My trousers are straining as I try to finish the sea food platter and guiness at the luxury inchydoney lodge.it doesn’t sound like expedition paddling but it is today! Paddling legend jim kennedy of atlantic sea kayaking arranged for us to stay here for a night which was a fantastic surprise and treat.its a gorgeous lodge and spa right by a sandy beach which has a warm seawater swimming pool, friendly staff and gorgeous rooms.

we have paddled every day for the last nine days since we started the trip and we have covered just over 200 nautical miles. I feel surprisingly good,i have recovered from my bout of illness and seem back to full strength although my back is a bit stiffn and I have started to look forward to a bad weather day when we can rest and chill. On the other hand it would be great to get around one of the cruxes of the trip, mizen which is about 2 or 3 days paddle away. It looks like we are due stronger NW winds on weds so we might get stuck this side of the mizen.

The south coast had between varied in scenery but always interesting.there are a lot of stripey cliffs full of arches, caves and surprises.the most spectacular is the 100+ metre tunnel underneath Kinsale head.we knew it was there but it took a while to find the shaft of light in the distance that gave it away.very cool.

We have done a mixture of coast hugging and crossing from headland to headland.yesterday was pretty calm so we did more point to point paddling. It was also the day of the daddy long leg. Hundreds of them floated on the see surface, some alive, some upside down and past their best. Today a fresh nw wind encouraged us to stay in close.