Today was meant to be the day that I beat my time in the Menai Challenge, and hoped to beat the times of a couple of other people who are just ahead of me on the leader board! I was quietly confident because on my first attempt about 2 months ago, I paddled the 10.5 mile distance in about 1 hour 40 minutes in the Valley Etain. The Etain is a fast boat for a touring seakayak but it’s maximum speed can’t compete with racing boats like the Valley Rapier and the Rockpool Taran. This morning was a 9.9 metre tide – bigger than the last time I did the race. Barry lent me his Rapier. The Straits were calm. I was feeling fit. My aim was under 1 hour 35 minutes & I reckoned I could do it. So what went wrong?

Well firstly, I think I started a bit early. I was on the water at Gallows Point (by Beaumaris) just before noon, close to HW at Liverpool. My chart of tidal speeds in the Menai Straits showed that by now a strong ebb current should be whoosing me down towards the 2 bridges. I did have current with me, but not as much as I expected. I set off at 5.5 knots in the eddy, and by the time I got into the tide I was only doing 6.2 knots. Bangor Pier didn’t exactly fly by and there was no water piled up on the pillars, which there sometimes is. My speed stayed constant until just before Menai Bridge when it shot up to 7.7knots. It had taken me 28 minutes to get there, and I think it took me 25 minutes last time I did it in the Etain (although my memory isn’t what it used to be!). Not a good start and I briefly started paddling towards the slipway at Menai Bridge, with the idea to ask Barry to drive me back to the start again….. so I could do it all again with a bit more flow. But I changed my mind and zigzagged back into the main current… I was here and I should see it through.

The speed in the narrows between Menai & Britannia bridges was impressive. I whizzed along at between 8 and 11 knots, trying to decide where the fastest flow was and stay in that. The ‘long course’ on the Menai Challenge includes a lap of the 2 bridges, so I knew I had to turn around the pillar on Britannia Bridge & head back upstream until I reached Menai bridge for a 2nd time. Finally I needed to fight the current to get under the pillars at Menai Bridge before jumping back on the tide and heading to the finish line at the Anglesey Sea Zoo, another 5 or 6 miles downstream.

I was nervous of trying to maneouver the Rapier across the strong eddy lines and through the standing waves that were formed there. It was only my 2nd time in the Rapier and my first time paddling it in moving water. Many people say it’s easier to paddle a kayak with a rudder – but I would now say that that’s only true if you know how to use it!

I am used to edging my kayak to get over eddylines but now I was trying to use the rudder pedals to turn the kayak. I thought I’d lined myself up well but as I got close to Britannia Bridge pillar I realised my angle was too sharp and I was going to hit the pillar with my bow unless I put the brakes on. I did a reverse stroke and lost the speed I needed to get across the eddy line easily. I ended up  being swept 100 metres downstream of the pillar. I fought my way back upstream, looking with wide eyes at the standing waves formed on the rock just north of the pillar. In my regular seakayak, I wouldn’t have been worried but I wasn’t sure how to handle this long skinny kayak with a rudder! I needn’t have worried as the current caught my kayak and turned me towards Anglesey. I had intended to paddle back up the Straits on the mainland side but now I was going towards Anglesey, I decided to go with it. Despite struggling to fight the tide in a couple of places where it swept round corners at great speed (and swept me into the middle of the flow), I made it back up to Menai Bridge in 20 minutes, which I didn’t think was too bad considering I didn’t feel that much in control in the rough stuff.  48 minutes on the clock. I saw Barry there with a camera and smiled and shouted that I was struggling with the rudder.

Nervously, I lined myself up to try to get up through the  middle gap in the pillars at Menai Bridge. Again, I thought I was well lined up but my bow went left towards the pillar and I had to loose my speed to avoid a collision. Now at a near standstill & unsure whether to try to edge or which way to turn the rudder, I had no chance  trying to paddle upstream against a 6 knot current. It swept my bow downstream and I was suddenly facing the wrong way. I struggled to get up against the tide in all 3 channels, trying both sides of the flow and up the middle. The water level was much shallower when I did this in the Etain and it was far easier to get up the gaps ( another consequence of being too early). Today, I had to try to paddle up a 40 centimetre rise and once the current swept my bow away, I couldn’t get the kayak back on track. After a few attempts, I put the rudder up as it was confusing me but I found I was still pressing on the pedals and expecting the kayak to turn (doh!). After much cursing and lots of heavy breathing, I finally made it up the middle of the flow in the gap nearest Anglesey. I glanced at my watch – 1 hour! It had taken me 12 minutes to get past Menai Bridge!

By now, it was clear that I wasn’t going to break any records and I briefly considered stopping. But if nothing else, I don’t give up easily, so I had a word with myself, put the rudder back down and headed off downstream. I flew back down to Britannia Bridge and settled into a rhythm for the last 5 miles. I had more tide with me and was moving at 7.3 – 7.7 knots. My speed didn’t drop below 7 knots until I got to within half a mile of the sea zoo and had to come close to shore. I could see Barry waiting for me and stole another look at my GPS. I’d covered 11 miles with all my being swept off course. The final time was 1 hour 46mins and 46 seconds. That’s 6mins 28secs slower than last time…. BUT if I learn how to paddle a kayak with a rudder in moving water then I should be able to knock off some of that 12 minutes that I spent (cursing) under the pillars at Menai Bridge! So maybe next time….. I still enjoyed it, I like the Rapier and it’s good to be humbled sometimes!