On the Mayday bank holiday a group of sea kayakers met for the annual circumnavigation of Holy Island. This is a rare treat because you need a calm day with a big high tide in the middle of the day. We launched at the harbour and paddled past the castle and round Castle Point and Emmanuel Head to lunch at Cove’s Haven – the last chance to land until you get to the causeway.
Sadly the mist never lifted which meant the long slog along the North coast beside the surf and the dunes felt even longer than usual because we couldn’t see the view. You have to keep paddling alongside the dunes until you reach the channel that runs North from the refuge on the causeway where there should be a gap in the surf. Once through it, the water is very shallow and absolutely flat. On this occasion we couldn’t see the refuge until we’d paddled quite a bit closer. There we enjoyed the novelty of paddling round the road signs before the last easy stretch with the tide back to the harbour. We rounded off the day with a barbecue while waiting for the causeway to open. Photos Davy Jackson (except the group on the slipway Norman Richardson)
