Paddle Away

Strumble Head is situated just above 52 degrees North, 52 01.' 005 04.' to be precise, on the West Wales coast line. The focal point of the head is the lighthouse built on Ynys Meicl which is one of a number of small islands just off the headland. The mainland together with the islands form a peninsular jutting out into the Irish Sea. Consequently the tides can flow fast here and tide races form North and South of the headland on both the ebb and flood tides. The islands can also create strong currents of their own which vary at different states of the tide. This all makes for an interesting place to paddle a sea kayak. The forecast was for light variable winds and a sunny day. High tide Milford Haven was 14.45 so we decided to paddle South to North. The wind forecast is often understated and this would put the wind behind us for most of the trip. A further tidal issue occurs in Fishguard Bay where a large eddy forms on the flood tide and runs for nine hours. This eddy

The weather forecast was looking good for Saturday 06 April 2013 so a group of us got together and headed for south Pembrokeshire. We were not disappointed and we left Freshwater West beach in near prefect conditions. We paddled south east towards Linney Head On the ebb tide an eddy forms here and there is sometimes disturbed water off Linney Head where the eddy meets the main flow of the out going tide. Today however the tide had just turned so we received some tidal assistance across the bay but no disturbed water. The calm conditions allowed us to do some exploring amongst the rocks and stacks. There were also numerous caves which could be paddled into. This one was the largest. About four miles into the paddle we arrived at the Green Bridge of Wales. This is a spectacular sea arch which can be paddled through near high water. There is also a viewing platform for walkers on the cliff path. This section of coast transits a military firing range so