South West Sea Kayaking

Those sick to the point of nausea of hearing about our splendid Isles of Scilly holiday, will be glad to know that it’s nearly over. Anyway …

No s++t, there we were, camping on the island of St Agnes with only the Western Rocks and Bishop Rock lighthouse between us and North America. It seemed rude not to venture just a little further west out into the ocean …

There was still a significant Atlantic groundswell left over from storms earlier in the week, but at low tide the Western Rocks act as a two kilometre wide breakwater. This gave us enough shelter to paddle out across open water to the ‘inside’ of the Western Rocks. They are uninhabited by humans, but far from empty.

The question now was, could we commit ourselves a couple of kilometres further out and reach Bishop Rock lighthouse? We gingerly paddled out through a gap in the reef and assessed our chances. Waves were noisily exploding over reefs in all directions, as far as the eye could see. If there was a clear passage through to Bishop Rock, we couldn’t see it.

As we both agreed to turn back, Heather breathed a very loud sigh of relief …

Back we paddled to St Agnes, having been privileged just to dip our toes and get a glimpse of the Atlantic Ocean.