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Lee Bay is a classic, beautiful, small bay down the bottom
of a steep & narrow road, and a tiny stone slipway. Six of
us met there on Friday, Barbara & Ian, Julie & Geoff, John &
Hugh, and packed the boats with a small audience watching.
Set off at 11.00 on a glassily smooth sea and clear sky, and
headed out along the coast, with Lundy a small smudge on the
horizon. The wind picked up occasionally, but mainly very
calm. We rafted up after the first two hours for a snack
break. Started to see wildlife as we got towards Lundy, with
a lone seal (a Billy no mates) half way across, gannets,
puffins and a flock of seabirds (shearwaters or auks?) which
took off as we approached, and circled us flying very low
and close, slightly dizzying to watch. But, for a major
shipping channel, we saw just one ship, and a couple of
yachts, all a long way away, which was not what I had
expected. Lundy just seemed to sit there hour after hour,
and it didn’t seem to get any bigger until we were very
close. Julie was practicing her compass navigation, and was
keeping us on track. Due to tide races off the southern end,
and a problem the group had had last time, we were very
careful to get the approach right and avoid being swept past
the island. But with a wind picking up, and a reverse tide
eddy against us, the last 20 minutes took for ever. Usual
problem of landing, with legs which wouldn’t stand up! Total
time just under 5 hours. But then after all that, the
hardest bit of all, humping the camping kit up to the
campsite right on the top of the island.
No trendy tarps on this trip, so tents up, then a walk up to
the lighthouse (you can climb right to the top, with a
couple of deckchairs there to admire the view). Onto the
pub, where they have a Kayakers visitors book; an entry by
Barbara last year when they said ‘we will be back’. And we
were!
Lazy start the next day, and then kayaked round the
island, going anti-clockwise for the tides. The east side is
beautiful, but the west side is really spectacular, with
tall broken cliff faces, caves, tunnels, arches rock
hopping, and wildlife everywhere. Loads of Guillimots &
Razorbills on the cliffs & in the water (beware if you are
on the take-off path of one of these, low flying & not very
manoeuvrable!), and a puffin bobbing about. Seals popping up
and following us, both Grey & Common seals. Squillions of
jellyfish, different colours & some with tentacles. Some
wind and swell, so sometimes the rock-hopping turned out to
be more exciting than anticipated, with Ian, Barbara & John
going down a narrow tunnel which turned out to have an
overfall in it, and Hugh going through a gap which suddenly
dropped dramatically. At the end of the island, the tide had
turned, and it was a fast tide race to paddle against to get
back to the harbour (one section was like paddling up a fast
flowing river).
Later, we walked round the island, with the wild northern
end of open moorland, the south end more inhabited and
tamer. From the cliff tops, you hardly see any of the
wildlife, so a boat trip, kayak or otherwise, is a must.
Most of us slept the night on the beach in bivvy bags,
watching the sun go down with a nip of whiskey, then waking
up occasionally to see how high the tide was getting (got
close, but not too close, although very noisy). Early start,
on the water by 7.00 am, then delayed with Hugh’s boat
filling up with water at the launch (sorted with particular
help from Geoff). More wind this time from the north, so
waves sideways on, and wind increased occasionally, not a
problem but an inconvenience. Once again, we saw no major
shipping, just occasional fishing boats in the distance.
Julie was keeping us on track, leading on the compass
bearing. We tried stopping every hour, which was better for
moral, but not so fast overall, and by the time we got to
Mort Point, the tide race was very bumpy (everyone
concentrating very hard on staying upright, as a capsize in
this would have been real trouble). We were all looking out
for each other, with Barbara & Ian in particular helping
those who were slowing down. As we had lost some time, the
tide was against us now, so the last few miles were hard
work on the end of a long trip. We were very relieved (some
of us for more than one reason; it’s a long way without a
pit stop!) to reach the small beach at Lee Bay, and fall out
of our kayaks again. It took just under 6 hours from Lundy
to Lee Bay.
Overall, we had excellent conditions, and with Barbara’s
planning, it went very well. It was a really exciting,
challenging & old fashioned ADVENTURE!
Hugh
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| Getting ready at Lee
Bay |
Calm waters on the
crossing |
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| Geoff |
Julie with dolphins |
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| John having trouble
landing |
The boat store |
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| Climbing the Old
Lighthouse |
A surprised seal |
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| John paddling around
the Island |
The North of the
Island |
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| Ian eyeing an
opportunity |
Julie |
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| Julie waiting her
turn for a bit of rockhopping |
Hugh |
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| The view to the south |
Getting ready to
launch on the way back |
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| Pretty morning |
Rafted for a snack
stop |
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| Back to the pub at
Lee Bay for beer and medals! |
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