Paddlers: Tony Sandry, John Christmas, Ian Hackworthy,
Barbara Browning.
The Welsh name for Bardsey is Ynys Enlli which means ‘Isle
of the Currents’ The Isle is only 3k from the Lleyn
Peninsular but the exposed nature and strong tidal streams
of this area require respect. Lleyn is the most westerley
point in North Wales and the headland has spectacular
cliffs. The crossing to Bardsey Island combines all the
exposure of an open sea crossing with fast tidal streams. ‘A
good weather forecast, accurate tidal planning are just as
essential as excellent paddling and navigation skills.’
(hmmm well we didn’t really have any of those things but we
had a nice time anyway).
We were camping on the Lleyn at Penrault Farm on the Clubs
August Holiday Event organised by Dicky. The previous couple
of days had seen our planned paddle prematurely curtailed
due to strengthening wind and roughness. The forecast for
the Bardsey day was better but we were ready to turn back if
we didn’t like the view of Bardsey Sound from Pen y Cil .
We left Aberdaron a bit later than was ideal to catch the
last hour of the ebb but it was neaps so we thought it
wouldn’t matter that much. Dicky and Lee opted for a
sheltered paddle in Aberdaron Bay and they had a a very
pleasant relaxing paddle around Ynys Gwyland –fach and Ynys
Gwylan –fawr. When we reached Pen y Cil all was calm – just
a few ruffles to indicate that we had indeed missed the ebb
and the flood had started. The view of Bardsey across the
Sound is spectacular – the north –eastern slopes steep
forbidding and inhospitable are all that are seen at first.
The first half of the crossing was calm with a gentle swell
. The tell tale swirls and boils of tidal activity began to
emerge and the 1500 metres or so towards the island were
quite rough and demanding. However, there was a strip of
calmness as we reached the Island and we rested in there as
our heart rates returned to normal. We paddled clockwise
around d Pen Cristin to a sheltered harbour which was
surprisingly large and quite busy with tourist and pleasure
craft. Landing is very easy and we took the opportunity to
go ashore and explore for a while. The Island has a few
permanent buildings as well as the ruins of the 13th century
St Marys Abbey.
The normal ‘rules’ for crossing are to go at slack water. We
didn’t really want to spend the next 5 hours on the Island
so we set off on a dibble continuing clockwise. There were
more seals than I have ever seen and some of them were huge.
One even got on my stern and gave me a helping hand. The
weather had tidied up quite nicely and although there was
still a stiff breeze it was sunny and encouragingly Tony had
his fair weather hat on. The exposed western side of the
island is rugged. Low gnarly cliffs topped with heather and
rough pasture give the feeling that this shore is regularly
battered by the prevailing south –westerly winds. We had a
great time watching the seals at play and I think they had a
great time watching us too.
We paddled out to a skerry, Carreg yr Honwy, which was the
home of supersize seals who were less used to visitors so we
paddled by. Our attention was also drawn to the massive
tidal race raging out to sea, but I decided not to think
about that as we enjoyed exploring the caves on the Island.
All too soon we emerged at Trwyn y Gorlech the northeren tip
of Bardsey. Although the flood was now in full flow we
didn’t think it looked too bad and we decided to just go for
it. That strip of calm on the Bardsey side was fairly short
and we had a couple of kilometres of steep unpredictable
waves to cross – all the time being dragged by the tide to
our left (NE) by the tide. We could see the end of the rough
water but it took a long time before we emerged close to
Trwyn Maen Gwddel. This was unplanned as we were aiming at
Trwyn Bychestyn a couple of kilometres to the South West but
it was fortuitous. Firstly there seemed to be an eddy taking
us the way we wanted to go, secondly it was calm and quite
smooth and thirdly the coastline was immense with bold rocky
headlands. The cliffs are broken up by a series of small
bays gullies and caves which we were able to explore.
The water around Carreg Ddu and Pen y Cil has impressive
overfalls in the middle hours of the tide but thankfully all
was fairly quiet when we got there as we had had enough
excitement for one day. We enjoyed the return paddle down
the East Coast of Lleyn passing the disused mining quays
wedged tightly into the tiny bays and gullies. Porth Meudwy
is a small sheltered bay nestling amongst the steep cliffs
which is a small natural harbour and departure point for
Bardsey since ancient times.
We were delighted to be welcomed back to Aberdaron Beach by
Lee and Dicky who gave us a very welcome hand with carrying
the boats up the beach.
A grand day out on a committing paddle with strong tidal
streams few landings and no escape routes. Definitely one to
do on neaps! |
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| John ready for the
Bardsey crossing |
Ian and Barbara |
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| Loadsa seals |
...and some of them
were HUGE |
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| Barbara got a helping
flipper from this one |
Barbara |
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| Dead smooth on the
far side of the island |
No pictures on the
slightly fraught crossing back over |
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| Lovely rock hopping
along the mainland coast |
Looking back to
Bardsey |
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| Barbara, John and Ian
relaxing at a very picturesque lunch stop on Bardsey |
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