Definitely have to come back and see Lundy at a more relaxed pace. Absolutely stunning. Incredible birdlife and the people living and working on the Island were so friendly. We climbed the steep hill up to the campsite with 2 Ikea bags of kit each (we did have to stop on the way to catch our breath).
By the time we got there news had already had already spread that we were the kayakers that had just landed. News travels fast on the island!
Two dinners that night, homemade baked beans and then into the tavern for part 2. Great thing about being on expedition is you can eat loads!
As we climbed down the next morning, a little easier than the climb up, the massive 8.4m tide was in had changed the landscape in front of us.
There was a fairly thick fog over the Channel, visibility was around 300m or so but we could occasionally see the sun above us trying to burn it off.
We headed off on a 350 degree heading towards Stackpole Head knowing that we would be taken east by the ebb tide for most of the day and west again a bit for the last couple of hours. Well that was the plan.
Conditions were perfect as we pushed through the races at the north end of the island and into the fog. Fog can be so disorienting so we had to concentrate on the compass heading.
We both love kayaking in fog. It is somehow so peaceful. Every so often a sea bird would appear just bobbing around blissfully in of our presence.
Over the course of the next 10 hours we saw seals, guillemots, razorbills, puffins, gannets, shearwaters and dolphins. Delightful interruptions to the monotony of paddling.
The fog lifted after about 3 hours. Though we would not see land until hour 6.
We broke the journey into 1 hour chunks, stopping for a drink, snack and a pee. Food and water is so important for morale and energy on these longer paddles.
Finally we could make out our destination on the horizon but seemed to take an age to get there. Probably because it did!
We had quite a debate over the last couple of hours about which feature was actually our destination. In the last couple of miles we got a phone out and booted up our Boating app and could see that we were about a mile off where we thought we were. Not bad after 41 miles mostly in fog. Our longest open water crossing to date.
We pulled up the boats on a gloriously sunny evening into Stackpole Quay where we would bivi for the night.
The next morning would be a slower start. We have 2 days to get ourselves into position to cross the Irish Sea on Sunday. The biggest challenge on this expedition.
The next morning we met David and Charlotte over breakfast. A lovely couple on a two day break. David is hoping to complete his 100 marathon this year! Blimey now that really is a challenge.
I’m loving following your adventures. Paul wants to know if you rope yourselves together in fog, so that you don’t lose one another.
Hi Deborah glad you are enjoying the blog! No we can see each other and stay fairly close (within 50 ft or so). X
Thanks Andy – wishing you well for the next stretch. xx