Pembroke Day 1 (Saturday) Neyland and River Cleddau by Frankie A
Another great weekend with LCC began with a mass paddle from Neyland in the sheltered waters of the estuary. Meeting at 8.30, Keith had issued the pin for the car park (the one we had never visited before, but I have a photo of us launching from the same slipway in 2019???) via the club messaging system. There were a few challenges with connectivity and getting into the message board, but eventually, many vehicles departed to head to Neyland to the large car park with room for many vehicles. If only it wasn’t half full of camper vans, that is.
Boats unloaded and paddlers sorted (Adya is my hero, her spare spray deck saved my weekend), we formed 3 groups to make our way up the estuary, sticking to the banks to avoid the wind. At some point, Ella mentioned her competitive nature, “let’s have a race” I said, Okay. Martin A, our group leader, said, “I will just follow at the back to make sure everyone is okay”. So we picked a spot to race towards and off we went. The race results – 1st place Martin A, 2nd place Ella, 3rd place Frankie. So much for staying at the back, Martin!
Lunch and shelter, and ice cream were found at Lawrenny Quay, before our group decided to investigate how far we could punch up against the wind towards Black Tar. We made it as far as Castle Rocks (literally in my case) before turning back and making the most of the wind to return to Neyland.
As we approached our destination, there was a loud blast on the horn by the Irish Ferries departure from Pembroke Dock – Keith S’s group were in the vicinity – say no more. Then, as we glanced over, we could see the group being escorted by a powerboat across the water. Apparently, they were just being advised about the power boat race due to start. We preferred to just let our imaginations fill in the details.
A great warm-up paddle to start the weekend and use up just enough energy to need to refuel at the BBQ that evening.
