Go sea kayaking around an island

“I was personally experiencing some discomfort as on Day 1 of the heatwave I had decided to paddle with just my buoyancy aid which has caused massive salt water abrasions and some pain. We all enjoyed the morning stretch round to Needles with large white cliffs looming on our left. The weather and the crisp morning but for a great atmosphere reduced only by the wave action from reflecting waves from the cliffs meeting incoming waves and making things pretty unpleasant. Dave described this shortly afterwards as one of his armchair moments where you would swap absolutely anything to swap for the comfort of an armchair. And suddenly we were there in touching distance of the Needles lighthouse located at the end of the famous jagged sawtooth rocky cliffs at the end of the island. There was a definite sense of elation as we paddled in and out of the Needles and round the lighthouse. The South side of the island had significant swell and waves close to breaking but once in the shelter on the North it was like a proverbial mill-pond. We played for a while did some pictures and then headed up the North side of the island towards Yarmouth. The change from challenging paddling conditions to a mill-pond could not have been more startling.”

“The rain began again during the night and a steady drizzle continued in the morning as I slowly packed up to depart. As I turned left out of Anchor Pass and headed northeast up Behm Canal, a small mink on the barnacled shore looked at me curiously. I saw only one boat in the early morning, and then no one after that all day. The solitude was delightful! After a lunch break on a sand bar, sitting on my kayak as there was no real beach, I continued paddling and began the ~ 3 mile crossing to Fitzgibbon Point. I saw lots of fish jumping in the water, and a few curious seals. There was a noisy flock of terns at Fitzgibbon cove that seemed disturbed by my presence, circling and crying.”