Lunching with limpets (bernique!) at the Needles

Monday 6 February, it was cold, calm and misty as we paddled from Keyhaven to the Needles.

Only a gentle swell disturbing the water.

The calm was deceptive, landing at Scratchell's was out of the question due to the swell,

but the flint lines in the cliffs were as spectacular as ever.

We shared our lunch spot between the Needles and Freshwater with the limpets.

You could see where they had been grazing the algae at HW, some seemed content to have stayed very close to home.

Whilst others had made long treks to distant lands and back. The tide meant that we had to wait until 16.00 for our trip back. It was a gloomy dusk and we headed straight from the lighthouse to the beckoning light of Hurst Castle lighthouse, making satisfyingly fast progress directly downtide, and then gliding close to winter waders as we threaded our way back to Keyhaven. We had had the water to ourselves apart from a fisherman checking his crabpots, the birds, and a passing porpoise.