When the wind stops a blowin' it's time to start Puffin!!

The wind has finally dropped to something approaching a sensible level, so we had a few more options open to us today.

With slight Easterly to North-Easterlies forecast, it was time to take in some scenery and some wildlife. So we headed North-East to Penmon and paddled out to circumnavigate Ynys Seiriol (Puffin Island to the non-Welsh speakers reading this).

What a cracking day we had. Light winds and a little chop as we paddled through the race.

We explored caves.

The seals explored us.

Dan explored the performance of three different boats and his own performance (Thanks Rockpool).

We explored the Pilots House Cafe at the end of the day.

Cracking!!!!

What to do when the forecast is for high winds?

With an inshore forecast of 5-6, occasionally Gale 8, we wondered where to go today for the 'Coaching & Demo' week.

With the wind direction, the Straits would have been an obvious choice, but we'd paddled there yesterday, so we headed North-East to Moelfre. Foul weather on arrival made a pre-paddle coffee and teacake in Ann's Pantry an essential delaying tactic.

Then we hit the water with a whole family of 'Ceti' (that's the correct term for a multiple of Cetus if my vague memories of Latin at Eastbrook Comp are correct). Daddy Cetus (Regular), Mummy Cetus (MV) and Baby Cetus (LV) were all put through their paces and like Goldilocks, you're now able to find one that's "just right"!!

Where shall we go tomorrow??

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They're here!!!

After months of anticipation, they've finally arrived. I have in my hands the new Standard Horizon HX851E.

I've been online to obtain a Licence for my unit and secure my MMSI number by visiting http://licensing.ofcom.org.uk/radiocommunication-licences/ships-radio/

A painless (and cost free task) which took me about 15 minutes, because I actually scanned through the bits that I was ticking the boxes for saying that I accepted the terms and conditions for (don't worry, it's nowhere near as long as i-tunes T&C's).

Just entered the MMSI number into my handset, took another minute or two and that's it done. I'm hot to trot!!

Carpe Diem

Last night I got a call from my friend Adam "What are you doing tomorrow?"



"Working" I replied.



"Ah, we're going to paddle round the Stacks...."



"Mmm, might be a bit lumpy" I suggested. "It's been pretty windy for the last couple of days".



"It'll be alright" said Adam.



"I'm cooking breakfast for the whole family tomorrow morning, so I can't start before 10, keep me in the loop"



"I'll call you in the morning" he replied.



Fast forward to 08:00 this morning, phone rings "We're going are you coming?"



After 3 weeks of working my backside off, I decided I needed some me time.



"Yeah, the sun is shining, the wind has dropped" I have the luxury of living on the island.



"What time have we got to be on the water for?"



"Eleven".





"Call round and pick up the Cetus MV for Anne to try and I'll get my stuff together, I'm in."





I finished cooking breakfast (a Full Welsh) Bacon, Selsig (by Edwards of Conwy), Mushrooms, Beans, Black Pudding, Hash Browns, Toast, Coffee and OJ. Well if I'm going paddling I'll need fuelling.




At 10:10, I started running round like a loon, looking for my kit. I couldn't find my rash vest (it was shorty cag weather today), so ran into the shop and treated myself to a nice new one.





We hit the water, it was a little windier than when I'd got up this morning, and the tide was racing as we approached North Stack.





After a short play in the race we headed around the corner into the cave before Parliament Cave.






















We passed climbers at Parliament Cave, who were clearly making the most of the blue skies and sundried cliffs.


We headed on to South Stack, Anne was clearly at ease in the Cetus MV.

Padling on soon saw us back at Porthdafarch, for the end of our paddle. A quick drive through Holyhead and we picked up Adams van, then back to base for a beer and a sandwich and I suddenly felt strangely motivated to get on with some work that had been dragging until now.


Thanks Anne & Adam.

Carpe diem - Sieze the day.
It should be a motto for us all, because life's too short to miss out on experiences like todays.

New Boats On Anglesey

At the start of this month we took delivery of two New boats from P&H:
The Delphin - a radical new concept in sea kayak design, it's been described as the 'sea kayakers playboat'.
The Cetus MV - a refinement of the Cetus to suit smaller and mid-sized paddlers. A pleasure to paddle.

Both of these are now available for demo at our base on 'Sunshine Island' (aka Anglesey), along with the full range of Mitchell Touring Blades.

Happy Paddling!
Pete
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