dithering. Forecast was force 2-3 with sunny intervals but
2.2m surf in Llantwit/Nash. I was playing with the idea of
heading out to Flat Holm, but decided to wait for calmer sea's.
So I headed out from my local bay at Aberthaw. As it was
spring tides the sea was miles away and it was an eventful
journey down to the sea through the mud and seaweed!
Low tide was about 12:00 so decided to make my way
toward Nash Point on the ebb.
The sky over the English coast looked very dark, hope it
doesn't head my way.
Seems I caught the edge of the rain. I was quite refreshing
as a thermal top, t-shirt and cag was one layer to many!
Heading toward Llantwit the current didn't aid my progress
much with an average speed of 3.5kts.
With the spring tides the water was much further out than
normal. Upon reaching Llantwit Major I realised I made a
good choice launching from Aberthaw. The surf was pretty
awesome and I had to make quite a detour to avoid the
waves.
I wont be rock hopping this week!
Nash point light house now in clear view.
As I make my way closer Nash Point I notice my speed
drastically slowing as I hit the confused waters.
Surely with the East cardinal buoy within 0.22 nm I can
make it! My speed continues to drop, 1.5kts, 0.5kts, 0kts.
That was it the fight was over. Looking back at my track
on my GPS when I got home I realised I was actually getting
pushed back.
There are two towers at Nash Point and the surrounding
buildings have been turned into holiday cottages. I cut
the grass for the cottages in the summer and have often
looked down on to the sand bar, but it was not in reach
today. Heading back my average speed was now 6kts.
Absolutely knacked I decided to land at St Donats castle for
some lunch as this was one of the few places which was sheltered
from the surf.
After a bite to eat and a cuppa I launched from the slipway.
I didn't draw the face by the way.
By now the surf had caught up and didn't look too inviting.
I made a dash for it but lost my water bottle in the process.
On the way back the tide reached the cliffs, but not quite
enough to enter the caves
I never thought this sight would look so beautiful but my
back was in agony, my thumbs were blistered and I swear
I can still feel my body going up and down with the swell
whilst typing this (maybe it's the wine??). 
A total of 11.19 nm or 20km. I think I'll cheat and launch
from Nash Point next time!
2 comments:
Stuart, that looked like a nice trip.
It's quite a thing when you realise that you are not making any progress! We went through Nash Sound on the last spring tide but we did it the easy way coming with the flow - hitting about 8 knots so we went!
Hi Eurion. I saw your trip it looked great, some nice pictures from the sands. Ye the water doesn't half move through there. I left it to late I did, I knew the tide was going to turn before I got there, I was just hoping to at least make it to the buoy. There's always next time!
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