South Devon Coastline by SUP
Sometimes things just go right. The 16th July 2013 was such a day.
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| Paul checking out the seabed off South Devon. |
Take two inflatable paddle boards, a lot of air,
a flat calm day, incredible visibility, two lucky friends with the afternoon
off and some sun block and you have what might be the perfect day for some coastal exploring.
Wonwell Beach in South Devon was our launch spot, some describe this as a hidden gem, I had to disagree, careful of where I put my feet and what I might step in as I walked to the water. Once afloat no such worries.
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| Paul on my 'small board' |
It was high tide when we set out and Paul and I headed down the River Yealm estuary towards the sea and turned right with no idea of just how good a day this was going to be.
It started off as ‘nice’, it was sunny and
we weren’t in work. For once no need for wetsuits, rash vest and shorts and a
pack with food and drink for the afternoon.
The sea was a brilliant green colour under
our boards, due to the masses of sea lettuce, a tissue like seaweed that can be
found in the estuary but as we cleared the estuary mouth the water started to
clear and the view under our feet opened up.
With no swell conditions were just right
for some exploring in and out of the rock formations that form this part of the
south Devon coastline, some dead ends requiring some thought to turn a 12’6”
board around in but plenty that opened up to anther as yet un-paddled bay.
Even without polarizing glasses the sea bed could be seen 30 or more feet below us. Vertiginous at times as it would suddenly drop away to blackness, underwater cliffs that we were flying over.
The further we went the better the view
above and below the waterline got with more and more wildlife around us.
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| Break for some food. |
Below us forests of weed, too many species to identify all of varying heights and colours. I was convinced some were in flower. We could clearly see spider crabs foraging until our shadow passed over then, then they slowly made for cover, hiding in the weed. Star fish,
shoals of fish of all sizes and occasionally a solitary Wrasse hiding in the
weed, waiting for us to pass before continuing its business.
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| Paul exploring another bay. |
Above and around us
all manner of gulls, Oyster catchers scolding us for passing too close for their
comfort and cormorants, always diving away as we approach.
All too soon it's time to turn around and head back, the tide has been falling since we started so the return is different, what was passable is now tricky, what was tricky is now a dead end
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| No way through |
and what was shallow is now dry. The exception being Paul who takes a dunking after catching his fins on a very shallow ridge of rock while navigating another gully.
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| Splash |
Eventually, and all too soon we're back near the mouth of the estuary, a brilliant afternoon in a fantastic place.
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| Returning to the Yealm |
