Friday 27 November 2020

Nocturnal Canoeing by Moonlight

After a day spent orienteering with some students, conditions were looking too good to pass up the chance of a moonlight canoe trip. It didn't take too long to sort some kit out and head over to the lake. We had initially hoped to travel through the Menai Strait, but tides and times made that a bit more complex. As it turned out, the lake gave us everything that we were looking for.  


With flat calm water below us and a bright moon above, we set out into the inky blackness with out the need for our headtorches. The temperature was only three degrees by the time we set out, so we made sure we were well wrapped up.


Soon after setting out a faint breeze picked up. Nothing to worry about, but just enough to put the slightest ripples on the surface. We paddled into the wind, up the far side of the lake, where it was darkest.


When we decided that we'd had enough, we put the paddles in the boat, turned to face each other before silently and slowly drifting back through the centre of the lake. With the silhouettes of the peaks around us and lights of Llanberis on the far shore, we navigated back to the car, while catching up with each others news from the day. Without much in the way of sight, other senses are heightened, causing each ripple on the side of the boat or faint gust of breeze to be noticed. It was a magical night out.


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