Midlifekayak

Lie in this morning after three days of 4/5 am starts. Up at 7.30, tents packed away and kayaks loaded, breakfasts eaten (porridge again) and on the water by 8.30. One aspect of this trip that has gone exceptionally well is our ability to be efficient on the shore!

We knew the wind would be up this morning but from the shelter of the bay at Abereiddy, on the Pembrokeshire coast line, it was difficult to see just by how much. So nothing ventured….

On the way out the bay we popped into the blue lagoon. A stunning old slate quarry that was flooded when it closed and the result is a beautiful blue pool, even on a grey cloudy day.

The dead calm of the pool was soon shattered as we rounded the first headland. The wind which felt like a constant F5 was compressed round the headland and delivered it as a F6 headwind. The wind was with tide but still the sea state was moderate (wind against will whip it up even more). Us kayakers prefer slight but low end of moderate is ok.

As we pushed through each headland the sea state and wind eased a little but as each headland appeared the wind strengthened and we found ourselves in the equivalent of kayaking martial arts competition. Guessing where the next wave was coming from and bracing on it to prevent capsize. The waves were also bouncing off the cliffs and back out to sea creating pyramid shape clapotis.

We had planned on a short day because of the weather – getting to Fishguard, about 14 miles. But after only a couple of miles the wind seemed to strengthen and we were making little progress.

It was almost paddling in ‘Everyman for himself’ mode and whilst we could cope with the conditions, if one or two of us had capsized, effecting a rescue would have been challenging.

Suddenly Mike called out to us to stop. Geoff was close and could hear and so also stopped, I was around 50 meters ahead and couldn’t hear the call. However I was regularly looking back to check as we all do if we find ourselves out in front. I saw they had stopped and turned back to meet them. Interestingly both had shouted and I hadn’t heard. I heard Mike’s shiny new whistle though.

So we find ourselves back in Abereiddy and a day of blog writing and eating in the Sloop Inn.

After each event like this we sit down at talk through our decisions. Should we have gone out in the first place? Well probably – we couldn’t tell how rough it was from the bay without putting our noses out into it. We are all strong enough paddlers to cope with the conditions. Should we have turned back or pushed on? Well perhaps debatable – we weren’t making much progress and whilst we seemed to be coping, we were close to our limits and if one of us had gone for a swim it would have been a challenge to affect a rescue. What’s more there are few stopping places over the next few miles. So we think we made the right call.

We have learned a lot about our team decision making these past two weeks. What is paramount is safety of the whole team, no good one person wanting to go on and the other two feeling concerned. Each of us know that we can call it a day if we feel out of our comfort zone with no recriminations from the others. We all trust each other and their skills and judgement implicitly.

In some ways it is this aspect of expedition paddling that is the most rewarding. Testing yourselves against the elements but safely and learning from your decisions and how the dynamics of the group may affect those decisions. We try to be completely open and transparent with each other and how we are feeling. We test and double check our plans and try and learn when we make mistakes. All good lessons for life back on dry land.

Anyway, hopefully back on the water tomorrow and adding to the good mileage we’ve achieved over the last couple of days. In the meantime, another slice of almond cake awaits!