Wind Rain Wind Rain Tuesday, November 15, 2005

Actually, it's been lovely sunny weather in North Wales for 3 days now, but I haven't quite got round to writing about what seemed like years of wind rain, wind rain, wind and rain (but was acutally about 2 weeks)! The rain drummed against the windows, the road became a river and even the bathroom flooded, nearly killing the cockroaches! We went surfing, and when it was too windy for that, we went walking by the sea, wondering at her power & trying to imagine what it would feel like to be thrown around in my kayak in a wild stormy tidal race. The best local surf beach is near to Bardsey Sound, a fearsome stretch of water separating the end of the Llyn Peninsula from a small island called Bardsey. The Welsh name is Ynys Enlli, which literally means 'island in the currents'. It's a really special place, just 4km away from the mainland but in a storm it might aswell be 400km away.

The tidal streams in Bardsey Sound easily reach 8 knots, and when the wind opposes it, it can be really wild. Just one farming family lives there all year, and a father and son fish for lobsters there for most of the Summer. You can take a boat there or kayak there when the weather is good, but in the recent stormy weather, we've been limited to walking on the cliffs and staring in awe at the waves. It was Bardsey Sound that gave Fiona Whitehead and I the most troublesome day on our circumnavigation of Wales - my first 'proper' seakaykaing trip. We tried to get around the tidal race at Braich-y-Pwll when the tide was still against us, and we couldn't keep our balance well enough in the confused race to power our way around the point against the tide. 2 horus and 2 attempts later, we made it!! Ever since then I've had a special respect and awe for Bardsey Sound. I hope you enjoy these few pictures (taken by Alun).