I woke up with the wind howling through the tent, I already had my alarm for two hours before high tide as the waves were crashing and I wanted to check on my boat. I left my kayak on the beach, it was safe; but for my own peace of mind I scramble with it up some steps and got it onto the promenade. Then I crawled back into my sleeping bag for a few more hours sleep.
Weather was due to settle in the afternoon but no too motivated to get on the water I go for a wander in the village and enjoy a cooked breakfast in the café. The café had a plaque on the wall to say it has been a working kitchen for centuries. The pilgrims would stop there before going to Bardsey Island. Quite impressive.
After filling my belly with my favorite food.. cooked breakfast, I head back to the tent. The tide had dropped a bit and the wind had died down a tad. So I decide to pack up my stuff and get going. Not much use just hanging around for the day. Much better on the water.
The first bay i crossed is called devils mouth. And it is huge. If marina bits are still floating around I’m sure the jaws of the devils mouth are waiting to snap them up. So I stayed out and headed across to the headland. After an hour or two of crossing in wind and waves I finally turn the corner to head north east to Llanbedrog. It was going from 4* conditions to 2* conditions amazing.
Forward paddling to me is much to do with the feel. The feel of the catch of the blade entering the water and pressure going on the blade. I was having some trouble with my right catch something just wasn’t right. So I spent some time playing around with my paddle length. Happy to be using my Celtic 600s and I love having the variation of length. I found just by changing the length two centimeters my paddling improved. I was finally feeling I had better posture and rotation and finally the cruising speed was back up to scratch. Better than feeling like a sack of spuds for the first few hours of the day.
After hells mouth the coastline was beautiful. Full of stacks, covers and caves and I’m sure the cliffs are filled with bird life as we get closer to the summer. I passed Tudor island which is a trip to go back and do.
Just as I was landing in Llanbedrog the rain started to come down. Oh no.. setting up camp in the rain. I quickly came up with a technique to keep the inner tent dry and get everything inside quickly. Once I was out of my wet gear and in the tent, that was it.. lights out.
Day 7 30/03/2018 Llanbedrog – Barmouth
I woke up so the sun trying to beam through the clouds, much better than the evening before. Ready for action. So I packed up my kit and got on the water at high tide. I follow the coast for while, still wakeing up and getting into the paddling grove. My hands are starting to get sore with a few blisters here and there. So I decide to get my gloves out. I don’t usually like glove but the ones I got from Kokatat are actually not that bad. So I saved my blisters and keep them on.
Just outside Pwllheli I’m joined by a few sailing boats as the get ready to set sail, nice to see some others enjoying the good weather.
Now to make the decision of when to cross over. Do I follow the coast or shall I set a bearing and go for it. Winds were calm and waters almost like glass, I could see land, and winds aren’t due to pick up until late in the evening, and when they do from the north pushing me in the right direction. So I double checked my map and compass and set off towards Barmouth.
Crossings are not my favorite just because it’s boring, nothing much happened out there. Just paddling, and more paddling, then some birds circled around me for a while, probably trying to decide if I was food or not, and that was it.
Getting closer to Barmouth I felt myself getting tired and was happy to get onto land. Starting at high water was great but finishing at low water wasn’t so fun. Luckily I got one of these cool trolleys from Nigel. So I worked out if I take the kit out of the stern, my end, then it’s lighter to push. I set up camp and head to the pub.
Just sat in the pub writing blogs and checking Facebook and a little girl comes to sit next to me. I think it was my pink and blue iPad that caught her attention. But I offered her some paper and a pen. She sat there ages and drew me a picture. How sweet.
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