Easter Sea Kayaking on Anglesey by Ian Bell

As there was no Scotland trip this year I instigated a group to paddle with a very flexible agenda. After several emails 9 of us finally committed to meet up on Good Friday. On Thursday we had a panic as the chosen campsite closed due to a waterlogged field. After some internet searching Adya found us an acceptable alternative.

Saturday was a North Coast paddle, Please see Catriona’s report of the Day.

Sunday with slightly improved weather we settled on a paddle from Trearddur to Rhoscolyn and back.

Arriving at Trearddur the bay and sea conditions in the bay and beyond looked settled and flat. Being early in the season we were able to park close to the beach making for easy launch and recovery. Leaving the bay we met a group from Shrewsbury CC who were only going as far as the caravan park and back. As our group was up for a bit of adventure and some dynamic water we pressed on.

Once out of the bay, the sea state picked up a little due to residual energy from the previous days of wind which limited the options for rock hopping and exploring caves. This meant that we arrived in Rhosscolyn Sound earlier than expected so the water was more dynamic than some members of the group would have preferred. With the tide still running against us we finally made it around to the first beach and then on into the main bay for a long lunch and rest.

On the return, the conditions were much better around the headland and with the tide now slack we made good progress. Once back into Porth y Grains, we had a following sea and the swell had picked up some found this slightly challenging and had plenty of type 2 fun. But all successfully made it back into Trearddur as we progressed into the bay the swell here had picked up with the tide so we timed the approach to miss the bigger wave sets and made it safely back to the beach.

Once the kit was sorted we were off to the Ice cream shop to relax before returning to the campsite. Some went for chips as their evening meal. Everyone admitted that the day had been testing but enjoyable and that we would likely feel it the next day as most of us have not had that much exercise recently and paddling 3 days back-to-back can catch up with you.

So day three saw some padlers setting off for home early while we settled on a gentle end to the weekend. We chose to paddle from Rhosneigr to the church in the sea and back. This was as promised, a relatively easy trip to allow for the effects of tidiness after the 2 previous days.

We paddled around the headland and crossed Port Trecastle (Cable Bay) then passed the race circuit to the roaring tones of the motorcycle race that was taking place. Lunch was taken at the church before retracing are steeps back to Rhosneigr

All went well until I tried some silly playing on the reef wave at the end of Rhosneigr Beach. The consequence was that I ended up getting very wet, much to the amusement of the group.

Once we had all returned to the beach, we went for refreshments before departing for home.

Many thanks to all who made it a great weekend.

Ian. Catriona, Frankie, Adya, Phill, Dave B, Andy, Emmon, Andy BR.