August August - Cemlyn to Skerries .

Believe it or not, on this very morning we wondered whether we would get very far, as it was quite WINDY. Yes, that's correct, at the top of the road that leads down to Cemlyn is a petrol station, where we called in for comestibles, prior to launching. We noticed how there was a fresh breeze blowing, and it was rather gusty. On arrival at Cemlyn 15mins later all was calm as you see. That petrol staion is exactly 1.29 miles away.........work that one out, because I cannot. Anyways, on to the paddle, the plan was to hug the shore following the ebb tide, around Carmel Head to perhaps Church Bay, but as you see, upon negotiation of Harry Furlong's Rocks, conditions and tidal streams were favourable for another go at the Skerries. This is not to be sniffed at, it is very difficult to get conditions good enough for a trip out here, even in mid-summer. The tidal stream is very strong through here, and it negotiates a few hidden obstacles, causing overfalls, rips, standing waves, eddies and whirlpools. This is about as calm as it gets, it is not the place to be if the wind gets up, it can be a hair raising experience. I have been through on a 38ft yacht and it was a very scary passage, so great respect is required. On the way back we attempted to cross to Carmel Head, but the tide had different ideas. I changed to the Gopro as it began to liven up, but trust me, it got MUCH livelier. So much so, that I darn't take a hand off my paddle to record, as I needed to be hands on to brace from the waves. It came at us from the 4 points of the compass, the scary thing being that we couldn't appreciate how bad it would be until we were right in it, and as soon as we got out of it, looking back it seemed nowhere near as bad as it looked!!! At least if you see a patch of bad water, you can make attempts to avoid it, this was like a perfectly laid trap. Luckily there was little wind or it would have been much worse. On the last mile or so we then encountered a quite strong back eddy. Half a mile out to sea, the current was heading East, but inshore it had encountered Harry Furlong's Rocks and deflected back around heading West, making for quite a slog. Anyway it was another fabulous day, and the last couple of hours were approaching perfection, with the Sunset and the Moon and the Summer sky.

Видео August August - Cemlyn to Skerries . канала GBPaddling