this way meant we were paddling against the tide up the straits of Iona but hey, it was the start of the holiday – we were keen.

The day’s paddle took us to lunch on an island off the north coast of Iona (pitta bread and tinned fish – lovely!), and then on to Staffa and the amazing Fingal’s cave and rock formations.

From there we had a decision to make: continue north to Ulva, and out to the Treshnish the following day, or go North West to the Treshnish to camp and spend the following day paddling round the islands and back to Ulva. We chose the second as we had a better chance of topping up our water supplies, and the forecast was for winds moving to the East over 48 hours. We didn’t fancy getting stuck out on the Treshnish with water in short supply.

So we paddled out to Lunga (against the North Westerly wind of course) and camped on the beach of a small island to the North. This island was the home to about a zillion puffins, two zillion midges and a handful of bemused cave dwelling cormorants. A 25km day.

Day Two dawned like day one and we paddled round Lunga and landed on a likely looking boulder strewn beach – where yours truly excelled himself by taking a swim (well bath) whilst attempting the perilous manoeuvre of climbing out of his kayak – when my trusty companion had finished laughing and picked himself up off the floor he took a photo – note to self: find new companion or flatter beaches.

After drying out my fleece trousers by swinging them round my head on the summit of Mount Lunga (and apologising to the 17 yachts that subsequently sailed to our rescue) continued our trip North up the Treshnish Isles – against the tide! (are you spotting a pattern here?). We spotted another group of paddlers in the distance heading south at a great pace without ever seeming to use their paddles – strange.

We lunched (pitta bread and tinned fish – tasty) on Cairn na Burgh Mor and took in the old Norse fortifications before undertaking the crossing to Gometra where we eventually found a sandy beach I could land on without getting my trousers wet. After Alistair had sweet-talked the local farmer she allowed us to camp with her sheep on the beach. A 16 km day.

Day three dawned grey – wot no sun?? and windy (easterly). We looked at our food supply: pitta bread 3 1/2; tinned fish 1; water bags – very squishy. And decided we should head back to our campsite that day. A 25 km journey mostly open to a force 4 quartering easterly wind coming down the lochs of Mull. A route was planned to use the wind in a form of ferry gliding to take us back to the sound of Iona without leaving us too exposed to the offshore wind, or too far from land.

It meant a morning spent paddling mostly into wind to lunch (you guessed it) on a small rocky outcrop called Erisgeir where we were lucky to be able to land safely and eat. As Alistair had a skeg, he spent an enjoyable afternoon ‘ferry gliding’ cross the wind in a generally southerly direction. Without a skeg, I on the other hand spent the afternoon paddling only left handed to counter the weather vane effects of the wind on my boat. If I’d wanted to go open boating ….. A good time to practice paddling on a bearing and checking our transits.

Finally with a following sea and a spot of surfing we rounded the headland into the straits of Iona and made a b-line for Fionphort to check what time the pub stopped serving food that evening. Having sorted out the priorities we headed back to our campsite and duly collapsed only to be revived by the thought that if we didn’t it would have to be tinned fish for tea.

Day Four was wet and windy to start – a good excuse for a lazy morning and a ferry trip to Iona. Alistair suggested a picnic lunch and waved a tin of fish in my direction, I headed for the pub.

Day Five – another glorious sunny day! A short trip was planned to circumnavigate Iona clockwise, taking in the spouting cave and some fantastic gullies we had reckied the previous day. Lots of fun was had being spat at by the spouting cave and playing hide and seek in the labyrinth of caves and gullies. We continued north and included an entirely unnecessary and knackering excursion to a couple of outer islets, only to find that we couldn’t really land and had to paddle back to Iona to find a suitable spot for lunch (pitta and fish again). Still, good transit practice.

The day was completed by another trip down the straits, this time with the tide – hooray! The only highlight being a race with the ferry, although the bow wave proved unsurfable. A 21 km day.

Day Six – our warm up day – an easy paddle round the South coast of the Ross of Mull hoping to see Otters and Eagles. Being crafty we timed our departure with high tide to cut the rather large corner by taking a neat channel that took us where we wanted to go. We had even checked it a couple of days previously to make sure it would run. Arrived at channel at high tide to be met by sand, sand and more sand. Couldn’t remember anything from 4* training that talked about ferry gliding across 1/4 mile of sand dune so had to resort to lugging the boats – pah some short cut.

Seals having been hugely entertained by humans carrying two 15’ tonne weights across their sand dune rewarded us with a bit of a display before going off to have fish (tinned?) for lunch.

Pleasant paddle ensued whilst we looked for a good lunch spot – interesting coastline with plenty of channels to try and hidden sandy beaches. Picked one and lunched (Pitta and wait for it … no, beans – I’d run out of fish). Also went for a dip in the sea - very stupid mistake without an adequate blubber coat.

Enjoyable trip back enlivened by an encounter with a nudist sea kayaker complaining of being under-equipped. An 18 km day.


The trip was fantastic! Mull is a great place to paddle if you have reasonable weather. The islands are magical, very interesting to paddle round and have fantastic bird life. There is also the possibility of seeing whales, dolphins, otter and eagles – although we saw none of these unfortunately. The tides are generally small compared to Anglesey with few real tide races to contend with. The crossings between islands are reasonably short – 8-10km on average which are easily achievable and give a great sense of adventure.

You can’t go without starting a plan for the next trip … I would definitely paddle there again, and maybe take in Col and Tiree and the north end of Mull. Anyone fancy a trip next year??? (better start saving the tins of fish)