We left from Donaghadee about an hour after we were forced off the water by the wind yesterday afternoon. We made use of the last of the tide, accompanied by fishing boats from Copeland Island, also heading south. Tired and lacking a big old thumper in the engine room, we were forced to search out eddy lines.
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| Blown off the water at Donaghadee |
Will Brown, a chap I met recently at the Tollymore Paddlefest had contacted me early in the day via the blog and offered both Harry and I a bed for the night. We jumped at the chance, so Will met us as we landed through small surf in the dark at Knockin Elder. Cheers Will, the pasta was great fuel for today, I'm sorry I deserted early to the kindly offered bath, but I'm sure Harry kept you more than amused. Will is going to be joining us on the water today as we head towards Dublin. Harry and I extend an open invite out to anyone else who wishes to join us over the next few days. We are hoping to complete by Sunday/Monday, although the wind seems to be doing it's best to hold us back from our goal.
p.s : I am afraid that neither Harry and I can accept any responsibility for paddlers who join us on the water, we are starting to feel the pace now and although slowed down by the wind, the Taran is quite capable of holding a five knot pace in the right conditions, so please be prepared for that. Otherwise, company would be fantastic.
Wow, these guys are doing an amazing thing.
ReplyDeleteI put a comment on the Blog yesterday morning and got a phone call from Jeff in the early afternoon. They had set off from Larne that morning and by 3pm were in Donaghadee taking a breather from the persistent head-winds. Jeff said they were hoping to get most of the way down the peninsula before calling it a day. We kept in touch and at 10pm they landed on the beach at Knockinelder. The friendly folk at Knockinelder Bay Studios let us use their secure garden to store the boats overnight and the three of us headed home for some serious carbs which took the form of pasta and Guinness!
Jeff looked like he was starting to flag, and opted for a hot bath. Harry and I kept 'carbo loading' till we heard a funny noise. Read the blog and you'll find that these guys have slept in some funny places in the last 20 days. Well the noise was coming from the bathroom - Jeff had fallen asleep in the bath. He wasn't impressed when Harry burst in and woke him, telling him it was 5am and time to head back to the beach! It's a work-hard play-hard type relationship!
In fact, we didn't hit Knockinelder beach till 6.30am and got under way by 7. I paddled with Jeff and Harry till we crossed the 'Bar' at the entrance to Strangford Lough. The customary head-wind had built to around 15 knots by this stage and looked set to continue for the rest of the day. At St Patrick's Rock I said my farewells and asked where they hoped to get to by night fall. "North Dublin would be good", came the reply.
If only I wasn't heading to Scotland tomorrow, I thought, as I happily turned and surfed back to Knockinelder.
Inspiring stuff. Thanks for letting me tag along guys - it was a privilege. Keep up the good work!!
Will