Winter Sea Kayaking
One woman and a kayak!
It might be January and only 1c but I am just itching to get in that big blue ocean, to paddle off into the distant horizon and leave all the chaos behind me. The sense of freedom I feel when I get into my kayak is sublime. After only a few days on dry land, I'm looking at a map and daydreaming of the next sea kayaking adventure. This time I decide to head over to the Great Mew Stone a nature reserve just two kilometers from Wembury beach, as I paddle off I quickly steal the jelly beans from my partner, I need them more than he does. He looks at me like I'm mad and takes a photo, wondering if I'll ever come back!
With a belly full of jelly beans, I paddle off frantically with a little bit of trepidation as to what the conditions will be like on the other side of the island, even when it's flat calm it can change in an instant. It takes me twenty minutes to get out to the island, a little tidal race in the middle of the bay with a few breakers coming over my cockpit but nothing I can't handle, beaming sunshine and frosty air. Gannets, shags, and cormorants surround the Mew Stone, protecting it from intruders.
As I approach the island there is a small roundhouse which I later learn was inhabited by a man in 1744, he was sentenced for a petty crime and his punishment was to be put on the Mew Stone for seven years. It seems he fell in love with the tiny island as he never returned to the mainland, instead he raised a family out there and his daughter known as 'Black Joan' had three children and also raised them on the island.
I look for a landing spot but have a feeling I shouldn't as I'm pretty sure it's not open to the public and I don't want to disturb the wildlife, so I head around the outer side. I'm met with dancing beams of sunlight on the glassy water. It is surprisingly calm on the outer side, rocks scattered everywhere. I slowly meander through the pretty rock garden, relishing every solitary moment, just me and the sea and not another soul. On the west side of the island, there is a beautiful cave, it beckons me in, dark and mysterious. The energy is heavy and I feel the presence of Neptune with me! With a sense of accomplishment, I paddle back to the mainland; knowing there's a hot flask of tea and a warm welcome waiting for me on the beach!
