Dune Jumping

Boys will be Boys!

It’s the last day of the school holiday today and the weather is gorgeous. Ynyslas doesn’t get much nicer than this.

Anna has started her new job today so I’m at home with Morgan and we’ve just got back from a wander across to the beach for some Dune Jumping.

Lazing on the beach with views like this – What better way to spend the day?

Borth and Ynyslas are supposed to be getting some new sea defences soon. In fact they should have started work on them already and the plan is to create a couple of offshore reefs at the south end of the beach and some large rock groynes on the beach. I don’t think too many people are that keen on the look of them or the impact they will have on the beach aesthetics. Some of us aren’t convinced about the effectiveness of them as coastal defences either but if they work I’ll guess we’ll get used to the look of them.

Afterall, when the existing groynes were installed it must have completely changed the look of the beach but now we couldn’t imagine Borth and Ynyslas without them.

It was a gorgeous Bank Holiday Monday here. Clear blue skies saw the temperature drop to 4ºC over night but the sun was up early and it soon warmed up. With no wind at all it was a perfect day for the beach.

My parents were still here along with my sister and her children Kia and Shaun so we had breakfast and headed across with surf boards and such like. It’s rare for us to sit on the beach in holiday-maker style as we tend to just walk across, do what we were going to do and come home again, but as there were lots of us we set up camp on the edge of the dunes and Morgan and I went for a surf.

Morgan had fun and managed to stand up well, but the sea was a little cold so he didn’t stay out long. I then went out, and had a good surf with some decent 2-3 foot sets coming in. I don’t surf that much these days as I tend to windsurf so its good to get back to my roots now and then and make sure I can still do it.

Time to hit the waves

Surf's Up

I’ve just been out for a stroll on the beach to check the surf. There wasn’t much surf but it was a gorgeous autumnal morning. Cold with a light easterly wind and clear blue skies. I couldn’t resist taking some photos of the patterns in the sand.

After the excitement of yesterday morning with the windsurf session and a trip to casualty, we decided to have a more leisurely afternoon with a family walk around the dunes.

We headed off across the fields, past the boat yard and along the estuary. Had a browse in the visitor centre then went for ice-creams at the caravan park before heading across the boardwalk to the beach and back home along the beach. I think it made everyone suitably tired and ready for dinner. The weather was gorgeous, the wind invigorating and we all had fun along the way.

I was supposed to be mountain-biking at Afan today, the place where last year we went and ended up calling the air ambulance for Jon and I spent most of the night in casualty at Moriston with him!

As my family were still here and the wind was blowing I decided to have windsurf instead of making the long drive south the Afan. It was pretty hectic out there with a 4.5m and my little JP Wave board. I was the first out on the water with the tide a little too high. The others were pretty hesitant about going out because of the conditions but once they saw me blasting around out there started rigging up.
My Dad came over to watch with the video camera so hopefully I’ll have some good footage soon. It wasn’t easy out there early on with some pretty big waves and bumpy conditions but I was having a whale of a time. Well powered up and having fun. Simon and Andy joined me after a while but struggled to get out and ended up downwind after a few rinsings each time.

Simon - Off to Casualty

Then Simon managed to smash his head somehow and came wandering up the beach a little dazed and disorientated covered in blood. A quick look and it was obvious he was going to need stitches so I sent him off to our house with my Dad whilst I secured his kit and then headed across to the house as well.

After a little first aid, some photos and the odd bit of poking and prodding by the whole family Anna took him to casualty at Bronglais whilst I went back out for a a bit more of sail and the rest of the family came over to watch.

Once back at home Anna and Simon returned from casualty where Simon had had 3 stitches and a couple of steri-strips to keep his head together. He looked a little better by now as well.

A great day on the sea and a bit of excitement too.

Blackberries

We’ve got visitors here this weekend so didn’t do much yesterday. We waited in during the morning for them to arrive. They arrived early afternoon, my Mum, Dad, sister Trudi and her children Kia and Shaun.

Morgan attached himself to Shaun straight away and we barely saw the two of them as they played in the garden or in Morgan’s room all the time. I did persuade everyone to come out blackberry picking in the afternoon though. Anna stayed at home and cooked dinner whilst we all had a little walk along the banks of the Leri picking Blackberries.

There were plenty of nice ripe blackberries on the brambles, and plenty more to come. We weren’t out long but managed to get almost 1.5 kgs of them – So look out for some nice recipes from Anna with ideas on how to use up the blackberries soon.

There were also lots of people out picking the sloes from the very productive stand of sloe trees there. Trouble is they are nowhere near ripe yet most of them are still fairly green and rock solid. I know they are going to go into Gin but it’s no wonder no-one else seems to be able to make nice tasting sloe gin – It’s so much of a rush to get the sloes before someone else does that everyone is picking them far too early. They won’t have any taste, and what a waste of gin!

I’ve always been a fairly good swimmer and enjoy swim sessions in the pool, but driving back and forth to Aberystwyth to get to the pool is a bit of a pain.

I’ve therefore ordered myself a wetsuit and cap so that I can do some open-water swim training here in Borth and Ynyslas. I’m hoping to be able to use my Garmin Forerunner whilst I swim so that I can see how far / fast I go and with water all around us there should be plenty of places to swim.

I don’t know how well it will compare with swimming in the pool when it comes to quality swim training as the external factors of wind, tides, waves and of course the cold will all affect my swims but it should be fun. When it is calm I’ll be able to swim along the beach off the seafront, but as I’d like to swim in flatter water where possible I’ll probably head to the estuary and swim there instead. There are also a few buoys in estuary that I should be able to swim between / around which will allow me to do intervals and reproducible sessions.

I might also try swimming in the River Leri as it will be nice and calm there, although the currents will add to the fun! There are plenty of lakes in the hills around here too that I’m sure I will have to swim at some point. It may not be the best time of year to start as it’s going to start getting cold, but what better way to start the day than a cold 5am swim in the sea.

It seems as though there is a quite an few people into outdoor swimming or wild swimming and plenty of websites with information on doing it and where you can swim.

Wild Swimming has lots of information. It is trying to sell you a book about Wild Swimming but the website has lots of freelay available information as well.

The Outdoor Swimming Society has a nice website with lots of information too, including maps of places to swim, events and tips.

Hopefully as well as having some fun and exploring some new places from a slightly wetter perspective than usual, it will help with my swim fitness as well. Once a week at swim fit just isn’t enough to keep my swimming as good as it should be.