It’s good to be back in Wales and I’ve been enjoying paddling with Barry in some of my favourite places. It’s always great to paddle around ‘the Stacks’ when you’ve been away and have a play in the tidal races. On Monday the waves weren’t that bit, but it was fun to have a surf none-the-less.

Barry has recently got a Valley Rapier kayak and we took that out for a day, along with a Rockpool Tarran that we borrowed. We took it in turns to try each one and really liked both kayaks. It was fun to be moving quicker than usual and both kayaks felt surprisingly stable, especially the Tarran. The Rapier felt a little faster but I’d be more nervous in that in a big sea. We had a lap in Rhoscolyn race, which was dying off but was still quite exciting in a new sort of kayak. I’m looking forwards to trying both kayaks again sometime. On our way home, we stopped off to cheer on some other paddlers on ‘the Menai Challenge’, seeing how quickly they can paddle a 21km stretch of the Straits. Barry took a few photos from the bridge. 

Yesterday we paddled around Holy island on Holyhead, despite an exciting sea brought on by a westerly swell and wind which was in battle against the ebb tide! The waves were breaking over Holyhead Harbour wall and occasionally over us! We stayed in very close at North Stack to avoid the bigger waves, and also stayed out of the main wave train between the Stacks. This meant we were out of the favourable tide and had to work harder against the eddy and the wind. When we finally got back to Rhoscolyn, 5 hours after we set off, we were both exhausted!

The tides are getting very big this week and tonight saw a quick visit to the Swellies wave. It probably won’t be the only visit…