La Bamba Cruising - Pembrokeshire Coast

[Dhf]

Day 1 aboard La Bamba with Capt; Bern.
With a light Northerly breeze and following spring tide,conditions where perfect so, We head out of the Cleddau estuary with Grassholme and the Smalls lighthouse our destination for day 1,the sky was a mass of white as we approached Grassholme, with hundreds of Gannets glidding over us at one point,and from experience law of averages says, one will need to go, but luck must have been on our side.
Instead they formed a giant arrow shape in the sky, pointing toward the Smalls.

[Dhf]

The Smalls lighthouse.
the visability had reduced to 5nm out here, we could just see the Smalls as we passed the breaking reefs of Hats and Barrels, at this point the sea was alive with Manx Shearwater, Storm petrel and many other sea birds,
and the low spring tides gave spectacular view of the surounding hazards.

[Dhf]

After a good look around the Smalls we headed back toward Skomer via Grassholm, to the peaceful suroundings of South Haven, where once again the sky was alive, this time with Puffins, Guillemot,Razorbill and Kittiwake.

[Bern Hanreck]

Nice photos Paul ! Got any shots of " Homer Simpson " ?

[Dhf]

Cheers Bern, Yes I think I caught him, not the best light though.
Pen-y-holt stack, or "Homer".

[kerny]

Some nice pics there Dhf glad you had a good day out.

[Dhf]

Cheers Kerny, It was a fantastic wkend cruising, you should drag Imogen down sometime. this next section from Pen-y-holt to Elegug stacks has some interesting rock formation, With huge caves, amazing sea stacks and Arches, although generally only accessible at wkends as used by the local firing range from Mon to Fri. and they have a very big rib with guns to incourage boaters to move on. In a friendly manner though,LOL.

[Dhf]

At this point we passed huge rafts of seabirds and the 14th centry St Govans chapel, seems very popular for climbers around this area.

[Dhf]

With pics this time hopefully.

[Dhf]

St Govans head to Freshwater East
For anyone looking to explore the last section, avoiding the 20+ mile from the Cleddau, There's some nice little launch sites along this next section, Stackpole and Freshwater East.
with Broad haven south and Barafundle possible with a kayak or small sib.

[The Gurnard]

Looks a great journey Dhf..and the weather fantastic.

That last photo of the cliffs in your post after the Homer one really grabs my imagination..The rock shapes look like faces and something out The Lords of The Rings adventure

[Dhf]

Thank you Mr Gurnard, I'm really pleased you can see them as I do, the old man to the left with a tall hat looks best I think,
with his grey beard and dark eye's, If you google Elegug stacks,(Elegug; Welsh for Guilimot by the way)
you'll find hundreds of really good shots of these sea stacks,
mainly all shot from the cliffs though, and not many from the sea, This was the best journey I've ever experienced along this stretch,
I've spent hours before now, tied up behind the old St Govan lightship (the last surviving manned LV) that sat just off the coast here,
with a relief vessel for Trinity maintanance guys working onboard, but it was imposible to actually see any detail from that distance,
I did however, hug this stretch a couple of years back whilst helming my last boat, but didn't notice as much as being a passenger,
so I'm delighted I had the opportunity, and managed to capture shots that I wanted almost 25 years ago.
Best regards

[Dhf]

This section takes us past Manorbier, Lydstep head then across Caldey sound to little Caldey also known as St Margarets Isle,
There's also a RIB charter that runs from Tenby around Caldey.
IMG_3156 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3186 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3189 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3221 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

[Dhf]

Quick look round Caldey then over to Tenby.
IMG_3229 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3252 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3293 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3318 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

[Dhf]

Then on to Saundersfoot to catch the Celtic longboat race, and there we have it, the full extent of the South Pembrokeshire Coast.
What a fantastic cruise it was too.
IMG_3343 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3377 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3350 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3393 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr
IMG_3404 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

[Barrowboy]

Some cracking' pics there DHF of a part of the country I definitely intend to visit next year and I know I shouldn't say this on a RIB forum but that Bristol Pilot Cutter under full sail looks the dogs wotsits. Together with the great 'J' class yachts the cutter is one of the most beautiful sailing vessels ever designed and extremely capable too, obviously.

Thanks for sharing.

[Bern Hanreck]

Yep some great shots there Paul . As always the scenery never lets you down .

The mammals ( dolphin & porpoise ) were conspicuous by their absence , as were the fin whales which once again were spotted the week before , near The Smalls .

Perhaps we can do another before the year is out , taking in Ramsey Island & Sound , The Bishops & Clerks and all points north to Abergwaun.......

[Dhf]

Originally Posted by Barrowboy

Some cracking' pics there DHF of a part of the country I definitely intend to visit next year and I know I shouldn't say this on a RIB forum but that Bristol Pilot Cutter under full sail looks the dogs wotsits. Together with the great 'J' class yachts the cutter is one of the most beautiful sailing vessels ever designed and extremely capable too, obviously.

Thanks for sharing.

Cheers BB, Thats great to think some of my shots have attracted yours and hopfully others interest to visit the Pembrokeshire coast.
Yeah she's was a beauty cutter, there where lots of other fine craft about that day, but nothing as dodgy looking as than that little green one? in pic 1.
and that thing made it to the Scilly Isles apparently.
I forgot to throw in some sunset pics, so here's some looking over Skomer and St Brides Bay.
All the best
IMG_3488 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

IMG_3502 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

IMG_3677 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

[Dhf]

Originally Posted by Bern Hanreck

Yep some great shots there Paul . As always the scenery never lets you down .

The mammals ( dolphin & porpoise ) were conspicuous by their absence , as were the fin whales which once again were spotted the week before , near The Smalls .

Perhaps we can do another before the year is out , taking in Ramsey Island & Sound , The Bishops & Clerks and all points north to Abergwaun.......

Hey Bern, Thanks for another fantastic cruise and the great opportunity to capture these shots, It is a shame we didn't see the Fin Whales,
but it was great to get back out to the Smalls, the Gannets,Shearwater, and the waves pushing over the reefs made a spectacular sight,
not to mention the LH itself, built in 1861 to replace the previous wooden structure built 1776,
its said the wooden structure suffered some rocking during heavy storms.
It would be great to accompany on a Nrth Pembs cruise Bern, I shall look forward to that.

Here's one last shot of the Smalls, Grassholm and Skokholm all in one shot, you need to open pic full size to see the Smalls though.


IMG_3541 by still.driftingpembrokeshire, on Flickr

[Starovich]

Planning on coming back "home" in july
Probably stay at elwins farm.