With a bit of luck, in a month’s time, I’ll be in Ireland, taking the first paddle strokes of a 1,000 mile circumnavigation of the beautiful Emerald Isle, pushing off from Dun Leary with Barry Shaw and Roger Chandler.

Roger lives 5 minutes down the road and runs ‘Coastal Spirit‘ a sea kayak guiding and coaching business. He’s a friend who Barry and I have paddled with many times – for a few hours! I’m looking forward to seeing if he’s as easy-going, polite, thorough & hard-working after 40 or 50 days paddling in challenging conditions while being tired, hungry, wet and cold! I’m sure Roger too is wondering what it will be like to paddle with a couple who have probably developed more ‘routines’ than we realise.

That’s all said with a smile & isn’t meant to be negative in any way. Trip dynamics are just one aspect of every journey that will unfold with time – and it’s all part of the adventure.

Over all, I’m excited for the journey; the wild places, the cold salty spray,  the sore muscles, the chatter of birds, stove-cooked pasta that tastes better than a 5star meal, the on-water decisions, the rattle and flap of the tent in stormy weather, the uncertainly of where to land, frothy pints of Guinness, paddling hard to make a safe landing before nightfall;  the flush of living life to the full on my face at the end of every day.

Atlantic Swells, strong winds, fast currents & many cliff sections make this a challenging paddle & we’re starting to gather information to help us do the trip safely and enjoyably. I’ll put some more updates on this blog as we go along & we’ll be posting updates from the trip itself when we get going – hopefully a month today (or as soon afterwards as the weather allows).