Back To The Bitches

Today's forecast was looking slightly better, S/SW force 3/4 and the swell seemed to have subsided.  There was a lot more cloud about though.  We parked my van at Porth Clais and drove on up to Whitesands.  The surf looked fairly big so we opted for a short paddle from St Justinian's.  Also saved us £4 on parking, robbery!

Ramsey Sound looked calm, I got the binoculars out to check out the other side.  All looked well.

 The wind was coming straight up the sound, a little height in the waves but nothing to worry about.  Worry I did though.  Taran didn't seem to mind but I know how this place can change.  A strong wind on tide, I didn't want to stay on the other side longer than needed.

 The jagged rocks of The Bitches loomed in the distance made ever more menacing with the grey sky.

 I was about to paddle through the cave when I noticed how fast the water was flowing through it.  It looked like a river and I wasn't sure if it would be possible to get back.  The water flowing through The Bitches looked timid enough but moving fast.
 The conditions further south toward Ynys Eilun looked rough, plenty of white water.  Rather than pass through the point of no return we opted to paddle back up to the North end of Ramsey against the flow and ferry glide back over.

 I paddled back behind the first Bitch to get a closer look, thinking again about going through the cave.

 Nice place for a role.  We must have been in a back eddy. We rafted up to exchange cameras and noticed we were moving against the flow fairly fast.

 Paddling north I noticed there was a little activity out in the sound.  Further North nearing Trwyn Ogof Hen we caught the overfall racing around the tip of the island.  Looking down at the GPS we were locked in the flow.  We aimed off toward St Johns Point and made our way through the fast flowing waters making a steady ferry-glide back to the mainland.

There was too much activity to explore the swell bound cliffs so we just made our way back in to St Justinians.

 Time for one last role for Taran and we made our way up the steep steeps back to the van.

A perfect little trip to end a great weekend in Pembrokeshire.  Considering the conditions I was pleased with the outcome, Skomer and Ramsey in one weekend, not to bad at all.  Best get back home and make a start on this new boat.