A Weekend to Remember…

It’s been a long time coming, but it was well worth the wait.
We had glorious sunshine for the whole weekend and boy! did we make good use of it,
a camping weekend with all our kayaking friends and their families down at Rhoscoyln Beach.
A weekend of sun, sea and sand. A reminder of my childhood holidays when all was right with the world. Sand in your egg and crest sandwiches, ice lollies that melted and ran down your face and arms leaving a streak of orange stain that acted as some primitive form of sun block. The high-pitched scream of seagulls and over heated young children as the sun reached its zenith. The splashing waves and salty seawater that acted as a kind of nasal spray that would have a hundred children coughing like a smoker on forty a day.
The warm wrapping of the dry beach towel to conceal and soothed the goose bumps on a shivering overexcited child. Then with bucket and spade in hand, which contained a few precious pebbles along with a crab’s claw and some seaweed as souvenirs, we’d wander back along the beach to wash, to eat and to sleep the sleep of the dead. And when morning came, we’d do it all over again.
All praise to the great British summer.

Views From The Cockpit...

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 lunch.
Time stands still and all is right with the world.

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

Time Out...

This picture of me is one of my all time favourite images.
Taken by a friend while out for a paddle just off Trearddur Bay,
It sums up everything I love about living here on Anglesey.
Just you, the sea and the sky. Everything else can just wait…

Paddle Power...

It’s symposium time again, the 25th anniversary of the Anglesey Kayaking weekend. Paddlers from all over Europe travel here to take part in all sorts of classes, from beginner to advance skills in paddling an 18 foot boat out on the open sea: All ages, all nationalities, all with one common interest.
The weather, as usual, was temperamental and changeable, with sunny skies and torrential downpours, all in the blink of an eye. The evenings were full of lectures and plenty of conversations about the day’s activities, with the last day of the weekend filled with live music, laughter and quite a bit of merriment taking place. No one drowned or was lost at sea, and lessons were learnt by just about everyone. Lessons that would be taken back home by the participates and put into practice and passed on to others for all to benefit from, this 25th Isle of Anglesey Kayaking Symposium.

It's Never to Late...

Here’s one of my favourite paths. It leads to a bay at Rhoscolyn call Borthwen Bay. It’s where I cut my teeth when learning to sea kayak and it was here I had my first encounter with a seal that played hide and seek with me for close to an hour. Wherever I paddled he’d pop his head up just a few metres away and if I paddled towards him he’d disappear under the surface only to pop up a few minutes later. And so it went on for close to an hour until I guess, he got bored with me. But what a fantastic face he/she had with huge eyes and eyelashes any girl would die for. It was also here that I found myself amongst a flock of feeding terns. As I sat quietly flouting, they would dive-bomb into the waters around me, disappear for a handful of seconds and then reappear with a small fish wiggling in their beaks.
I may have come late to this sport but am so grateful for the opportunity it’s given me to get so close to the natural world.

Early Morning Traffic.

With summer fast coming to a close it’s time to make the most of these light early mornings and to get out onto the water. Anglesey is renowned for its wind, which bodes well for all you kite and windsurfers, but occasionally we get a welcome break from it and all things on the island become serene. Up at 5.30 am and on the water within half an hour, just me and the sea birds and the sound of silence… Take a look.

Sound track by ' Mike Dowling '