January 2019, Diary of a magic day with old and great friends! - By Richard Janes
Diary of a magic day with old and great friends! You know you've had a good day when later, much later ...you're still 'buzzing'! Well today was just such a day. We had not seen our good friends Justine and JF (Marleau) for a long while. Forecast today was for light (SW) winds, sunny periods and a chunky tide. 'The Stacks' seemed a favourite choice when we met for a coffee first thing (ish) with Paul, Me, Geth, Steve, Lynn, Justine , JF (Marleau), and Mirco. A good sign of any group of friends meeting after a while is how quickly conversation begins and very quickly the months disappear. Today was no different. Paddling plans were made between general catch up and non stop conversation. Setting out from Porth Dafarch entailed the usual discussion of I'm too hot/cold, where's the swell... And it goes on. Light on the cliffs was wonderful and early surf rides before the entrance to Abraham's bosom a great warm up and lots of fun! Rock hopping towards South Stack was joyous. And the gap separating Ynys Lawd from the cliffs concentrated minds, as we paddled against a fast tidal stream under the bridge. ( ....Now, what was that noise? Paddles 'clarting' against rock or the heavy footsteps of the Ghost of 'Jack' Jones as he tried to climb steps after receiving a bang to his head from a rock?) A late start meant thoughts now turned towards lunch. Landings hereabouts are few and far between. Choice positions were taken up by young seals, so we paddled on to North Stack for a lunch afloat. Hmm... A 'stretch' would have been welcome! Nevertheless, Scotch egg and a final hurrah (!) for the turkey went down well. North Stack race was fast and furious. And the tail down toward South Stack had me regretting the Scotch egg, which I believe was trying to reincarnate as a chicken, feathers and all. .....BUT then, a wave appeared. A glorious, green and curling wave at the start of South Stack race. Rarely will you see a bunch of grown-ups (?) enjoying such simple pleasures. Absolutely amazing surf runs with boats hammering forward, enjoying the energy of a big tide. And the race continues to run. And we surf and surf. No escape, no eddies, paddles moving on. And eventually, as the race subsides, we start to feel a little knackered. I tried to pretend but I'm sure the look on my face would have been enough! Decisions made (thank heavens) and a quiet paddle with the setting sun and a brief dolphin sighting, took us back to Porth Dafarch. I'd seriously tried the notion of 'Dry January'. But Geth is a bad man and my will power is (um) weak. How better to end a fabulous day with friends?
