Fun in the sun
I can’t believe this weather. Yet another beautiful sunny day yesterday. In a way we had hoped for some wind as it was the Boardwise Windsurf Demo weekend in Aberdyfi, but as there wasn’t a breath we decided against driving all the way around just to look at some expensive boards that we can’t afford. If there was wind and we could have used and abused them free of charge then that would have been a different matter!
Instead we decided to save some fuel and head across to Aberdyfi in the canoe instead. Steve was here so I let him borrow my racing ski. After a little bit of attention with some duct tape it was ready to go and I warned him that it was a little unstable, but super effiecient.
I was taking Morgan with me so had the much less effiecient but more comfortable inflatable canoe (that we bought from Lidl a few years ago).
We drove to the estuary at Ynyslas, pumped up the canoe and were ready to go. Morgan had his little wetsuit and float coat on. I put my wetsuit on just in case I had to go in after Morgan and Steve put his on because he was very likely to fall off the racing ski! As we were about to enter the water the warden came running up to us to make sure we knew what we were doing. She was very polite about it though and not at all condescending, so we reassured her and before long we were on our way across the waters of the estuary. It soon got pretty hot paddling though. Steve was OK as he kept falling in, Morgan was OK as he was just sat there enjoying the view, but I was paddling away against the current in the blazing sun!
Steve did OK, I expected him to fall off quite a bit and he did, but we all soon made it across the estuary. It was pretty busy all the way acorss really. Jet ski’s and waterskiers on the Ynyslas side, groups of Outward bound canoeists and then lots of boats on the Aberdyfi side. Despite the lack of wind the Windsurf slalom races were still being held, although it didn’t look too exciting without any wind.
Once on the beach at Aberdyfi we had a look at a few of the boards and could see people out playing on the Stand Up Paddle boards (SUPs) at Graveyards. I did want to see if they had any of lats years ex-Demo SUPs for sale as I’m thinking of selling my kitesurf boards and buying one, but there wasn’t really anyone around to talk to and Morgan was a little bored of the boards and just wanted to play in the sea. We did see a tiny little 1m windsurf rig though that was just the right size for him. This has made me want to get a SUP even more now as they have fitting for deck plate so he could use on along with a tiny rig to learn to windsurf.
We then got back into the boats and headed for the shade of the jetty where we got the crab fishing line out and went crab fishing for a while.It didn’t take too long to catch a crab before we headed back across the estuary to Ynyslas where we found Anna waiting on the sands with a much needed picnic.
We played on the beach for a while before heading home. I didn’t envy Steve having to drive all the way to Birmingham though!
If the weather continues like this, we’re going to have a gorgeous summer and I can see plenty more days playing around on the water. Morgan seemed to have fun, and he still doesn’t realise how lucky he is to have all of this on his doorstep.
Anna with the picnic
Collecting water!
Playing on the beach
Busy day in the estuary
More fun in the sun
Our latest ‘toy’ is an inflatable canoe that we bought from the unlikely source of Lidl in Aberystwyth.
Inflatable Canoe
It is a two man inflatable canoe, although we can get the three of us in it fairly comfortably and it comes complete with seats and various storage compartments. The inner is your normal plastic rubber dinghy style material then it is all covered in a (hopefully) hard-wearing PVC fabric. It doesn;t take too long to inflate. There are two main side chambers, a hull chamber and two little chambers that act as cushions for you to sit on. The seats then buckle in using webbing straps and you are ready to go.
We’ve wanted a canoe for a while now, but a big open Canadian Canoe was just a little to difficult to transport, store and carry to the beach. We’ve looked at solid plastic sit on tops and such like too but again storage and transport was a problem. The inflatable option seemed the best way to go as it all packs up into an easy to carry bag and will hopefully mean we can take it to the beach or elsewhere with ease and will therefore actually use it more.
I’ve been out for a test run in it. I pumped it up and carried it across to the beach which was probably a mistake as it then catches the wind and makes carryin it a little difficult. next time I think I’ll pump it up on the beach. I then headed out to sea from Ynyslas and out to the Aberdovey Bar. From here I weaved my way through the sandbanks and acros to Aberdovey where I stopped for a little picnic. I then paddled along the coast to Graveyards, out to the Aberdovey Buoy and back across to Ynyslas where I played around in the small surf for bit. All seemed to go well. It was fairly slow going into the wind but the boat was super stable and fairly easy to paddle. It will however be best suited to calm days or protected rivers, lakes and estuaries.
Now I can’t wait to go out for a family outing in it. Who knows we may go on camping trips up the Dovey before long.
