Winter Wonderland...

There’s no getting away from it…winter is with us once again. The rain, the wind and the dark early nights all add up to evenings in front of the wood burning stove. The birds don’t sing quite as loud in the morning while the windows and doors whistle their own tunes. Time to pull on the woolly jumpers and thick socks, get the fire going and cook up a large pot of vegetable stew and homemade bread. This is our hibernation time, and I wouldn’t want to hibernate anywhere else but here.

Set Sail...

With Jane keen on baking her own bread it was with great excitement that we first visited Llynnon Mill in Llanddeusant, the only surviving working windmill in the whole of Wales; and less then four miles from the end of our lane. Now fully renovated and with the help of the islands notorious westerly winds, it now produces it’s very own brand of flour. This has got to be some of the lowest carbon footprint produced bread in the whole of the country and it tastes fantastic.

The Scary Skerries...

Tidal streams running at 6 knots, over-falls and tidal races, 20 kilometres of endless paddling, over five hours on rough seas and 5 kilometres from the safety of shore… why on earth do we do it? Because it’s there to be done. It challenges our preconceived ideas of what we’re capable of and it confronts our fears. Hey, and it’s great fun if you get to survive it all.
This sums up my first open crossing by sea kayak to a place off the northern tip of Anglesey called The Skerries, a large rock formation which houses a lighthouse and is home to the Atlantic grey seal. It is exposed to winds from any direction and lies in the midst of some of the most powerful tidal streams in the UK. Because of these tidal flows there’s no straight line paddling to get to The Skerries. You need to have all the relevant navigational information and skills to achieve the crossing safely. Get your calculations wrong and the next call you’ll be making is to the coastguards. The furthest I’d ever been off shore was 200 metres and even then I felt very vulnerable. I hasten to add, this was no solo crossing, but with a group of highly experienced and skilled paddlers who looked after me all the way; there and back. Having said that, it was still me who had to paddle, deal with wind, rain and the unplanned negotiation of a tidal race (Large crashing waves out at sea) to make it back to landfall, exhausted, exhilarated and with a lasting respect for the power of the sea and the wonder of nature.Video clip of the trip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVfDNHbv3tc

My Witching Hour...

I’m guessing that ‘the witching hour’ is that time in the day or night that has a sense of magic about it. I’d have to say that during the summer months it would be the early hours of dawn. While the rest of the world is still in slumber and the sun is still wiping the sleep from it’s eyes, this is the time to feel the true magic of Anglesey. There is a unique kind of stillness that you can feel, especially near to water. Four Mile Bridge (Named after the distance from the bridge to Holyhead town) is an inland sea that remains quite shallow even at high tide. An ideal place to practice your kayaking skills or to learn your new windsurfing tricks. The bridge also allows a great flow of water through its arch, as the tide rises and falls, and is favourite with the white water kayakers. But in the early morning mist while all around sleeps, I stand and stare and am bewitched in this special magic hour in this special magic place.

A Life on the Ocean Waves...

As a sea kayaker living on Anglesey, I’m often called on to act as a student to fellow paddlers training to become instructors in this wonderful sport. This gives me plenty of opportunities to get out on to the water while being instructed by supervised, trainee instructors. What would normally set me back £70 -£80 a lesson I get for free. It’s also a great way to learn about the coastline of this island, its tidal flows and currents, along with all the risks inherent in paddling the ocean waves. On top of all that, I get to pick and choose what kind of kayak I’d like to paddle for the day. (My wish-list is forever growing longer.) I get to meet like-minded people all sharing the same enthusiasm and passion for this sport and get to hear some great stories of kayaking trips from around the world. Dodging ice-bergs in Greenland or being surrounded by playful dolphins down in Florida. (A second wish-list is growing fast.) Anglesey is a Mecca for sea kayakers as it contains so many water features within such a small area. The famous tidal races at the northern end of the island out near the Skerries, along with the tidal flows and eddies of the Menai Straits. There is talk that in the next couple of years a regular kayaking festival will be held on the island and paddlers from all over Europe and beyond will come together to spend a week sharing their skills and experiences with fellow kayakers.
Sounds like a lot of fun…can’t wait.

Crackle and Pop...

One of our most favorite pleasures, come these chilly evening nights, is to chop a few logs and to get the wood burning stove fired up. There’s nothing quite like the crackle and pop of dry burning timber and the mingled aroma of pine wood and cherry wood. A glass of wine and some mindless tele sets us up for a splendid evening of boozing and snoozing…
Our motto as always is, “ it can wait...”

The Church in the Sea...

There are some fascinating locations all around the island, non-more so then Ty Cawyfan, the church in the sea. At high tide it is completely shut of from the mainland and has a history going back many hundreds of years. Not the easiest of places to get to, (unless you happen to own a kayak) but well worth the effort. I’ve included some information courtesy of Anglesey’s heritage web-site.

" Llangwyfan Church near Aberffaw The “Church in the Sea”. This old 12th century church originally stood on a cliff of clay overlooking the sea. A map drawn in 1610 seems to show it still attached to the mainland. It formerly had a second aisle on the north side, demolished in the early 19th century as the sea eroded more and more of the island. An arcade of blocked arches, once separating the twin aisles, may still be seen within. Replaced in 1871 with a new mainland church, designed by Diocesan architect Henry Kennedy, by 1893 it stood unroofed and neglected. It was then restored by the famous Llanfairfechan architect and archaeologist Harold Hughes. Erosion of the island was finally halted by surrounding it with a stone sea wall, at around the same time. The remains of the causeway linking the island to the mainland, once much larger, can still be seen. When the tides prevented services being held on the island, they were held instead in a room specially consecrated in nearby Plas Llangwyfan".