Claire and Fiona organised a fantastic coached club trip to Pembrokeshire in June, guided by Sea Kayak Guides.
A group of us met at the arches at 9:30 on Friday morning to load up boats and gear before setting off to Wales — immediately or later in the day. We’d made different arrangements for accommodation, with five staying in cottages nearby and seven staying at the Llanungar campsite where the guides were based. Some of us who were early enough walked in to Solva for dinner or a drink at “Hats and Barrels”. There was loud overnight rain on our tents, but the weather cleared by the morning.
On Saturday morning we met the guides — Martin, Ben and Pablo, whom we’d met the previous year — at the campsite and planned trips for the day. We all said what we were hoping to get from the weekend and then the guides went over the essentials of planning: looking at weather, swell, tides and current and anticipating what conditions would be like in different places. We’d all been watching the weather forecast and were glad to see that the forecast high winds were now not expected until Sunday, but there were still strong westerly winds and a significant swell from the west.
In the end we split into two groups — seven looking for more challenging conditions deciding to go to Porthgain with Ben and Pablo, and five going on to Abercastle with Martin where conditions should be calmer. We sorted boats out and drove off to our respective launch points before preparing to get on the water. In Porthgain, there was plenty of parking and we launched to the side of a boat ramp that was slippery because of the low tide. On the water Ben encouraged us to observe the water texture and read what the conditions were further out –- were they what we’d anticipated when planning?
We paddled out of the harbour feeling the conditions build and went through some channels, discussing where the safe places were. Arriving at a beach by lunchtime, we made surf landings, with several of us capsizing on the way in. Ben went over our journey, describing the back-eddies that we’d observed in the journey. When we returned to Porthgain, we did some rescues and Ben demonstrated a scoop rescue.
In the evening all twelve of us had dinner in the Cambrian Arms before dispersing to our accommodation.
On Sunday we again convened at Llanungar at 9am and discussed options for the stronger winds. We decided to stay in two groups, but all head to the North coast in the shelter of Dinas head, launching from Cwm yr Eglwys. Two fishing yaks launched before us, and as we launched we saw that one had capsized. Ben went over to assist and was able to get the swimmer back on his kayak using a stirrup supported on a paddle.
We observed the conditions in the bay and further out, and saw how the sea state increased as we headed out. We proceeded North along the coast finding the eddies and watching dolphins leaping out of the waves. Coming to a headland where the waves were getting stronger, the group sheltered in an eddy and three of us sallied out around the headland to see what the conditions were like. Finding another safe point around the corner, we returned to the group and brought them round, then practiced going out to the stronger conditions and returning to the eddy, after Ben had gone over how to turn up and downwind.
Some of us did rocky landings for a toilet break and we then ate lunch in our boats before running downwind to rejoin the other group at a beach beyond Cwm yr Eglwys. Martin, Ben and Pablo demonstrated towing techniques and stirrup rescues before we all went on the water to practice towing, stirrup and scoop rescues.
Some of us headed straight back to London that night, while others stayed and had dinner in the Cambrian Arms before staying overnight to come back on Monday. We had a great weekend, with lovely sunny weather despite the strong winds. We saw many birds (among them oystercatchers, razorbills and one puffin); several seals and had got to watch the dolphins for several minutes. We all learned or practiced essential skills and enjoyed facing the challenge of more moderate water than we usually get to see.
