Out to the Eddystone lighthouse
and back …
29th August 2015
It’d been blowing hard for a week, stopping Zoe and me finishing the
Plymouth to Mumbles trip, but the weekend was August bank holiday, spring tides
and at last a pretty decent forecast at least in the south. Unfortunately, though,
I had to be back in South Wales for Tuesday morning so couldn’t plan anything
big.
Where to go? Well I was keen on another crossing … and I’ve been
spending quite a bit of time this summer looking at the South West Sea Kayak
Guide. With the forecast a trip out to the Eddystone lighthouse together with
some south Devon coastline seemed the obvious target. The lighthouse is 20 km
out to sea south of Plymouth, so there and back it’s not dissimilar in length to
the Scilly’s crossing but the tides are relatively weak, and there isn’t too
much shipping.
Zoe was wavering between longer trips to Scotland or Ireland and
joining me … so I was contemplating another solo trip … but to my delight she
decided to brave the long slog south and we were on!
Zoe and I met and spent a happy Friday evening eating, drinking and
plotting/planning. Although I have since decided beer and charts don’t mix well
as mine now have some interesting new brown stains!
The first lighthouse on the Eddystone Rocks was lit in 1698. The
current lighthouse is the fourth incarnation and has warned shipping of the
reef since 1882. The previous lighthouse had been in place since 1759 and its stumpy
foundations are still in place on the rocks.
Given the tides would be flowing westward most of the day we decided to
paddle from Wembury to the east of Plymouth to gain maximum assistance. We set
off paddling past the Great Mewstone and stopped to call the coastguard on the
VHF. Visibility was good and we could see the lighthouse off in the distance as
soon as we set off, there was a very light wind and a gentle 1 m rolling surf,
making a big contrast to my Lundy crossing earlier in the summer.
After nearly 3 hours my GPS told me I was still a km away, and I was
convinced I must have the location wrong – it must be closer than that! But my
location was spot on, it’s just that the 49 m high lighthouse is massive! 3
hours and 3 minutes paddling and we were there. It’s an incredibly impressive
place. The tower reminded me of Tolkein’s tower at Isengard. Next to the
current lighthouse is the stump of the third (previous) lighthouse. The swell
was crashing against the rocks of the reef despite the lack of wind – there was
certainly no possibility of landing. The reef is also clearly a popular fishing
spot and there were some 5 or so small boats out trying their luck. A floating
lunch followed with us simply staring upward in awe at the lighthouse.
The breeze had dropped and the water was now oily calm despite the
swell. It was time to paddle back … and for the porpoises to start their show
which continued all afternoon. I counted nine, but it
could easily have been more. As usual we stopped every hour for a snack and a
drink. And when we did we could hear the porpoises breathing even when we
couldn’t see them. It made me wonder if there were always this many around but
they are usually just hidden and their sound is masked by the waves.
Six and a half hours for the 41.2 km trip. Although we paddled some very
nice coastline during the rest of the weekend this crossing was definitely the
highlight. The Eddystone lighthouse is a totally inspiring structure, truly awesome
… and the trip is highly recommended.
I think I’m getting a taste for these offshore trips and there’s a few
more on my paddling dream list! Fancy a trip?
Tavi Murray
Foot note - The above Blog, is about an independent journey that both Tavi and Zoe made and aims to highlight and provide a snap shot of what others are doing, who are part of the mentoring programme. Through coaching, support and encouragement from Coastal Spirit - well done girls!! Thanks, Roger
No comments:
Post a Comment