Taran, Chris Adrian and I had planned to head out from The Knapp in Barry westward along the coast to Ogmore. The forecast had promised low wind and sun, perfect lazy paddling with an out going tide all the way. Leaving at HW in short rash vest and loads of suncream we flew past Porthkerry at a tad under 6 knots. This was very surprising as we were bang on the start of the ebb on a tide 2 days from neap.
This rapid passage was all to change within the hour!
Approaching Aberthaw the wind that hit us kept coming on and on, straight on the nose. We were getting quite chilly with the spray and wind - so when when we met up with
Stuart and Marcus at Gileston, the cags came out and put paid to the sun cream.
The unexpected headwind wind turned the trip into an all mighty effort.
Quite a grind in fact. Approaching Ogmore, as Marcus can testify, it was definitely quicker to get out and walk. The 30km trip took us 5 and a half hours to complete, and I slept like a log when I got home.
Ever so glad we had binned the idea of paddling to Lundy this weekend :)
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| Porthkerry viaduct - constructed in the 1890s - 16 stone arches |
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| 110 foot high arches |
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| Stuart and Taran |
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| Heading around Col Huw Spit |
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| Stop for a bite to eat at Llantwit Major beach |
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| 30km - 5. 5hrs of hard slog |
