Justine’s Blog

  • Day of the daddy long legs

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    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.

    kinsale head tunnelThe 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.OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

  • Ireland 5 days in

    Kayak delivery via Stena lineWow, 5 days has gone really quickly but we’ve also seen and done a lot. I was pretty weak and couldn’t hold my food in for a couple of days but long sleeps and a short day seemed to fix me up. Either that – or the fish and chips I devoured yesterday at Kilmore Quay did the trick. We’d been told it was one of the best chippies in Ireland so it would have been too rude not to partake! And it was yummy.

    The first few days were quite blustery – mostly a side wind blowing us offshore so we could stay in close out of the worst of it at times – and our skegs all worked well to keep us on track when we crossed bays, or paddled out further to make the most of a favourable tide. It certainly blew the cobwebs away.

    the trolley and karitek strap have been a godsendThe east coast of Ireland has been beautiful with long sandy beaches, a rocky headland or two and more long sandy beaches. Giant wind turbines are common sights – as are giant dogs. We’ve seen a few four legged friends that could have been mistaken for bears.

    We’re now on the South coast which so far is rockier  with a few coves and beaches here and there. It’s beautiful too. We made a welcome detour out to the Saltee islands yeterday to admire some of Irelands’ best bird colonies. Hundreds of gannets sat on white patches on rocks or soared magnificently above us, which razor bills, puffins, gullimots, cormorants and allsorts added to the general buzz and soar of birds. wonderful.

    East coastYesterday was a welcome treat. We had a message from local paddler Mick O’Meara, who has himself paddled around Ireland and across the Irish sea. He invited us to stay for the night and cooked up a mean chicken caserole with good irish spuds. we stayed up far past our bedtime sharing stories and laughing. He runs a sea kayaking business in Tramore on the South coast of Ireland called Seapaddling.com

    I am trying to upload photos to facebook every day when I get a 3G signal – it’s easier on my phone baterry and works much more succesfully than using my blog (which tends to not work). You may be able to check my facebook page by clicking here, even if you aren’t on facebook.  Roger is writing daily blogs so check out here to read those. His partner Sonja is copying my facebook photos and putting them into Roger’s blogs so that could be a one-stop place for you to go.

    Ok time to get a lift back to the water with Mick. thanks again Mick and Uma for grand hospitality.Saltee islands

  • Ireland map

    Sunday 12th May – we hope to start paddling south around Ireland from Dun Laoghaire.

    We have a map on Spot that you can see here – click here for the map.

    It might only show the last 7 days activity.

    I’ll be trying to update my blog regularly – although I’ve discovered today that uploading a photo to facebook uses a lot less of my limited phone battery power than writing a blog so I’ll probably be putting photos on facebook more often.

    Roger will be updating his blog – see http://www.coastalspirit.com

    I’ve created a SPOT adventure page – but I’m not sure I’ve done it right – but I hope to have time to improve on it. The link is here

    Thanks to Des and Sonja from Deep Blue Sea Kayaking for putting us up at the start of the trip and to Eddie and Conor for picking us up from the ferry.

    It’s exciting to be on the cusp of a new adventure. I’ll improve on the communications as I go along!

     

  • Ireland bound

    Kayaks by StenaI am writing this from the lounge on the Stena line ferry where we are comfortably sat, looking out of the window at the sea we will soon be paddling on every day. Thanks to Stena Line for sponsoring our ferry travel to and from Ireland, including carrying our kayaks on.

    I haven’t paused in the last 24 hours with last minute packing, buying, house tidying and decision making.now I am in that slight panic of wondering what I have forgotten.i am looking forward to being underway with everything I need in my kayak. This afternoon barry, roger and I will be in dun laoghaire poised ready to set off clockwise around ireland.we may start tomorrow although the forecast doesn’t look that promising. My kit bag is really heavy and I am not looking forward to having all that weight I the kayak. A lot of it is food, I got a bit carried away! It was very easy to check the kayaks in today although it was a bit strange to see them disappearing on the luggage carousel. Thanks to natural balance foods for providing us with lots of delicious and nutritious nakd and trek bars. Thanks to lyon equipment for some great julbo, ortlieb, aquapack kit sewell as an optimus nova plus stove and pan set which looks great. The multi fuel burner uses a magnet to clean the jet a which is pretty cool.

    Thanks to kokatat for my paddling kit and valley sea kayaks for the etain 17.5 which I have for the trip. The new cockpit shape is really positive.

    Ok the ferry is moving. Bring it on!
    I will be putting updates on my blog as well as on facebook and twitter. We have a spot and will send an ok message at least once a day that will appear on a map on our spot page. Roger will also be sending updates to his blog. Www.coastalspirit.com