For me, Saturday started really early. Having taken a peak outside at the weather it was inspiring so I decided to get up at around 6am to then go out and take some photographs. I walked from the caravan towards the coast and took a right turn to walk in the direction of Port Eynon. At that time of day the sun is quite low but was still strong enough to enhance the area. Walking along the beach at port eynon gave the best shots this time around.
After eating breakfast we decided to set off towards Swansea. Parking at the marina we walked into the city centre to pick up some items from the market. We spent about an hour and a half in Swansea before returning to the caravan in Oxwich.
My main goal this weekend was to take photographs of 'Solar'.
http://www.goweruk.com/shipwreck/1/solar/ - Solar was a 1940's motor tanker torpedoed in the Irish Sea. I have known about Solar for some time but had not had the opportunity to photograph it before. What is left of Solar (the stern section) can only be visible at low tide so one of the best opportunities to see is in the spring when the tidal range is small (neap tides). I did some research and discovered that one of the lowest tides of the year falls on this day. Low tide would be 1.39 meters at 1.42pm and given that this was a saturday it was an opportunity not to be missed. So with not a cloud in the sky – I set off from my caravan at around 1pm and headed towards Oxwich point – walking along the cliffs. Walking around the headland through the woods on Oxwich point I was able to see Solars ribs sticking out of the water. For something so insignificant to other people it was a real joy to be able to see it in person. I spent the best part of an hour taking photographs of the wreck but wanted that elusive close-up so when I saw two people kayaking around it, I shouted over to them. It was impossible for me to tell them what I wanted from such a distance so I was quite lucky when the one kayaker came over to me. I asked her if she would take some close-ups of the wreck using one of my compact cameras and she gladly obliged. At this point the power in the compact was running out and there was a slight risk that it could get splashed with water as there no way for the kayaker to keep it safe but luckily a couple of photographs were taken and no damage was done!
At this point I was very pleased as I had taken quite a few photographs of the wreck including some close-ups. It was interesting to see it so up close.
Moving away from Solar and walking onwards to Oxwich beach – I couldn't help but notice the landslide from the cliffs. There were three colossal sized boulders and much debre from a landslide that had happened over the Christmas period. I spent a while exploring the area and taking photographs.