The light at the end of the cave

Usually this time of the year is good to go whale watching but I have not been lucky with the wild life sighting this winter. No dolphins and only two whales in the whole season.
With the sea so flat, the wind nonexistent and my bad luck with the sea creatures I decided instead to stay close to the coast and loose some more plastic from my boat :-)  I put in from 'my beach' and went to play with some rock formations that you can never get intimate with if you want to keep your boat in one piece.

Small waves that let me play

The rest of the sea was dead flat

Surfing the small waves and maneuverings among the rocks is fun!!!

After playing for a while in the rock garden I paddled a few kilometres to visit the local sea cave. With normal seas you can't stay close to its entrance as some waves break there. In calm conditions you can get into its first half, until it bends and narrows down. However this day the sea was not even calm, it was flat. So in I went, and kept going to the end of it.

In reality the entrance to the cave is bigger than my helmet

It becomes narrow but you can see the light at the end of the tunnel

When the tide is low you can't get to the end as there are rocks. When the tide is high you may hit your head against the roof. But when tide is right you end up in a nice small pool.

Only accessible with the right tide.

I was enjoying myself in the pool marvelling at the water falling from a couple of streams, the echoes coming from inside the cave, some birds' nests on the cliffs... And then it came. A wave not as small as the others found its way through the tunnel and grew in size as it got compressed between the walls of the cave. It got to me and the tranquillity became a rush to avoid the walls and to stay upright. Nothing happened but it made me remember that I was in a tight spot where I could not completely relax. After few more minutes absorbing the uncommon environment I found my way out.

The calm was broken



While I was editing the video I realised the many different kind of strokes that you need to blend to manoeuvre in a small space and go or stay where you want and not where currents want to take you. A fun afternoon despite the calm conditions.
Below you can see the quiet visit to the cave and the rude interruption by the wave at 1.18.