Stackpole Sea Kayak Festival 24 - 26 May 08

Despite the horrendous weather foreccast I headed off to Stackpole hoping to get on the water some time over the weekend.
As it turned out we managed a paddle on each of the three days thanks to some positive thinking by the Coaches and organisers.
Stackpole Centre is owned and run by the National Trust and is set in a beautiful location close to the sea and the Pembrokeshire National Park. It is primarily an Outdoor Education Centre and apparently it is full of school children during the week. This weekend however it was home to some 60 sea kayakers of varying standard.

On Saturday we joined the experienced group and headed over to the picturesque Stackpole Quay. My wind gauge showed the wind speed at a steady 25 knots this is force six so there was not a lot of enthusiasm to get on the water.



We therefore went over to the more sheltered West Angle Bay which is on the East side of the entrance to Milford Haven.





This allowed us to shelter in the lee of Thorn Island and sample the windy conditions which was good experience.

Day 2 was a trip from Lydstep Haven near Tenby to Stackpole Quay. The wind was actually stronger than Saturday but our paddle at Angle had given us some confidence.



This stretch of coast line is stunning and contains numerous caves and inlets. It is not easliy accessaible due to the adjacent MOD firing ranges. This has the benefit of providng a haven for wild life particularly sea birds.

Day 3 The wind was still blowing a hooley in fact the forecast was for gale force 9! We still managed to get a paddle this time from West Angle along the coast to Freshwater West. Most of the time we were sheltered from the wind by the cliffs and the only time we really had to fight the wind was across the bay of Freshwater West to our get out point.




All in all another excellent weekend, but I will have to get myself a water proof camera in order to repay Eurian for taking some excellent pictures which are nearly always of me.

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