Skomer & Skogholm 27 July 2008

The weather this weekend was perfect for sea kayaking so a trip to west Wales was on the cards. I could not make the trip arranged for Saturday, but luckily for me it is such a good trip that Steve was more than happy to paddle it again on Sunday.





We arrived at Martins Haven bright an early and managed to get prime spot in the car park which is normally full of divers, anglers and day trippers. This is the emabarkation point for the visitors ferry to Skomer.

The island of Skomer is separated from the main land by Jacks Sound a treacherous stretch of water that has claimed many ships over the years. One of the more recent is The Lucy which was wrecked in Jacks Sound in the sixties and actually sunk in North Sound. It is marked by a wreck bouy and is very popular as a diving venue.



This weekend the tides were neaps, there was no wind and Jacks Sound was sleeping which was perfect for my first visit.



The Puffins were out in force. There were literally thousands of them bobbing around on the water and they are remarkably tame. We were careful not to disturb them too much and as a consequence they let us come up really close to them. It will not be long before they all head off to their winter feeding grounds so we felt lucky to see them.







We headed anti clockwise around Skomer past Garland rock and down the west side. The sea was a bit messy but were really spoilt with the conditions. Grassholm beckoned in the distance some nine miles away but commonsense prevailed and that will have to wait until another day.





From Skomer we crossed Broad Sound to Skogholm. This island is not as high as Skomer and the views were not so interesting.



We circumnavigated Skogholm again anti clockwise.



This is the ferry arriving from Ireland.

We then headed back across Broad Sound to the south side of Skomer.





Our confidence was high and Jacks Sound was not yet running so we toured around the Mew Stone and the south side of Skomer before paddling through the Sound and back to Martins Haven.



This was a cracking trip and one that we will surely be doing again soon.

Comments

Richard said…
It sure was a brilliant weekend for paddling. I did the trip on saturday with Eurion and co. Both islands are amazing places with so much to see. Congratulations on the new addition to your family.
8 August 2008 at 20:56
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