Around Ireland 2011

Norway Expedition - Reindeers in Paddler's Heaven

2011-06-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

You can catch up with all the news about Jeff's current trip in Norway by following him at http://expeditionpaddler.blogspot.com/

Small boats and big seas

2011-06-08T07:33:00.000-07:00

I went for my first paddle since returning from Ireland a couple of days ago, I was trying to hook up with my daughter who was leading a group out on the Roseland Peninsular, but I had not been paddling for more than an hour when my hands started to play up. The blisters left over from what ever affliction occurred on the trip had started to react to the salt water and were stinging, this was a bit uncomfortable, but worse than this, the pain in the bones of my fingers, which I assume to be bruising, was really quite aggravating. This ailment, along with several other aches and pains, must all have been masked by the constant application of pain killers through out the last three days of our paddling. I have to say this is all a little bit disconcerting when my departure date for Norway is only a week or so away!

Anyway on to another, far more interesting subject, I have just got off the phone with Patrick Winterton-Patrick has another project in the offing, an open crossing by sea kayak, from Shetland across to Norway, hoping to leave with Mick Berwick and Ollie Hicks, in or around the 18th July, good luck guy's I wish you luck. For more on Patrick http://www.patrickwinterton.com/

Staying with Patrick at the moment is Chris Duff.

I first met Chis in Anglesey about ten years ago, when he was doing a presentation on an expedition around New Zealand's South Island, an inspirational talker, his words set my feet on fire and prompted me to go to Japan to conduct a journey of my own.

Chris Duff is probably America's most experienced expedition sea kayaker with circumnavigations not only of NZ to his credit, he has also paddled around Great Britain, Ireland and Iceland as well as an 8,000 mile solo sea kayak trip around the eastern third of the US and Canada which kicked his whole expedition lifestyle into play in the first place.

Chris is now about to embark on another adventure, still in a small boat and still crossing through big seas but this time he will be rowing, his journey will take him from John O'Groat's in Scotland, across to the Orkney Islands, then on to the Shetland's, the Faroes and finally a 250mile crossing to Iceland.

This will be a fantastic adventure to follow guy's and you can do so by looking at his website: http://www.olypen.com/cduff/Frames.html and then following his blog from there.

Anyway I shall be heading back over to Norway soon folks and hope to be able to keep you updated as I go

cheers for now

Jeff

Moving On

2011-05-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting few months since Harry, Chris and I began to plan our 'Around Ireland' expedition, sadly Chris didn't make it due to personal reasons - maybe next time mate. We had a great time training and planning the journey and what a journey it was - both inside and out. It's amazing how far we travel on journeys such as these and the things we learn along the way - I always feel it's a privilege to share time with a friend on such a journey, there's no hiding yourself and you see both the best and the worst of the man or women you travel with, both a privilege.

My wife said to me the other day that I was hard to live with after returning home, more than usual, she said it was to do with the wind? 'What the early morning wind, whilst sitting on the loo?' I asked. Not amused, she replied

'... I meant the wind in Ireland, all that energy that you absorbed is still with you - your body won't rest until it has passed through you'.

She's right; I've found it harder to settle this time than ever before. So with the Irish wind still soaring through my veins, I'm thinking of heading back up to northern Norway in a couple of weeks to try and get around Nordkap and finish off the Northern part of Norway, so I can crack into the overland section next spring, with Nick Arding.

All of my usual paddling partners are otherwise engaged so I guess it will be a solo journey this time. From now on, I shall be updating the Expedition Paddler blog and archiving the 'Around Ireland' blog. So you will be able to read about our preparations for 'Around Britain' from there and about Harry's antics up on the Thames. You'll also be able to read about Vaughan’s trials and tribulations in making the DVD 'Into the Wind' as well as other such adventures that team Expedition Paddler will be getting up to.

Our next post will be at http://expeditionpaddler.blogspot.com/ where we shall hopefully share a journey or two with you once more.

Jeff

'Into the Wind' DVD trailer

2011-05-25T07:38:00.000-07:00

Hey there folks, Vaughan Roberts from Romany Productions has just sent me a short trailer for the DVD he is producing on the 'Around Ireland 2011' expedition. The DVD will be titled 'Into the Wind' and you can view the trailer by clicking on the image above.

The DVD will not only be about the expedition but will also provide an insight into Vaughan's own journey around the Emerald Isle.

At the moment, the Romany Productions' web designer is creating an order page for the web site, but if anyone feels as excited about this project as we are and is enticed into watching more then you can place an order direct by emailing Vaughan at: romanyproductions@gmail.com

In team Expedition Paddler's endeavour to support the Ovarian Cancer Action charity, Vaughan has agreed that £1.00 from every DVD sale will go direct to the OCA charity.

The DVD will be going on sale at £19.99

Fuelled up

2011-05-24T02:28:00.000-07:00

During the 'Around Ireland 2011' expedition, fuel was paramount. On a small paddling day we were burning just over 3000 calories and on a long one in excess of 9000. How were we going to be able to keep on going when we were trimmed so close to the bone - in fact we both lost about 2 stone in weight over the 25 day period.

Off the water we were using a combination of 'Look what we found' meals and pasta, where possible supplemented by a pint or two of the black stuff - in the morning it was porridge. Harry and I also had regular intakes of a hydration supplement.

On the water however, our diet consisted of practically just one item - we were eating 'Mule Bars'. These were devoured with relish, half a bar each, every hour and you could feel the energy value kicking in as it was chomped down. When I became hypothermic it was energy shots and mule bars which kept the inner fire fuelled and helped us land.

It was last year that Jim Frampton, my paddling partner in Scandinavia discovered these energy bars as a fuel source and it was in the cold Arctic North that these little nuggets of nutrition were tested; and as soon as we started to plan for Around Ireland, I approached Mike at Mule Bars like Oliver - bowl in hand.

Mule bars are the perfect pit stop either of us had experienced, in fact back in Ireland on one of the odd days where we came ashore to rest for a while, Harry and I popped into a local store and purchased several Mars Bars and Snickers to add change to our dietary routine and found that the fuel efficiency, or lack of, was instantly noticeable.

I have now decided to carry two Mule Bars in my PFD along with one energy shot to serve as emergency fuel for that time when either I, or one of my paddling mates runs out of fuel and struggles to get home.

Gear reviews - Epic and Lendal Paddles

2011-05-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

The Epic mid wing

Several years ago I started to mix and match my paddles on an expedition, different paddles = different paddling styles/techniques = different muscle groups; so being able to vary paddling styles also facilitated rest for various muscle groups.

When I started the Scandinavia expedition I took a pair of wings, the tried and well tested Lendal kinetic touring and a Greenland stick.

I have to say that I was most impressed by the wing blade, especially in calm to moderate waters, whenever it got really rough or technical I would invariably swap back to my Lendal.

The wing blade has such a positive catch that after using a wing and then changing back to any other blade type the flutter on the blade becomes more than noticeable, in fact controlling the blade through the water after using a wing really becomes a bit of a chore.

So when Harry and I got together and started preparing for Around Ireland we decided that a wing blade would become our main source of propulsion. We tried various wing paddles out but one design which stood out head and shoulders above all others was the Epic mid wing, a really high quality product which is exceptionally light, has a very positive catch and an ultra smooth action through the water, this paddle soon became both Harry and my own, favorite paddle.

There were only two days on the entire journey when we both changed over to our spare paddles and then it was comfortable to know that our Lendals were there, both Harry and I have paddled thousands of miles with a Lendal blade and we know its characteristics intimately. On both of these days we faced winds which were gusting in excess of 40-45 knots and we both felt that for the dynamic changes in blade angle which would be needed beneath the water, an asymmetric blade would work best.

This combination worked very well for us and I have no doubt the partnership between asymmetric and wing shall continue to be a feature for future expeditions.

A part of our own personal action plan for the 'Around Britain and Ireland' expedition will be to improve upon our forward paddling stroke, Harry maintains that I have the most agricultural style of paddling he's ever seen and looking at some of the video footage I am afraid I have to agree, so if there is anyone out there who happens to be heading down towards the south west, who fancies giving me a few top tips, please do get in touch, you'll find me all ears.....

Jeff & Harry

Home time blues

2011-05-22T02:53:00.000-07:00

We have been home several days now and it's great! Well sort of great - lovely to see family and friends, familiar places, but some things are missing. Numb fingers and toes have turned to pins and needles and as the adrenaline in our tissues has diminished, the pain is surfacing - reminding Harry and I where we were just a few short days ago. Our Taran's have returned home to North Wales and not having one nearby feels strange; not that we could paddle them, doctors orders - rest and keep the hands dry until our blisters heal. The aftermath of an expedition which was so all consuming, is trying to nestle back down into normality again, the truth is I think Harry and I both wish we were still out there paddling.

I suppose the only thing we can do is to plan another expedition, I have to return to Norway and try and get my self around Nordkap, so I have that to look forward to but Harry and I are just starting to enter into the planning stages of an 'Around Britain & Ireland' for 2013. We have an idea that we may be able to combine both land masses and still possibly better the record which stands at 80 days for around Britain, but we are not sure what the record for both is - does anyone have any ideas?.

In the mean time I had better start working on my forward paddling stroke, meanwhile Harry leaves sunny Cornwall today and heads home to London; tomorrow he will be paddling on the Thames once more, dreaming of distant shores.

Espie - Harry's girfriend pulling Harry out the pub...again

Gear reviews-The Rockpool Taran

2011-05-20T05:14:00.000-07:00

Gear reviews for Around Ireland Expedition 2011

The Rockpool Taran

As mentioned in a previous post, we said that over the next few days we would get our selves squared away and then, whilst Vaughan gets to work on the trailer for the ‘Around Ireland DVD’ Harry and I would look at the gear we chose for the expedition and the reasons behind those choices

First of all, before we look to the gear, let’s look at what the original aim of ‘Around Ireland 2011’.

Aim: Our aim was quite simple, to break a record which had been established some 21 years ago, back in 1990 by Dermot Blount, Brian Fanning, Karl Heery and Mick O'Meara, the record was 33 days.

For both Harry and I, sea kayaking has for the most part been about the journey, exploring new coastlines, cultures and experiencing the richness and excitement of being within a dynamic coastal environment. But over the past few years we have started to find that inside of us, we had a desire to see how far we could push ourselves, physically, mentally and emotionally, in hind sight this was still very much a journey, in many ways a journey that was every bit as rich and rewarding as previous journeys, only this time it was a journey within.

So when Harry suggested we team up in a speed attempt around the Emerald Isle, it hit a chord deep inside, one which was to become every bit as absorbing, if not more so, than any other journey we had done before……the only condition was that we declared up front and let people know what we were planning and allowed ourselves no ‘easy way out’ if we chose along the way, not to go for it.

The Rockpool Taran:

To facilitate a successful conclusion to this speed record attempt we needed a fast boat, the boat that was making all the noise at the time, as well as establishing a whole series of new records was the ‘Rockpool Taran’. Designed and paddled extensively by John Willacey and built by Mike Webb of Rockpool. the Taran has an aggressive and distinctive look about her, very similar in many ways to a white water racer, the difference with the Taran is that she is very much a sea kayak and it turned out, an exceptionally good sea kayak. Another of it’s design differences is that the bottom of the hull is almost perfectly flat, this was really quite radical. Round sectioned hulls are considered to be the fastest shapes through the water, so why was the Taran so fast? I think Harry may have hit upon the answer. Harry, prior to sea paddling, had a lot of experience in sailing and he figured that the flat section hull created a lot of surface tension, which helps to hold the boat down in the water, this means that the water line length remains constantly down in the water which is ideal for into the wind and off the wind paddling, yet when running downwind the flat section also allows the kayak to plane, and boy does it plane. There were going to be other characteristics which would not necessarily lend themselves to being an effective ‘rough water expedition kayak’, for instance to plumb bow, not ideal when landing on a steeply shelving beach, or the fact that the kayak comes with a rudder, what if the rudder goes wrong?

Wild water kayaks have plumb bows and they are forever bouncing off rocks and many modern sea kayak designs also have plumb bows, this effectively means that the overall length remains in action and this equates to speed, speed is a major factor when considering sea worthiness/safety. Especially when having to gain rapid exit off the water or operating in tight weather windows.

The rudder:

Should I use a rudder or a skeg? This has been an endless debate, we chose to use a ruddered kayak because it facilitates speed. Every stroke is a forward stroke and when running down wind the micro adjustments available enable you to link swells repeatedly. The rudder is basically an adjustable skeg and suffers no greater threat of damage than a skeg, both can jam or break and when they do, it affects the handling of the kayak. The important aspect for both Harry and I was that we familiarized ourselves with the handling characteristics of the Taran when the rudder was not in use. We did this and we also carried spares just in case.

Speed:

We seldom got to use the Taran downwind, it’s optimum speed direction, but we found that the kayak would happily maintain a 4.5 knot average in all directions, even in a cross wind/slightly up wind direction, into the wind, as with all sea kayaks the speed would drop in relationship to the strength of the wind.

Comfort:

The comfort rating of the kayak, in all conditions was excellent, we spent upwards of 20 hours per day in this kayak, often in advanced conditions and it felt more comfortable than any other kayak we have paddled before.

Build quality:

The kayaks came to us in a high quality state of build and after several months of heavy use, showed little weakness in the construction methods used.

Mike asked for feedback on the way in which the design can be enhanced for expedition use and our only feed back was for the addition of a bow/stern toggle. A slightly larger fore hatch, a recessed day hatch, a couple more recessed deck fittings on the foredeck, also possibly the addition of a recessed compass housing.

All in all, both Harry and I felt that the new Rockpool Taran, is probably the most exciting thing to happen to sea kayak design in the last 10-15 years and we have already signed up for a new kayak.

Laying down the Gauntlet

2011-05-17T23:50:00.000-07:00

Mick handing over record 'trophy'

We were just in the process of checking out of the Cliff House when the receptionist said there was a call for us. It was Mick O'Meara, calling us up to offer his congratulations and to invite us over to his home in Tramore for a celebratory beer or three.

Mick was part of the four man team who set the record some 20 years ago. Mick is a big friendly bear of a man with a touch of craziness - we all hit it off the moment we met, I could see that Harry and Mick were probably chopped from the same block. Mick treated us to a fish and chip supper then took us home to meet his wife and three young children, the latest addition to his family was four week old Dermot, who according to Mick was already being groomed to paddle around Ireland in under 20 days.

We unloaded one of the Tarans for the guys to look over and Mick instantly fell for the lines of the Taran. Mick holds numerous records for paddling, the Liffey Descent, the Irish Sea crossing from Rosslare to Pembroke as well as having won the DW race four times. The guys all started to arrive and we wondered into town for a beer - more and more people wandered in and settled round the table; the Guinness flowed almost as fast as the Liffey River.

On the way around Ireland, Harry and I had discussed together the speed of paddling the coast and figured it could be done in sub 20 days if the weather is good - this became a topic of conversation around the table, when suddenly out of Harry's corner came a roar 'well come on boys, do it!' - out of the eleven paddlers sat around the table - ten had successfully circumnavigated the country. The gauntlet was laid and twenty two eyes were glued to it, everyone roared into laughter and the Guinness started to flow once more...

Laying down the Gauntlet..

Penguins on Bicycles

2011-05-17T05:40:00.000-07:00

Well here we are sitting in the Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore, feeling rested and semi recovered from our race around Ireland. We apologise for the lack of information from the last three or four days; only because we had some massive obstacles to endure.

The weather Gods did not smile on us for this expedition, but because of this it does seem to make the achievement of having completed our,aim so much more satisfying.

Harry and I were sat in Kilkeel just north of the border with the Republic when it occurred to us that we may not make it back to Ardmore in time for our families who were arriving to welcome us home, always a gamble when the wind is around.

I said to Harry,

'We just need to do the maths mate and then see if we can dig deep enough to pull it off'

To which he replied,

'Well its about 340km from Kilkeel back to Ardmore and our families arrive on Sunday, to meet us at the finishing post'.

We set out from Kilkeel knowing we had to put in maximum effort; this was hard to envisage as the whole trip so far had been about pushing ourselves hard so how could we dig deeper at this point?

When we arrived in Bray, Harry had to help me out of my kayak and into my bag - because of low blood sugar levels and hypothermia. as we crossed Dublin Bay. We thought this leg into Bray was going to be our longest day at around 120km, but this was soon to be topped. We had 230 km left to do.

Over the next 54 hours and 15 minutes of paddling we had only four very short breaks. Once when we met with Vaughan to pick up our dry suits and get some Red Bull drinks to help keep us awake - which proved to be a valuable investment. In Rosslare we had too much tide against us to be able to paddle through the channel so we pulled our kayaks onto the granite blocks and waited, 45 minutes later a steward was telling us to get lost as we shouldn't be there and there was a ship coming in. We made it through the channel and entered the south coast.

We stopped at Kilmore Quay, we were so drained by the wind and tide, that a coffee and cake beckoned us. Our final short stop was on the beach at Ballyteige Bay, northeast of Keeragh Islands where we slept in turns for the next 60 minutes in case we didn't wake up. We now had 82 km left to go. We were both feeling more exhausted than we had ever felt before and felt we had to look at a contingency plan, we started to discuss options. Looking over Harry's shoulder I saw the white caps on the water start to diminish, the wind was dropping and the tide was turning and running south west of the Keeragh Islands,

'Harry, we're going home' I said.

Things for once looked in our favour, so we launched and before long were off Hook Head. We paddled into the night and we started to move in towards the shore, we hit strong tidal flow beneath the cliffs to the East of Ballyvoyle Head and it was here we also started to encounter serious problems mentally.

Harry paddled over to me and said he couldn't focus anymore, he had a Penguin on a bicycle bothering him, I told him not to worry stay close beside me but don't interrupt me, I was trying to negotiate surfing my sea kayak through a bus shelter of old folks and kids, not quite understanding why my bow was able part the tarmac - we were both seriously hallucinating!

Looking back it was funny; in reality it was probably our most dangerous time of the whole journey; because nothing now was for real - including the football fields to our left, where I said to Harry we could land if the Penguin didn'nt leave him alone.

At first light the hallucinations diminished as the sun rose, but the coastguard appeared because no one had heard anything from us and we were 7 hours over our eta so Vaughan had triggered a search in case we were in trouble. Harry convinced the coastguard we were fine and we continued on towards Ardmore Head. Neither Harry nor I had any idea how long we had been in the boats for and everything seemed very surreal; the slog now to Ardmore seemed to take for ever. More hallucinations returned in the last few miles but as we hit the last stretch, these were pierced by the sudden intervention of bag pipes playing and people cheering. We suddenly realised we were home.

We have had an amazing journey and we will be continuing on with this blog for several days for those that are interested. We will be doing short reviews about the equipment we chose to use and Vaughan, who as you know will be making a DVD of the whole adventure, he will get a small trailer, to wet your appetites, together over the next few days.

Finally we have some huge thankyous to make....

Firstly to our sponsors, all who donated to Ovarian Cancer Action and to all the people we met, who assisted us in some way on the journey - Thank you.

Secondly to our families, Kathryn, Sally (my Mum), Betty (Harry's Mum) and Harold - especially Harold, for being a chauffeur for the ladies and standing vigil during the night, endlessly searching for our arrival; and Betty for keeping order and everyone smiling through the many hours of waiting.

They do say when you really respect a person, you might want to thank their parents. I am not sure what you did with Harry in his formative years, but you bred into him a quality I have seen in few men - he was the perfect paddling partner, a good friend and is made of strong stuff. Thank you.

Thirdly to Vaughan - you've followed us around the Emerald Isle, a 1000 mile adventure of your own no doubt, cheers for doing what you did for us over the last few days to make things happen and for supporting our families when they arrived in Ardmore. It started as an unsupported trip, but this changed on the day we arrived in Bally when you had to help Harry get me into my sleeping bag and then through to the end, good to have you around mate. Thank you

Fourthly to my wife, Lizzie, you helped us out from day one, obtaining sponsorship, food etc, supported and developed my training programme and also updated the blog daily from short indecipherable emails sent from my I phone in the wee hours you managed to update and keep people informed, Thank you, I love you very much and yes I will get my beard trimmed before I get home. Thank you.

Finally Adrian, from the Cliff House Hotel, you are a star - with no prompting at all, you made us welcome, even though we were complete strangers, you didn't know if we would succeed or not, but you dangled a very strong carrot our way in offering to host us at the end.
On the final few days you openly welcomed in our families in and treated them like royalty, a really big thank you to both you and your amazing staff.

I am sure I will have forgotten someone, please excuse me if that is the case, I will remember and make amends.......we are now off to meet Mick O'Meara and Dermot Blount for a few pints.

Jeff and Harry

P.S. I did forget, a very big thank you to Karel our weather man. Karel has been supporting sea kayak expeditions world wide for several years now, so we were very happy when he agreed to support us. You were rarely the bearer of good news Karel and we are sorry you couldn't get through to us the last day or two. Your information regarding that small weather window when we were on the South coast of Donegal Bay allowed us to move, if we hadn't our time would most certainly have been in excess of 25 days. Thank you.

DAY 25 : The boys did It!!

2011-05-16T11:38:00.000-07:00

They arrived in Ardmore at 4.15pm to a big crowd and the sound of bagpipes playing. They are both very thin, knackered, covered in blisters and sores like you wouldn't believe - but both delighted. It was pretty emotional, especially with the pipes playing on their arrival - incredible.

When Jeff and Harry arise from their well earned 5 star beds at The Cliff House Hotel, they will post a blog.

p.s. A message for John Willacy - Jeff say hi and will call you later

DAY 25: The last night is always the longest.....

2011-05-16T01:27:00.000-07:00

Confirmed sighting of the boys (not in pub). All is well. Four hours to destination. Pretty sure this time.....

DAY 25: Thin Air

2011-05-15T21:43:00.000-07:00

Last news from the boys was at 8pm last night, we got a call from Jeff, saying that they had made it around hook head and they were on route to make it home in 5 hours-ish. We have heard nothing since. We will update you as soon as we have any news. Waiting. Waiting.

Day 24 continues...

2011-05-15T08:05:00.000-07:00

Hi guys, all we can say is sorry for anyone who turns up tonight at the Cliff House Hotel. We never made it. The moral of this story is 'never count your chickens, before they've hatched!'

We have however just completed our longest day. It’s been a hard 29 hours of paddling, leaving from Bray at 10 am yesterday, we have battled our way towards Ardmore, violent squalls, foul tide and now today, strong headwinds have hampered our progress back to our finish point. We have just landed through dumping surf on the beach
Opposite Keeragh Islands, it's 1540 pm and we are 15 kilometres short of Hook Head, not sure what the distance is so I shall let the guys who sponsored our longest day measure it out,. I asked Harry to land further up the beach than me Des, so yes, he did go a little further than I did. We hope to make Ardmore tomorrow, but the weather isn't looking good:( going to sleep now as we are shattered
Jeff and Harry

So near, but yet so far!

2011-05-15T05:04:00.000-07:00

The winds, true to form for their trip, show no sign of helping the boys on their last leg.

Just spoke to Jeff and Harry - they are pretty tired, worn out, but continue to maintain high spirits. They are expecting to arrive at midnight/one in the morning after almost 36 hours and 250km on the water.

With the utmost respect to you both.

Once again thank you to Andrian at the Cliff House Hotel, luxury for the lads arrival will be most welcome.

Vaughan

p.s. Jeff is due to be interviewed by BBC radio Cornwall at 7.40am

DAY 24: DAWN AT ROSSLARE

2011-05-14T23:56:00.000-07:00

Paddled thru to 4.30 but couldn't get past Rosslare as the tide is too strong so hauled out and waiting on the harbour wall for the tide to turn and then will carry on - about 120 km to go. Having coffee and panini's back in Bray yesterday morning seems a long time ago now. Still going strong thanks to the Mule bars and Red Bull and confident we shall make it for 7pm ish, if anyone's interested in joining us for a beer, come along, most welcome.

Jeff and Harry

DAY 23: SURPRISE UPDATE FROM VAUGHAN

2011-05-14T14:37:00.000-07:00

The boys left from Bray this morning at 10 am - destination Ardmore in a oner, said something about some guys paying money for kilometres covered. Hope you've checked your bank accounts guys, this may be expensive!

Jeff and Harry would like to extend an invitation to anyone who wishes to join them for a drink at the Cliff House Hotel, Ardmore somewhere between 7 and 9 p.m. tomorrow which is when they hope to arrive - let's hope they make it!

DAY 22 A COLD END TO A LONG DAY

2011-05-14T00:42:00.000-07:00

We met up with Oisin Hallisey from Tollymore outdoors in Kilkeel and shared a few jars as well as yarns till close to midnight. Dropping us off at our exclusive Des-res at the docks he presented us with two bags of scones which served us well at breakfast time. Cheers Osh, great to see you.

We left Kilkeel into the same head wind of the previous day. We are sure you are bored with hearing about the wind but it seems to be the third expedition partner in this project and certainly dictates our daily pace. We crossed the mouth of Carlingford Lough and then went straight into a longer crossing of Dundalk Bay, pulling our kayaks up a small beach besides the small fishing harbour at Clogher Head mid afternoon. Starting to eddy hop the beaches as far as Balbriggan, we got caught in several squalls and started to feel the pressure of tiredness creeping in. We ran our boats up the beach, part inflated our Sea02 vests and had a quick power nap slumped over our foredecks. This worked amazingly for me and as we entered the Skerries we started to pick up tide and a following wind and we flew down the coast.

Lambay Island which had been a feature on the horizon for most of the day was left in our wake, passing Irelands Eye we stopped on the north east corner of Howth and called Vaughan who we hadn't seen for three days now. We arrange to meet with him at 1am in Greystones but as we pass Dalkey Island to the east I started to feel the effects of hypothermia and we headed into the nearest set of lights which turned out to be Bray. By the time we had landed I was feeling pretty bad and if it hadn't been for Harry’s encouragement for the last hour of the journey and constant resupply of mule bars and energy shots I'm pretty sure I would have gone downhill rapidly. Anyway sat here now on the beach at Bray about to embrace the day. (By our rough reckoning about 125 km yesterday).
Cheers
Jeff and Harry

DAY 21 Running for the Border

2011-05-13T10:05:00.000-07:00

We left from the comfort of Will's luxury abode and started paddling at around 7am. Will stayed with us till halfway across the mouth of Strangford Lough, he pointed out the new turbine in the neck of the Lough as well as St Patricks split rock. It was great to see Will and to meet his lovely wife and children, albeit briefly.

We hoped to make the northern end of Dublin Bay today but the wind gave us no respite and within an hour we were pulling into Ardglass searching for sustenance in the form of a breakfast, which consisted of deep fried sausage, fried egg and bacon between two pieces of toasted soda bread, washed down with coffee. Why am I telling you this? Well we were about to get well and truly nailed going straight across Dundrum bay into a force 5 occasionally 6 headwind and we needed that extra food, our bodies are hungry for fatty foodstuffs. In fact Harry has lost well over a stone in weight in the last three weeks, I'm not sure how much weight I've lost but I can just about see my feet now!

We crossed straight over the bay quite by mistake, I was picking my way through the rocks at St Johns point and turned to come out when a large swell threatened to put me on the shore, Harry thought I was turning out into the crossing and turned too. I looked at Harry turning out to sea and thought 'bold boys going straight across, that's a bit hard core' so turned and followed, it wasn't until 3 1/2 hours later when we crawled, broken, out of our kayaks like whimpering kittens that we realised what had happened-'why on earth did you chose to cross against the tide and wind Harry?' I replied - 'I was following you'

Anyway we are now sat eating fish n' chips in Kilkeel. Fat and carbs (Guinness) is the order for this day we think.

Jeff and Harry

DAY 20/21 : Open Invitation

2011-05-12T00:27:00.000-07:00

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.

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.

DAY 20: The Good, The Bad and......

2011-05-11T09:53:00.000-07:00

After a good nights kip on a cobble beach just outside of Larne we crossed this morning to Island Magee; once more punching the tide until we reached the new Boathouse facility at Whitehead.  We were kindly allowed to rest there and dry our kit out whilst waiting for the tide to turn and hopefully the wind to ease, as we cross Belfast Lough.

The wonders of modern technology- through the SPOT, we are able  to keep people updated on our position, not only for our safety but also to authenticate our journey. I spoke to John Willacy, who is officially tracking our journey, and he has asked me to stop and take a photo at each headland as we go, which is not a problem. I've guestomated that per image, this adds at least 90 seconds to our record, so if any of you boys and girls out there are going to have a crack at this in the future (and it is well worth the crack) then bear this in mind!

Joking aside - whoever it was that took the Spot and the rest of our gear - we hope your need turns out to be greater than greed and it serves you well. We know, by our experience of the last two [plus] weeks of paddling in the Emerald Isle, your eejet nature is not the norm amongst your fellow countrymen. Many thanks to  Dave, Raymond and the club members at County Antrim Yacht club for the use of your fine new boathouse, we hope to run into you one day.

Jeff and Harry

DAY 19 : Thieves in the night

2011-05-10T17:01:00.000-07:00

We Left from Port Balantrae at about 8.30 ish this morning, after we discovered that during the night thieves had paid a visit. 

Harry had all of his safety equipment, tow line, flares and all round white strobe taken and I had the SPOT locator, my tidal stream atlas and tide table stolen, as well as my green welly boots. The blighters must have decided to play with the buttons of the spot and pressed 'OK' ; the police have this spot location and with luck, the eejets might have revealed their location.

Not the best start to the day.

We set off on the flood and made is as far as Tor Head before the tide turned and we were headed. We passed in close to the Giants Causeway and passed under the rope bridge as people above crossed over. The tide flows strong between Rathlin and the mainland and we paddled through several overfalls. From Tor Head we had to work the eddy line all the way to the mouth of Larne Harbour where we arrived about 25 minutes ago. It's now half past midnight and we are going to sleep, both feeling a little bit damp around the edges.

Anyone who spots a fella wearing green welly boots - selling safety equipment on the cheap.....

Jeff and Harry

DAY 18 : Blisters and Gales

2011-05-09T10:33:00.000-07:00

We left Port Rush at 0530 this morning, hoping we would possibly get around the Giants Causeway. Before we got to Port Balintrae we had decided to abort, severe squalls and down gusts gave us a sound indication of what the up and coming coast line was going to be like.

A further problem seems to be developing with my hands, blistering and ulcers have been appearing on the backs of both hands over the last week and one series of anti biotics have failed to negate the issue. Seen the Doc today and she diagnosed that it is possibly an allergy to something (not the wind I hope ;)) which has then become infected; so she administered penicillin intravenously and prescribed anti histermine and a further course of anti biotics.

Rested and slept most of the day, back into the grind tomorrow.

Jeff and Harry

Paddlers Paws?

DAY 17 : R and R

2011-05-08T14:43:00.000-07:00

We had a lay in this morning, the batteries needed recharging and with 30 knots of offshore wind, we figured this morning was as good a time as any. We made use of the time to dry out sleeping bags and clothes, and for minor chores like disposing of rubbish that had built up in our kayaks over the last 16 days. We then hooked up with Vaughan to pass on data cards having not seen him for the last few days. We all headed out to find a cafe for some breakfast but everywhere was closed except for the Radisson Hotel; we felt out of place entering such a top notch hotel for brekky, both being in such a bad state of disrepair. In fact Harry is looking exceptionally rough at the moment and was sporting a pair of dodgy pyjama bottoms for trousers - not perfect attire for a four star.

However the staff at the hotel were exceptionally accommodating and friendly, in fact the Matre de, Patricia Ferguson offered us a free breakfast; she was delighted to hear that we were raising money for the Ovarian Cancer Action. We shall donate the equivalent amount of the breakfast to the OVC, for and on behalf of the Radisson hotel. Thank you Patricia.

We set off about 13.00 and made it as far as Port Rush before deciding to pull off the water, the Giants Causeway was looking very reminiscent of the cliffs on the south side of Donegal Bay, gusts in excess of 35 knots were whipping across the bay. We hooked up with good friend Claire Laverty for a quick pint, before our fish and chip supper - al fresco.

Tomorrows another day. All's good and looking forward to heading south.

Al Fresco Dining

Jeff and Harry

We Surrender...

2011-05-07T15:41:00.000-07:00

We left from the Fadan Peninsular early this morning, this was after a very soggy night under a tarp. Leaving the tent packed to facilitate a quick exit was a mistake, it hammered down and both Harry and I were drenched through. The tarp pooled mini buckets all night long and each time one of us moved, we had cascades of water descending on one or both of us, which by 5 am had lost it's comedy value.

We caught the last of the flood around Malin Head - it stopped about 5 miles after Malin, the wind turned and opposed us throughout the rest of the day. In fact after a further 5 miles or so, we needed a breather so we pulled our kayaks up a small fishing slip and raided the local store. Two bananas, 4 bars of chocolate, 2 chicken and veg pies, 4 bags of crisps, 4 coffees and 2 cheese and ham sandwiches later we were ready to continue.

The wind, like a steady leak in our bucket of energy, it managed to drain us dry and as we crossed the mouth of Lough Foyle we decided to pull our kayaks ashore for the day, at a beach just opposite a military firing range.

Some might say - a perfect spot for a surrender...


A message for Steve, cheers for your generous sponsor of a £1 per kilometre for our longest day paddle - quick question for you - is that for the longest day achieved over any 24 hour period or from 12 midnight to the following 12 midnight? If so I think the longest day so far is 110 kilometre. My spot locator sends location spots throughout the day to John Willacey from Performance Paddling and so we can check with John. If the conditions allow we will be happy to try and exceed that - would anyone else out there like to challenge Harry to do the same, that way we are both in the same boat so to speak?

DAY 15 : Electrical Storms and Pilot Whales

2011-05-06T15:09:00.000-07:00

DAY 15 Departure

A long day, almost 13 hours of mixed paddling. We left Port An Port which is about 4-5 mile north of Glen Colomb Kille and had to work against the Webb tide for the next six hours, but with a following wind and quartering swell the Tarans made remarkably good headway.

We passed Aran Island and started to cross the channel still pushing the tide when we experienced the first of four heavy squalls, one of which was accompanied by loud thunder and very scary lightening. I've only ever been afloat once before during an electrical storm, back in Japan with Hadas - it bought back vivid memories of how vulnerable you are at sea. Luckily Harry was there today and we rafted up together and proceeded to get blown out towards Tory Island. Harry asked me 'what are you supposed to do in a lightening storm at sea'. I said 'just keep your head higher than mine and close your eyes mate'.


Luckily for Vaughan we managed to get all of this on film, so it will be fun looking back on the day. Anyway, apart from further wind woes we are now camped on a small boulder beach on the west side of the Fanad Peninsula, not sure exactly what distance we covered today, but I think it's in excess of 100 km. We have more bad weather coming in on Monday and Tuesday so trying to get round past Rathlin Island before that kicks off.

Although we tried to rack up some mileage today - our mission did not obscure our view of the Donegal Peninsular. The remoteness of the coastline is spectacular - stretches of sandy beaches encapsulated amongst tremendous cliff formations. Just to top the day off - we also had a visit from a pod of pilot whales. Incredible.

Both dog tired - off to bed.

Cheers
Jeff and Harry

Camp for tonight

DAY 14 "It's a long way home to Donegal!"

2011-05-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

We were up nice and early this morning, having spent the night sleeping under a Curragh. Launching at 06.30 we headed east towards Kilala Bay, strong winds were forecast from the south east so we wanted to get as far east as possible before starting our crossing to Malin Beg. After two and a half hours we started to bend towards the north and then north east.

Half way through the afternoon the wind freshened to about 20 knots and coming from the stern quarter we managed to surf these swells diagonally towards our destination.

Late afternoon Harry surfed across my bow just as I dropped down the face of a wave and we had a slight collision; we found Harrys day hatch half full of water but no sign of impact damage. We carried on, with only 5 miles left in the crossing we had several squalls come through and the visibility dropped down to about a mile. We picked up the lighthouse in the last mile, the tide was running out of the bay strongly, especially around Rathlin O Birne. As we started to turn northwards the Donegal coastline revealed it's self through the fog - a breathtaking sight!

A long day on the water - 48 miles covered over ground, to make 38 miles forward.
Now sitting waiting to hook up with Vaughan to exchange data cards and perhaps grab a quick pint. Glad to be away from Mayo, as beautiful as it was, it's nice to be on the move again. God bless Donegal!

Jeff and Harry

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=54.74512,-8.71387&ll=54.74512,-8.71387&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Harry drying his clothes and desperate for a pint

DAY 14 : To cross or not to cross..?

2011-05-05T01:33:00.000-07:00

This is the last spot I recieved from Jeff and Harry at 6.23am today. The last word, last night, whilst they were preparing to sleep under a curragh, is that they are attempting the crossing today....... wind forecast doesn't look particularly favourable, no news yet.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=54.30135,-9.38959&ll=54.30135,-9.38959&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Lizzie (Jeff's wife)

DAY 13 : Unlucky 13...more Wind Woes....

2011-05-04T05:46:00.000-07:00

We thought yesterday was hard, we'd experienced nothing in comparison to today. We are now at Beldereg after a three hour, 5 mile kicking from the wind. At Illmaster Head we paused and considered our options - outside or through the gap? The spume streaked down the faces of the waves on the outside, but through the gap the wind was accelerating so strong that the water was blowing horizontally off the crests. We opted for the inside. We were on the edge of our comfort zone and desperately want to make progress, but today its so marginal, if we f**k up, it's a major problem in these winds.

Harry goes first through the gap, he stalls, all forward motion stops even though he's throwing back spadesfull of salt water my way, I edge past him but get stalled myself seconds later. I grip the water, waiting for the wind to ease, it doesn't and I'm blown backwards, bracing on my blade, praise be to Lendal - what a solid blade Alistair developed.

What a day already!

Day 12 - Wind Woes

2011-05-03T11:55:00.000-07:00

“If the wind will not serve, take to the oars.”

Jaw clenching, salt tasting, muscle straining, bone bending, tendon ripping, finger stretching.......wind.


We set off this morning from French Port and for 6.5 hours we strained and pulled our kayaks through 30 knots of headwind, just to try and get into position to cross over to Donegal, and we fell short by 12 miles. Today has been without a doubt our hardest day so far. You would think a hard day would be a fifty miler, wrong. That can be an easy day with the wind and tide on your side, the hard days are the low mileage days - the one's where every mile is a strain.

We left with a tail wind for half a mile and then turned to face up into the wind and from then on it was nip and tuck for six and a half hours without let up - nip out to round a head land, then try and tuck back in to get out of the wind. However, even when close in, tight under the cliffs of Erris and Benwee Head we had down drafts which threatened to tear our paddles out of our hands and capsize us. Today was tough.

We really appreciate the support - all the comments on the blog and through facebook; and the generous donations to Ovarian Cancer Action. Means a lot - thanks.

Jeff and Harry

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=54.31985,-9.71112&ll=54.31985,-9.71112&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

DAY 11 : Weather we will or weather we won't..

2011-05-02T09:54:00.000-07:00

Beautiful day, gorgeous scenery but too much wind for us. Off shore, gusting 30 knots and straining every muscle and joint that's already been strained too much in the last few weeks. We are now pulled out on the slip way at French Port waiting for an opportunity to either get around Erris Head or if the wind swung to the south west we would cross straight to Donegal from here.

We have made a mistake in our previous update-referring to where we are as the Fannad Peninsular; Harry was quoting me from memory of 11 years ago when he was last here. A lot of Gluiness has flowed beneath his bridge since then and it's actually the Erris or Mullet Peninsular.

Waiting.......waiting....waiting

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=54.24433,-10.09644&ll=54.24433,-10.09644&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Around the outside and surfing blind..

2011-05-02T00:16:00.000-07:00

We left Achill on the ebb flowing North, late in the afternoon. We paddled for the first hour or two with a beam wind. We decided we had to go around the outside of the Fannad Peninsular even though there is a shorter and safer route through Bel Mullet, we felt pretty sure our attempt at breaking this record would fall foul if we chose the inside route. This meant that we could turn the Tarans downwind and let them do what they do best, we flew and even though we are both feeling quite drained of energy now we couldn't resist running the wind to the outside.

By the time we reached open ocean it was dark, a new moon meant only the stars would help illuminate our progress. We both felt quite anxious, knowing there's a parcel of wind on it's way and decided to stay afloat until the wind arrived. This meant skirting close to land but avoiding the swells which last night seemed to be about 1-1.5 meters. At about midnight the wind started to pick up and we committed to a surf landing. This to both Harry and I, is one of the scariest aspects of sea kayaking. A surf landing on an unknown shore in the dark. We both came in as close as we could on the backs of the swells until we felt the spray being blown back off the breaking wave just in front of us, then we paddled like crazy. Neither of us escaped the next swell, but luckily Harry bent to the left and had to do a defensive low brace, I managed to break right and ran the wave diagonally to the beach. Harry didn't quite make it to the beach, finding him self amongst rocks he decided to bail and walk his kayak through the last of the breakers to protect the rudder. We are now settled down in the dunes somewhere south of Frenchport. An exciting night.

The Morning after......http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=54.15467,-10.10117&ll=54.15467,-10.10117&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

DAY 10 : Free of the Pirate Queen - don't mean Harry....

2011-05-01T07:51:00.000-07:00

We got up early this morning, it wasn't just by choice, an uncomfortable bivvy on cold hard rock made for a restless night. We received an email update from Karel (the wonder of modern technology and the IPhone) the fore cast was grim. So we responded by asking if he could research and find a slight window in the weather that would make it possible to scoot across to Achill Sound. He found a small opportunity around mid day where the wind would drop to around 15 knots. We launched at 10.30 and worked our way to the east of Clare Island, staying as close to the eddie line as the swells would allow and just as we pulled level with the harbour the wind eased and we went for it. Karel was spot on, just as we entered the sound and the tide started to make again, the wind picked up once more. Happy to be free of the Pirate Queen, as enchanting as Clare island is, it's nice to be moving once more.

Now waiting impatiently at Achill Sound for the tide to turn so we can head on...

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=53.93335,-9.92023&ll=53.93335,-9.92023&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Escape Plan...

2011-05-01T00:12:00.000-07:00

Had an update on the weather from Karel this morning and it looks like the following week is going to be very much the same as yesterday, strong off shore winds from the east. I then asked Karel to look for any small windows in the weather where we may be able to make a break from where we are back to the mainland so that we can to continue to work up the coast and then across Donegal Bay.

So our plan is to get ready and then sit and wait for the wind to ease this afternoon (hopefully) and at least try to get around to Clare Harbour, if not further. We spent an uncomfortable night last night sleeping on a rocky ledge just above the kayaks; but we had a treat when, whilst cooking dinner a full grown male otter (we know he was a male because he was smoking a pipe) walked through our camp as bold as brass. The old boy must have been short sighted, he stopped to sniff the air several times along the way but the wind direction was all wrong for a stealthy approach, over a metre in length from nose to tail. Harry kicked the cook pot to get a better view and off he scarpered into the sea, a treat that we managed to capture on film.

Cheers for now
Jeff and Harry

DAY 9 : Nestled in the arms of Grace O'Malley

2011-04-30T07:21:00.000-07:00

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=53.79019,-10.04477&ll=53.79019,-10.04477&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

We had to make an unexpected rough water landing today. We left Inishturk at about 9.20am and started to cross to Clare Island. Clare Island was the hideaway of the Pirate Queen 'Grace O'Malley'.

The winds were fresh when we left but half way over increased to about 30 knots with stronger squalls coming through regularly. Unable to make way into the wind and tide we dropped down below the west end of Clare and then found ourselves stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Continual down drafts off the steep slopes of Knockmore mountain almost had us both over whilst we considered our options which were exasperated by the fact that I had strained a muscle in the shoulder during the crossing. We decided to make a difficult landing on the south western tip of the island, a decision not made lightly given the wind conditions, large swell and the weight of our kayaks; after swimming our boats ashore, we are now hanging clothes and gear out to dry on the rocks. Hopefully we will be able to relaunch from our position as long as the swell doesn't increase too much and continue on later.
A message for Espe from Harry- he loves his new cowboy hat and sends you a kiss.

Love to friends and family

Jeff and Harry

Night paddle to Inishturk

2011-04-29T16:49:00.000-07:00

We landed just north of Omey Island and repaired Harry's rudder. Harry pointed out to me that this was where Bill Taylor and co, from Commitments and open crossings had landed on their round Britain and Ireland expedition some 30 odd years ago.

We grabbed a swift pint of the black stuff which serves as great fuel and headed off to Inishturk, arriving in the small but well protected harbour just before midnight. Now recharging electrics and refuelling ourselves once more in the Inishturk Community Club which is situated ten minutes walk above the harbour. Off early tomorrow if the weather holds - we are expecting a bit of wind from the north east during the weekend and wonder how this is going to affect our crossing of Donegal Bay. All's good and both going strong :).

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=53.70602,-10.0907&ll=53.70602,-10.0907&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

DAY 8 : Sores and broken rudders

2011-04-29T12:38:00.000-07:00

Had a bad day today, broke a rudder, Harry was side surfed across a reef and snapped it off at the neck, coupled with his salt water sores he's feeling pretty down so off to the pub tonight to cheer him up, otherwise all is good and we shall get things repaired in the morning.
Jeff and Harry

DAY 7 : Spiritual guidance and seeking direction on Inisheer

2011-04-28T06:21:00.000-07:00

We left Spanish Point in the fog this morning, almost getting taken out by the surf on the point break to the north. Scary paddling as we approached the Cliffs of Moher. Incredible scenery and dynamic wave action as the fog lifted.

We then headed off out towards the Aran Islands, Harry never told me he had a secret agenda on this expedition as he raced across the sound. Father Ted, Father Ted save me - he kept muttering to himself, it all became clear when we approached the wreck off the south eastern tip of the island. Harry has always boasted of his Catholic style of sea paddling and Father Ted is his hero, to which he models his life. As soon as his Taran hit the sand he leapt ashore and kissed the shore before racing to the pub.

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=53.10214,-9.56973&ll=53.10214,-9.56973&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

DAY 6 : Spanish Point

2011-04-27T21:55:00.000-07:00

We left a little later than normal after saying goodbye to Harrys parents and set off paddling North. The crossing of the Shannon Estuary was uneventful, little wind and no Dolphins, swell has dropped to about two meters. The tide was in our favour and our progress was good the until about 3pm when we had to head in to find the eddy line out of the flow. By late afternoon we had reached Mutton Island and decided to stop for a stretch. We had arranged with Vaughan to try and time our journey along the Cliffs of Moher for when he would be in position, but if we continued on now it would be dark; feeling tired we chose to head in to Spanish Point for the evening.

Still some decent sized sets of surf coming through but the landing went ok. Now laying in my bivvy by the beach, alarm went off ten minutes ago telling me to get up; thick fog and the sound of surf greet us, as well as a wet smelly jelly and some fleece leggings (also wet). Porridge, coffee and off around to the Aran Islands, fog how I hate fog, especially when there's surf and a beautiful coast to paddle, we should have continued on last night....

Day Five - Dingle and Dolphins

2011-04-26T15:18:00.000-07:00

We left Valencia early this morning and headed straight across the bay to Slea Head. Last night it rained hard - our hard bivouac on an inclined slipway under a fishing boat meant that rest was scarce; so combined with the sloppy sea, poor visibility, and the easterly wind which was funnelling down the bay - all added up to make the crossing a bit arduous.

As we drew closer to Slea Head, the sky started to brighten and the Blasket Islands revealed themselves as Harry and I made our way through the low cloud to meet the sound of big ocean swells crashing against the shoreline. Against the backdrop of the stunning emerald scenery, darting in and out of the big swells, we received a fine welcome into Kerry waters.  As we started to progress along the Dingle Peninsular we were joined by numerous schools of dolphin which stayed with us throughout the day - Harry and I were smiling a great deal today.

We were met on the beach by Vaughan and Harold - Harry's Father, later to be joined by Harry's Ma - Betty. They whisked us away to a pub overlooking Brandon Bay, many thanks to both of you for a lovely steak supper and a Guinness or three, what an end to a magical day.

The Dingle Peninsular has to rank as one of the finest stretches of coastline that either Harry or I have ever paddled; maybe the beauty of the place was accentuated by the presence of the Dolphins or the magnificent Atlantic rollers crashing on the cliffs, but I'm pretty sure these things only added drama to a very special place in Ireland, seen in a very special way from the seat of a kayak.

'In Ireland the inevitable never happens and the unexpected constantly occurs'  Sir John Pentland Mahaffy

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=52.29792,-10.11102&ll=52.29792,-10.11102&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

DAY 4: Emotional rollercoaster

2011-04-25T12:34:00.000-07:00

We left this morning at about 8am, big seas were forecasted and strong winds from the North East. We were not disappointed; yesterday the seas were big, but today they had increased by several meters with a much greater volume.

As we paddled out from Dursey Island we were faced with swells of about 4 meters in height which grew as we ventured north. After twenty minutes of paddling through confused clapping wave action we found that although the predominant swell direction was from the north west, we actually found that the reflected swell which was coming directly from behind, was beginning to organise itself and we managed to surf this opposing wave action for at least four miles. The Taran is proving itself to be a very worthy boat, today we just got a glimpse of what it's capable of in very challenging conditions. Consistent runs of 6 knots were common and several runs of up to 10 knots.

As were passed Dolas Head the swells exploding against the shore were impressive, until the wind forced us to concentrate. Strong squalls from the north east kept us pinned behind Puffin Island for a 30 minute reprieve, we decided to knock the day on the head at Valencia Island; but not before having to pass the bar between Puffin Island and the mainland. The bar at low tide has only two metres of water above it and the swells were closing out regulary across it; we were too tired to go around the island and the force the wind, so we took our chances and ended the day on an adrenaline rush through further big seas and chaotic conditions. Knackered.

SPOT LOCATION

http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.88653,-10.36633&ll=51.88653,-10.36633&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

Jeff and Harry refuelling for tomorrow's crossing to the Dingle Peninsular, a prize for anyone who can guess who is who behind the jerry cans of black gold

Two day Slogathon

2011-04-24T14:27:00.000-07:00

Little and Large at Mizen Head

We left early from the Old Head of Kinsale and made good time across to Seven Heads, rounding Galley head; the swell size picked up and as we left to cross Clonakilty Bay, so to did the wind, in fact after three miles we started to alter course, ducking into Low Island for a rest and replen from a consistent force four head wind and a sloppy sea. By six oclock we had managed to round Toe Head and met up with Vaughan at Lough Hine, we slept rough on the beach, bivvying out besides our kayaks.

Waking Harry at 5.40 we boiled some porridge, woolfed it down, downed some black coffee and set off early expecting to round Mizen Head later that day, catching a favourable tide. All went well, we hooked up once more with Vaughan to exchange data cards in Baltimore before island hoping our way down to Streek Head. After Brow Head we were feeling the full effects of a solid Atlantic Ocean swell, exploding boomers and large rolling swells opposed us as we then negotiated Three Castle Head and beyond. We were faced with a long open crossing across the mouths of Dunmanus Bay and Bantry Bay; very large ocean swell and an energy draining head wind opposed us for the next 12 nautical miles before landing through intimidating boomers either side of the entrance into a small fishing harbour near to Firkeel Bay.

Luck did meet us at this stage when we were to meet up with a fishermen from Mevagissey in Cornwall who moved over to the Baer Peninsula 15 years ago. Spotting the flag of St Pirans on his fishing boat we began to chitter chatter and before we knew it, both Harry and I were being whisked into Castletown Bearhaven for a Guinness or two. Fantastic.

DAY THREE - Spot Location....

2011-04-24T11:45:00.000-07:00

Jeff's SPOT 
Latitude:51.46896 
Longitude:-9.69974 
GPS location Date/Time:04/24/2011 12:38:07 BST 

Message:Hi guys, here we are, team are ok, 

Click the link below to see where I am located. 
http://fms.ws/4fmt8/51.46896/\-9.69974

If the above link does not work, try this link: 
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&geocode=&q=51.46896,-9.69974&ll=51.46896,-9.69974&ie=UTF8&z=12&om=1

The Long Good Friday

2011-04-22T12:56:00.000-07:00

The Long Good Friday

We left the luxury of the Cliff House Hotel and launched at 6 am paddling out into a slight head wind, as we rounded Ardmore head this put the wind slightly behind us and we made use of the push of both wind and wave, as Karel predicted however this wasn't to last. First south, then south west finally right on the nose came the wind, coupled with a foul tide this afternoon it turned the day into a long slog in a sloppy sea. There were highlights however, first Harry found a packet of cheese floating by which we devoured, then as we crossed the bay towards the 'Old Head of Kinsale' we were joined by a school of playful Dolphins. All in all we had a good first day, we stayed afloat for the full 12 hours which played havoc with our legs, pulled a few of the stringy parts of the body which is a tad worrying but still managed a few miles beyond the forty mark...... Happy Easter to one and all, let's see what tomorrow brings

DAY ONE - Chase me Jeff, Chase Me..

2011-04-22T07:39:00.000-07:00

We all woke at 4:45 this morning; breakfast was served - a huge thanks to Adrian and his staff at The Cliff House Hotel. See you on the final day - god willing! We only had a short drive to the slip way, Harry was intent we hit our target to leave at 6:00; winding me up, Harry egged me to chase him around the beach for a warm up - which was an amusing sight for Vaughan our camera man; we eventually set off dead on six o'clock.

The weather has changed slightly to what was predicted. The sun was just rising over in the east amongst the mist and haze, with a gentle wind. We are expecting to cover a big, but steady distance today..

'Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another'

~Walter Elliott, The Spiritual Life

Last minute thankyou and accreditations before we depart

2011-04-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hey guys, we just wanted to say thank you to several people before we depart tomorrow morning

Firstly there is Karel from Israel. Karel has agreed to provide us with regular weather updates as we proceed, for more info on his speciality you can look at www.kayakweather.com/

Finally I would like to say a personal thank you to my wife, Lizzie, she has been a massive support for not only me, but the team as well, helping out with the updates, seeking sponsorship and now facing the next five weeks alone whilst I pursue my dreams, thank you x

Look what Harry found

2011-04-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

Harry found the 'Look what we found' ration packs and since picking him up in Bristol has already devoured 5 meals. Yes they're good and yes Harry's obviously not been eating. Anyway we are here, here being Ardmore, just east of Cork, we've loaded our kayaks, Harry was here 11 years ago when he paddled around Ireland in a folding kayak, anyway he suggested we sorted our kit out up at the Cliff House Hotel, near to St Declan's well. We were made very welcome by all of the staff at the hotel and just as we were about to leave to set up on the beach for an early night when Adrian, the manager approached us and asked if they could support the expedition by offering us a room for the night! We could hardly say no to such a friendly crew, what a great start:) All being good we shall be setting off early tomorrow morning, feeling good to go now folks, Harry's stronger than I've ever seen him before and that makes me nervous, I need to start eating more.......game on.

Almost there, to the start line that is

2011-04-18T22:44:00.000-07:00

Final day today for last minute things to do, I picked up a van for Vaughan yesterday, I'll grab Harry's kayak this morning and load it up, hopefully the food from 'look what we've found' will be here this morning and we can load that into the van too. Tomorrow I will drive up to Crediton to pick up a C Trek from Kirton kayaks for Vaughan to use as a filming platform for his 'on the water filming'. then later tomorrow afternoon I shall be hooking up with both Harry and Vaughan in Wales to get the Ferry across to the Emerald Isle. Hope to be paddling by Friday........

Look what Lizzie found?

2011-04-15T12:36:00.000-07:00

Seven days to go now, this time next week we should be on our way, Harry and I are cross referencing each other daily with last minute details, such as

'Have you seen that low pressure system forming south east of Newfy?'

Yes we are paying careful attention to the weather and the west coast, as we don't know exactly where we are starting our journey from. The west coast, if the conditions look right, may be our first section on the journey, at the moment there is a 17' swell forecast for our first day on the water - a serious cause for concern, if we need to land on the beach. But, if so, we'll be leaving from Dublin or maybe Rosslare, who knows, a lot can happen in the next seven days.

I spoke to Harry just ten minutes ago, he was busy training in his local, sampling the Guinness with a good friend of his, who came on the phone with a reassuring comment-

'I hope you feeling strong Jeff, cos Harry's training like a right animal'

I can well believe this as he's been calling me daily at 5am, as he makes his way through London to his launch site where he puts in two hours of training on a daily basis on the Thames before he starts work.

I got home this evening to find Lizzie had also been hard at work, she has managed to secure us food for the journey from 'Look what we found' - great food for an expedition like this; this is a great boost to the expedition as now we know we can feed ourselves well, alongside the occasional pint of the black stuff.

We shall be burning around 7-8000 calories per day, you could say Harry, being slightly lighter than I, will burn slightly less, but then he's also got to work twice as hard, as his arms are much shorter than mine........ joking aside, what with the 'Mule Bars' and now the 'Look what we found' team on board, we know we have no excuses regarding fuel.

5 days and counting folks :)

Pina Colada's in Ireland and a Mule to support us on the way..........

2011-04-08T09:49:00.000-07:00

We had some great news today.......

On the last leg of the Scandinavian expedition, Jim Frampton, one of the team, got in touch with
'Mule Bar' an energy fuel company specialising in 'Adventure fuel' for outdoorsmen. These energy bars are fantastic, they certainly kept us well fuelled in sub zero temperatures and strong winds North of the Arctic Circle and were a fantastic addition to our on the water energy needs, not only were they great fuel, they are super tasty too.

Mango Tango..........Hunza Nut.......Pina Colada.......Liquorice......Chocolate Fig Fiesta are just some of the flavours available.

Mango Tango and Pina Colada's were my favourite bars by far and I am looking forward to introducing Harry to these. If he's not cooking on the Black Gold that is. I have the feeling that with all of the training Harry's been putting in on the Thames it will be me, needing the extra energy and I will have to be rationing these out with a little bit of extra fuel going my way.

Anyway Mike Story sent me an email today to say that the Mule Bar team were on board for the
'Around Ireland Expedition' and were going to be able to offer us product support us for our challenge, so from team Expedition Paddler, to team Mule Bar, a really big thank you.

We shall be stocking Mule Bars at our new shop at 'Sea Kayaking Cornwall' so if your ever down this way and fancy a nibble, call in and we shall see what we have in stock for you to try, great emergency food and also great for refuelling when your burning the calories.

Another big thank you to Mark Sundin and Rob Mercer of Expedition Kayaks in Sydney, Australia for their recent donation to the OVA, cheers guys....

Harry, Jeff and Chris

Chris is out?!*^~

2011-04-06T00:02:00.000-07:00

Received some bad news yesterday, Chris has had to pull out of the 'Around Ireland' expedition. Problems of a personal nature are keeping him in Thailand. I called Mike up at Rockpool to let him know as Chris's Expedition spec Taran had just recently been completed.
Solid gent that Mike is, he has agreed to hold on to the boat until the end of the month in case Chris's situation changes in the interim.
Both Harry and I are sad about this turn in events, although neither of us have paddled with Chris, we had heard only good stuff about him as a bloke and a paddler.
So now, although the dynamics of the team have been reduced by a third both Harry and I are still just as committed to giving this our best shot. With only a couple of weeks before we will be setting off last minute preps are being undertaken daily.
Good luck with life in warmer climes Chris, looking forward to seeing you in Cornwall soon enough.
Jeff

Japan

2011-03-28T02:27:00.000-07:00

In 2004, whilst circumnavigating the Islands of Japan, Hadas and I were both hosted by the club members of Sendai Kayak club, a region which was severely damaged by the recent earthquake and subsequent Tsunami. Last week I contacted a friend in Tokyo, Jogo-San- to try and find out news regarding survivors of this ordeal, he had received news from Sada-San the lady who first greeted us from the club to say that she was ok, but there had been no news so far from any other club member. The Tsunami is a massive human tragedy on a global scale, and the potential loss of so many active sea kayakers is also a massive lost to us as a sea kayaking community.

Last week we decided to contact Eiichi Ito of Qajaq Japan to see if we could in some small way help and have since decided to dedicate the 'Around Ireland' expedition to trying to raise funding for relief and support for the people of Japan. By clicking on the link below you can follow methods by which you can help to support casualties and victims of this monumental disaster.

We shall still be representing Ovarian Cancer Action as well and this link and the just giving page will remain active.

http://www.qajaq.jp/

Looking West

2011-03-23T15:37:00.000-07:00

Chris will shortly be arriving in the UK, this will be the first time that the team will all be in the UK at the same time and hopefully we shall also be hooking up at Simon's Kayakathon in London on the 17 April.

There has been a marked difference in all of our training patterns, Harry has been paddling against the flow of 'Old Father Thames' whilst I have been trying to squeeze training in amongst coaching and odd jobbing around the new business premises we've recently taken on.
Much of my training has consisted of early morning swims, ergo sessions and time in the surf, Harry put me onto the swimming and it proved to be a good investment, I hope......Chris on the other hand has been sunning it up in Thailand, leading a laid back life in wamer climes?
Maybe?

Personally I think Chris is probably the dark horse in this three legged race around the Emerald Isle, I think he's probably been piling in the miles and then climbing masts to condition the traps.

Anyway, regardless of our training, the time is gradually drawing in, the start line is looming and before we know it, we'll be s------g ourselves out back of some gnarly surf zone egging each other on to land first and get the kettle on, wondering just what the hell we signed up for....

Hey ho, not long now lads and away we go

Jeff

Harry and Brandon 'The Crow'

2011-03-17T14:40:00.000-07:00

This footage is from when Jeff came up to London last week. I surfed the Taran after paddling it for an hour or so with its plastic covering on. Honestly this boat is very different than any boat I have paddled before. if you look at the video for the first 40 seconds the rudder is down and the trim is obvious, once the rudder is lifted the boat behaves differently.

The nose clears the water and the boat is no longer stern hung on its rudder, the hull is planing hard as both bow and stern lift. Working the blades the boat behaves like a race horse, edging and leaning the ride is fast and exciting, as long as you have positive control. Surfing is all about you the boat and the wave. In my world here in London the waves are often man made, if your going to play on their wave you have to be confident and proficient and I cannot emphasise enough the latter. Other than wash hanging the week has been full of exciting boats, hover crafts and even saving Brandon the crow, I will up date soon.

 Regards  
Harry

Thunder on the Thames

2011-03-10T07:42:00.000-08:00

Harry's present yesterday, a brand new shiny Taran.

Harry in his new Taran, all wrapped up and no where to go

I have known Harry for the last eight years or so, in that time he has managed to put a hole in almost every kayak I have leant to him, in fact on one occasion he even managed to knock the bow off of one and on another he came home with an Explorer I had leant him with no fewer than 6 holes. So when I took him his brand new Taran for our Ireland expedition I also mentioned that it came with instructions from both Mike and John at the Rockpool factory.

'Look after it, please!'

Harry took this to heart and for the first hour refused to even take it out of the wrapping, it wasn't until he spied the Thames refueller some distance off down river that it all became to much and ripping the polythene clear he made a hasty dash for his new wing paddles and steamed off after its wash.
Harry soon became just a mere speck in the distance, bobbing around in the wake and heading inland at a rapid rate of knots.

First proper salty swim

2011-03-04T14:09:00.000-08:00

I took my first proper open water swim of the season yesterday, Swanpool beach to Maenporth Cove, just over a mile away to the west.
Several days of Nor -easterlies had a nice ground swell running into Falmouth Bay, certainly a lot more movement than the pool at Helston has to offer. It was also considerably colder, the water temperatures have been at around 9 degrees C lately and this certainly kept me moving throughout the time I was in the water.

The first half mile went well, my technique felt sound, concentrating on high elbows and good catch and I seemed to be making sound progress; swimming in a wet suit felt alien however, especially after spending so much time in the pool these last few months - Legs floating abnormally high and restricted shoulders started to inhibit me as I rounded Penance Point, only to be greeted by glaringly bright sunlight in my eyes. Now where's that coastline I asked my self?

Luckily I had Debs along in her slalom kayak, taking a few piccies, she kept on telling me when I was wandering to far off course, which occurred several times over the next three quarters of a mile.

Eventually I made it to Maenporth Beach, landing with wobbly legs through the surf, boy was I cold, I decided to jog back along the coast path to Swanpool to try and warm up, but the jog lasted all of two minutes before I was picking my way gingerly through the pebbles.

Jeff

Enter Romany Productions

2011-02-25T10:11:00.000-08:00

I had an email from Vaughan a couple of days ago, to say that he had put together a piece of video, did I want to see it?

I had asked him to give me a little insight into how he envisaged the video for the 'Around Ireland' expedition was going to be...this what he came up with

Nice one Vaughan, can't wait to start the paddling, a very inspiring bit of filming and editing..............

Jeff

Draw back of training in the city

2011-02-24T03:05:00.000-08:00

I have been training well for the last 10 days now getting up early, dropping into to London on the ebb, in the dark and then wash hanging the morning ferry as it chugs its way down to Putney to collect the suits that work in the city.

If I get it right its a 3 to 4 mile surf, working the bow wave of the ferry or on Tuesdays surfing the Thames refuelling barge.

Wash hanging is fun but it takes a lot of concentration and building up professional relationships with the skilled skippers who navigate this ancient tideway. Unfortunatlly with the heavy rain comes the sewage, last year the tidal Thames got 34 million cubic meter's of sewage pumped into the river, which believe it or not is perfectly legal (pumping shit into the river).

If the water quality is bad its not worth going on the river, but then I head over to the pool and burn off my frustration.
The Thames is a fantastic training ground, in the next 10 years our Victorian sewage problem will be solved but till then on bad days I affectionally know it as my river of shit, which I feel is sad for such a great water way.

Regards

Harry

Back to training in Thailand

2011-02-19T10:21:00.000-08:00

Back into the training routine once more, have been away for a few weeks working on and fixing sailing boats locally, but now glad to be able to paddle again, doing between 5 and 12 miles a day in the kayak . and a longer paddle an Sunday's.
I have also started swimming most days as well as 20 mins of press-ups then sit-ups when I get up in the mornings and before going to bed, feeling a lot stronger and fitter but my kayak timings are about the same, I think I need more time in the boat so I will address that . Hope all is well in the UK and not too cold.

Chris

South Devon

2011-02-12T22:12:00.000-08:00

I managed to get away for a few days this week and visit a friend up in South Devon. Nick Arding came along to help us run a corporate training package for Lloyds bank in November of last year, it was during this training that I had the privelage of meeting Nick for the first time and also got to listen first hand to a very inspirational talk about Nick's successful expedition to climb Mt Everest back in 2003, it wasn't just the climbing of the worlds highest mountain which made this expedition successsful but also due to the rescue of a fellow climber who had sustained a broken leg during an attempt on the final pitch to the summit.

Nick is modesty personified, and the delivery of this unique story is told in a very matter of fact way, almost as if anyone could have achieved such a result. Anyway when Nick invited me along for a couple of days of paddling, exploring his local coastline I jumped at the chance and during the two days we managed to take in the best of what South Devon has to offer.

The first day we left from Slapton Sands and paddled along to Start Point,then headed west as far as Lanacombe Beach, there was a fresh southerly breeze and a solid ground swell of around five feet still running from the recent gales and this made the rock hopping as well as the race off Start Point very interesting indeed.

The following day we were joined by Debs Pinniger who happened to be staying at the Dart country park, Deb a very successful river paddler and slalom competitor in her own right is no slouch in a sea kayak either and we made a great days journey from the Inland port of Totnes, down river to Dartmouth and then east to Brixham. Good swell and strong winds accompanied us throughout the day and this made for exciting conditions along this beautiful stretch of South Devon coastline. All in all a very enjoyable two days of paddling.

Nick and his business partner Lee Pooley are running several sea kayaking expeditions this year, one to Skye and the other across to the Scilly Isles, so if anyone's interested you can go to their website

http://www.seakayakinginternational.co.uk/

cheers

Jeff

Bouncing down the Thames

2011-02-08T01:17:00.000-08:00

It's been windy here in London for the last few days and today I paddled against the incoming tide to Tower Bridge and back.
Heading east I had the wind behind me, the kayak was surging on the waves, which were building up where the river reaches were exposed to the full force of the wind. Under the bridge arches with the tide in full flood I was having a great time. I waited for the ferries to proceed through the bridge arches and then followed them; wash bouncing off the walls and hitting the kayak from all angles. Using wings the trick is to keep the kayak moving fast, surfing from wave to wave edging and leaning with out using any ruddering stroke, it was so warm I took off my cag to lose the heat I was generating.

When I turned to head home I had the flood accompanying me; however as I battled into a strong head wind, whilst cag less, I rapidly chilled off . The bridge arches which were previously fun were now like a wind tunnel, paddling into a icy blast with the kayak plunging and kicking up water. Finding a quiet eddy out of the wind I put my cag back on; 4.5 miles later I was back at base.

I have been using my epic wings for a while now but feel its time for a change and will be getting out my Lendal Archipelago's, also have heard from Rock pool that my Taran will be ready in the next few days, tomorrow I will be back on the river, the days are getting longer and life is good.

Harry

PS Jeff just called to say my yellow and white Taran has just been popped out of the mould :)

Remote emergency Care level 4 course

2011-02-04T04:24:00.000-08:00

REC Level 4 Course-Castlebar, Ireland

Photo Vaughan Roberts

I headed across the water to Ireland last weekend with Vaughan Roberts from Romany Productions to attend a remote emergency care course with Paul Cahill figuring that it would constitute sound preparation for our ‘Around Ireland’ expedition. It's great getting fit and being able to paddle like a banshee, but what if one of us gets injured? The West coast of Ireland is remote enough, especially when you consider the fact that 'Remote' is classed as being more than one hour away from medical help.

I first met Paul when he came with us at Sea Kayaking Cornwall to Norway's Arctic coastline for a week long expedition last June. I didn't realise at the time what his job was but during the following seven days spent under canvas I learned much about his passion for the life outdoors and also, for all things medical.

I decided to get Paul over to Cornwall to run a level 3 REC course last autumn, just prior to our symposium- it was a good move.

Over the last 30 years I have, like many, attended numerous first aid courses, but in all this time and on all these courses I have never met a guy more dedicated to his profession or able to deliver a subject with such precision, passion and ability. Previous forays into the first aid world had always been more about fulfilling pre-requisite requirements for coaching awards or whilst in the military had been an obvious requirement for all service personnel, my previous lack of interest wasn't due to not realising the importance of the subject, but the delivery of the subject matter had always been less than inspiring I guess.

For the first time first aid became not only interesting but I also left the level 3 course with a very strong desire to learn more. So when Paul emailed me to say that he had developed a REC level 4 course aimed specifically at the Expedition sea kayaker I was hooked.

The course was well attended by numerous sea kayaking experts, Jim Morrissey, Ali Donald, Eileen Murphy and Sean Pierce to name just a few, were there to refresh or learn new skills about how to maintain vital life care for clients as well as friends in a wilderness setting.

Eileen Murphy and I had met before when she was competing in the Hebridean Challenge adventure race.

In 2005 Eileen completed the first Solo Female Circumnavigation of Ireland by sea kayak and I took the opportunity to speak with her about her trip, she highlighted numerous refuelling stops (Guiness) along the way, as well as many other points of interest.

Various subjects were covered over the two and a bit days of training, all of which related to medical situations which can and have happened to paddlers on expedition and I would thoroughly recommend anyone heading out into a remote area to attend one of Paul’s courses, he is probably one of the best instructors I have had the good fortune to train under.

Paul was supported admirably by his wife and father throughout the course as well as having Aebhric O'Kelly who assisted in the teaching, Aebhric also teaches wilderness medicine and bush-craft skills further south in the country.

We shall certainly be getting Paul and Aebhric over to Cornwall to provide further courses for us in the future.

Jeff

Life's good in the tropics

2011-02-01T15:00:00.000-08:00

Hi Jeff, Harry
Just a quick update, training is going ok but I have not been able to paddle as much as I would have liked.

I am not getting in as many miles as I would have liked, Paddling to work, which is about a 4 mile run or so, then I paddle back home again after work.

I am planning on pushing my Training route out and around a few nearby islands, to see if my times can be improved upon. I had a bad day a few days ago when I paddled out to Koi Myton, an island off Phuket, it's only 8 miles away but it took me 3 hours and 35mins to complete. A strong head wind and a choppy sea slowing me down, I was looking forward to a good surf home on the return leg, but the wind died down and the sea with it so no joy there, a real bummer.

Upon hitting the beach I was cheered up by what appeared to be a Ukrainian, Spaghetti and postage stamp club on the beach, one of the perks of Thai life.

Chris

Gaybo King

2011-01-22T12:05:00.000-08:00

Nope, it’s not a reference to my sexuality, but my training is moving on. This kayak 'King' is made by Gaybo and is what I am using at the moment, the boat must be 20 years and is No13 off the mould.

John Willacy the designer of the Taran comes from a white water racing background, you can see this in the boat he has designed, Chris, myself and yes - OMG Jeff Allen, are all looking forward to putting through its paces.

Anyway, cross training (not a reference to anything other than paddling) in WW racers is like a relationship in many ways, Its difficult at the beast of times! However the security of epic wings makes it more positive. I am out side of my comfort level wash hanging in the King but it makes training a bit more exciting.

Regards

Harry 'the one and only' Whelan

West Coast of Ireland

2011-01-20T01:26:00.001-08:00

Found training to be a bit frustrating lately, work sort of disrupted my schedule and when I returned to swimming yesterday after several days out, it felt as if I'd taken three steps backwards. When ever I feel like this I click on the following link and it reminds me why I'm heading over to Ireland:

http://www.youtube.com/user/relentlessenergy#p/u/14/1swPZzxv0tI

A big thank you to both Mark and Debs for helping us to support the Ovarian Cancer Action charity...cheers guys

Jeff, Harry and Chris

Porthtowan surf boat team head south to the world championships in NZ

2011-01-17T03:31:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would put up a quick post on behalf of a friend of mine called Nick Healey from Porthtowan Surf Boat team. I went out for a sunday roast with him and Lizzie last night and it came up in conversation that he was shortly heading out to New Zealand to compete in the world surf boat championships (like that sort of comment comes up in conversation every day!)
I was taken aback that I hadn't heard anything about this on the news or in the local papers and it made me wonder just how many sports we have in Britain where by we have teams which compete at international level and excel against the worlds best.

Here we have a tiny surfing village on the North Cornish coast going up to represent Britain and compete against the worlds very best at an international event, lack of financial support and minimal sponsorship means that the team will have to pretty much fund the venture themselves which (A) shows a massive amount of commitment on their behalf, but (B) also indicates to me just how much we support some of the more widely recognised sports, but have little in the way of help in other lesser known activities of which we in the sea kayaking world are also no doubt aware of.

The team from Porthtowan will be the only British team competing against the world's best in a country where surf boat rowing is as popular as soccer, they will not however be going to NZ as complete under dogs, they are the current european champions. How great an achievement would it be if they came home with a medal or two, with approximately 6000 competitors the odds are certainly stacked against them, but knowing how hard these guys have trained and committed they are, I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't a little bit of bling floating around North Cornwall again in the not to distant future.

For more information on the team where you can show your support, view video and images of them all in action go to:

http://www.porthtowansurfboat.com//

Stiff Legs and a paddle with Rob Feloy

2011-01-16T01:15:00.000-08:00

Training

I have had a couple of emails recently from Mick O'Meara and Dermot Blount, both wishing us good luck for the challenge and an offer of support when we are in their vicinity. Great to know guys, so thank you from us all.
Mick also gave me some sound advice for training - the need to focus on core development, so yesterday, for the first time in several years I headed down to the gym with my wife and she started me on a core development programme. Lizzie is an osteopath and personal trainers and also knows when I am slacking. She didn't spare the rod and I suffered, waking up this morning with stiff legs. We should have warmed down and stretched; I hear you say....we did, I'm blaming it on being almost 9 years the wrong side of forty. Anyway we concentrated on starting to develop what Liz termed the spiral chain of muscles which are so integral to our paddling. We finished off with some rowing to warm down and then stretching out on the mat. I have my work cut out.Looking forward to catching up with you, Mick and Dermot on the trip

Rob Feloys new C-Trek 16
In the afternoon I met up with Rob Feloy, designer of numerous kayaks including one of my all time favourites the Inuk. Rob has just redesigned the C-Trek, now coming in at 16'5".
Conditions were good if not a tad windy, SSW F6 but mainly off shore, localised wind eddies altered direction slightly and there was a two to three foot ground swell wrapping up from around Manacle Point.
I was really impressed with the C-Trek 16 I've got to say, probably something to do with Rob's background of being a naval architect, his designs come straight off the drawing board rather than someone else’s idea being chopped apart, sort of copied and then filled and faired to create something termed as a new design. The kayak is going to hit the market in the very near future and I'm sure will do well as it was very fast, easily as fast as most 17'-18' kayaks on the market but also turns on a sixpence and very stable as is the larger C-Trek. It will in my mind make an excellent kayak for rock hopping and guiding. Good luck Rob, I hope it does well mate and a big thank you to Gordon, Joan and Roger for supporting us in supporting the Ovarian Cancer Action charity

Jeff

Just Giving page now active

2011-01-13T01:11:00.000-08:00

Apart from paddling around Ireland being a massive big adventure and hopefully a lot of fun, we shall also be trying to raise awareness and money, for the Ovarian Cancer Action charity and we have now initiated our just giving page which can be visited on-line through the following link:

http://www.justgiving.com/AroundIreland2011

We have chosen to this charity because of the loss of Anne Bird, my wife's mother who lost her life to ovarian cancer in 2007, a very big thank you to Deb and Bob, the link was only active minutes and they had donated generously, so cheers guys.

We have set the target of £3000 as this is the amount of miles the three of us will have to paddle to complete the trip, so if you are feeling generous then please do donate, this 'Silent Killer' can affect women anywhere and is a very worthy cause for consideration.

Harry, Chris & Jeff

'When Harry met Taran'

2011-01-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

Image & film courtesy of Vaughan Roberts of Romany Productions

Met up with Harry yesterday and he instantly started to examine the lines of the Taran. I could see he was itching to get in and go for a blast, so this morning after a healthy dose of coffee, the need for caffeine bought about by the previous evenings activities we set off down river towards the city. I gave Harry my Epic Wings so that he could kill two birds with one stone, eager to find a wing that suits him for 'Around Ireland'.

The smile on his face gave me a good indication as to his thoughts on the boat, as he went haring off after the Thames River police launch, in fact he was like a rat up a sewer pipe on every launch that welcomed him aboard their wash. Vaughan from Romany productions and I didn't see Harry for the next half hour as he disappeared into the distance, taken away at about 14 knots, not in handcuffs but certainly locked into a watery groove just feet away from their transom.

Harry eventually returned and Vaughan and I joined him on the water, once more setting off down river. Vaughan now had the chance to film both Harry and I taking it in turns wash hanging the power boat. Harry, being somewhat shorter than I could not reach the foot pedals to control the rudder but this didn't seem to hinder him much when it came to controlling the boat on the face of the wave, in fact both Vaughan and I were incredibly impressed at Harry's skill and agility when only inches away from a propellor blade.

Harry's verdict on the Taran? A resounding 'Thumbs up'

Commenting about just how well the boat surfs I could tell that he was happy with converting to Rockpool, and asked me if I could take his Rapier away with me.

We both ended the day with a swim in Chelsea swimming pool and now having a refreshing pint of beer in his local boozer.

Cheers for now

Jeff

P.S Don't try this at home

A good day on the river

2011-01-08T12:44:00.000-08:00

I had a great day on the River Dart today, I am not what you would really call a river paddler, I feel a lot more comfortable on the sea. River paddling has always felt very much like being an insect in a bath with the plug having been pulled out. In fact rivers scare me a lot more than being at sea in a gale of wind. So why was today so good for me?
Well I got to paddle in the company of excellence...... Deb Pinniger was holding a white water safety and rescue course and I was lucky enough to be a part of it. It wasn't just the content of the course, or the way in which she delivered it, it was also being able to watch a truly skilled paddler perform within her element. Thank's for a great day Deb's, you are a star............Tomorrow I am setting off to paddle on another river, with another star, off to the 'Smoke' and the legend that is........Harry Whelan, a couple of days training with Harry and a visit to the London boat show :) I think the first pints on you mate!
Cheers for now
Jeff

Training paddle 6th Jan

2011-01-06T03:48:00.000-08:00

After 6 days of sailing with clients, I felt an easy paddle was in order, so I set off early to cross to Koi Miy Ton, paddling into a head wind of about 8 to 10 knots, nice and cool; over heating is my biggest problem. As the island slowly grew closer the wind picked up and I was glad to make land fall.

After a 10 min rest I had to decide whether I paddle around the island as planned or go straight back before the wind and seas became worse.

Believing that Ireland will be windy and rough most of the time, I set off around Koi Miy Ton. Only 3 miles ish .... 2hours 17 minutes later I finished! I managed to average approximately 1 knot, whoopee! Another rest, then off home, the return paddle consisted of low braces, stern rudders and the odd forward stroke; passing a friend in the bay who was setting a second Anchor for his boat, he watched laughing, and shouted, 'you should have checked the weather', I returned his greeting with a friendly F*** O**, I was again, glad to make land fall.

A school boy error, I didn't bother with a forecast and paddled into a well forecasted front.

Chris

Chris should have been in a Taran :)

Swim, swim, swim and how easy it is to lose yourself in the pool

2011-01-05T04:13:00.000-08:00

I got up bright and early this morning and set off to the swimming pool, my aim was to try and complete my first measured mile, nautical mile that is-of course. As it was I went a little bit beyond, as I lost count of the 76 lengths needed, so added on an extra 10 or so.

My wife Lizzie who was also swimming with me, decided that it would be a good idea at the 30 length mark to try and pull down my neoprene paddling shorts - this was of course in-advertant, she was in fact just trying to get my attention, but in so doing they filled with water, the change in drag became really obvious to me. No longer a stream lined creature of the deep, now a wobbly water filled Guinness drinker once more!

For the next 40 lengths this played on my mind and I tried to lose myself in the stroke, seeing if the shape I held my hand would catch and release water like a wing blade, then I tried changing the angle my arm entered into and then travelled through the water, instead of pulling water straight back I started to experiment to try and make my strokes longer in the water. It dawned on me that there is, as much technique in swimming as there is in paddling and hull design. Except you are the vessel, my beer belly, even though it is reducing slowly, is like having an underslung deck bag on a kayak, I am going to have to work on that. I then lost myself in thoughts on the Taran's flat bottom, when I went out in Salcombe with Rod and we surfed the swells back from Prawle Point I was managing to pick up swells very easily, the buoyant bow keeps the ride high, certainly in comparison to other boats I've paddled. Once on the swell the kayak would accelerate and almost start skipping, planing I think they call it in boat terms, in my terms it skipped, from one swell to another, I now found that I was starting to try and steer from swell to swell, using the rudder. In retrospect I now realise how much of a reflective learner I am, but I was naturally falling into the groove of doing this in the moment, which isn't reflective at all! Can you see how I lost those 10 lengths?

Anyway back to Lizzie, having failed in de-robing me, she did manage to make me focus on streamlining. That's life, there's always someone to bring you down to earth when your feeling on top of things and in all thing's there is a hidden lesson.

With 16 weeks of training ahead of us all it will be interesting to see the differences which take shape both physically and mentally in each of us over time. We haven't consulted with each other in regards to a set training schedule, each of us are doing our own thing. In the past I have always gone into an expedition knowing that without wind or tide being present I'm happy to manage 30 miles daily, but this time we are all keen to push our own personal limits to see what we can do. Time will tell I guess.

Happy New Year from Salcombe

2011-01-02T13:33:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, hope you all had a great entry into 2011, I certainly did, headed up to Salcombe with my family to see the New Year in and had a great time; even managed to get some training in - several swims, one in the local pool at Kingsbridge where my son and my wife hammered me for an hour doing 50 metre shuttle sprints, and another swim from North Sands beach, v cold, but the dip was a fantastic cure for a rather large hangover, if I could bottle that cure, I'm sure I wouldn't have to work anymore.

Today I was afloat once more in the Taran, meeting up with a good friend of mine, Rod, we set out from North Sands beach. Rod was in his brand new Carbon Kevlar Nordkapp, which looked very shiny indeed as we set off for Prawle Point, the wind was blowing steadily at between a 3 and 4 from the east and directly across the tide, which was going to make for a fun surf home. But first we set off for a bit of rock hopping, a chunky 3-4' swell made this an interesting couple of hours, partly because of the conditions, but also because of the rudder on the Taran. I've got so used to edging my turns that I'm inadvertently applying the rudder whilst also edging, sometimes with the wrong foot, ( I'll get the hang of it eventually!) so quite often I end up stalling the turn and then have to paddle backwards to re-align. Then I had to work out the rudder in astern, this was a good exercise, especially given the conditions, after the first scratch to the shiny new Gel coat, the learning curve grew a little less steep and I began to relax. I felt I had started to nail it by the time we ran the small channel between Prawle Point and the outer rocks.
We then surfed home, once more the Taran has ticked all of the boxes for me, picking up numerous linked runs, connecting swell after swell, surging and streaming with ease down the faces; the boat is very fast downwind and I had some fantastic runs of several hundred meters.

Once more, happy new year to all - looking forward to seeing you soon in London for some Catholic paddling Harry.

Jeff

Art in the Park

2010-12-28T13:36:00.000-08:00

Chin ups today and a good work out in the pool, had a "road to Damascus" moment in the park before training. The piece of work is by Anish Kapoor in the photo above. Looking at my reflection made me think of the reality of training and focusing on the trip, while I am getting on and building fitness both Jeff and Chris are doing the same but in completely different environments. Lots of work and training to do as well as sorting the kayaking facility I manage here on the tidal Thames in the new year. Lets hope the pubs around the Irish coast don't turn into art gallery's, ( due to the melt down of the Irish economy) as I doubt I would ever get out of them with my new found love of art!

Harry

Boat ,pool and bar but not a beer in sight!

2010-12-27T10:13:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was boxing day and it was cold, i did 2 x 6 mile paddles both against the tide, out with it and back against. on the first paddle the temperature was so low that the beads of water off the paddle tips were freezing on the fore deck , when I got off the water the whole rear deck had a coating of ice from the rear of the cockpit to the stern. At least I had a option today the 27th and headed into the pool to train, I like cross training especially in the pool. Over the past few weeks my swimming fitness has been getting better and today i took hand paddles along with my pull buoy and training fins. crawling for 1 km then using fins and kick board and finally finishing by using the hand paddles, after an hour in the pool I felt I had done a good work out. I have moved away from using wings in my kayak however swimming with the hand paddles feels very similar to a work out in a kayak with large wing blades. After a shower I headed to the bar not for a pint but to do some stretching and chin ups on the out door gym in battersea park. Tomorrow it will be warmer and I will get back into the boat.

Harry

Training contrasts and the Taran

2010-12-24T02:22:00.000-08:00

I just thought I would mention something about the contrasts in all of our training locations, I've got to say I'm rather envious of Chris, here Harry and I are, both freezing our butts off to get on the water, when in fact Chris is mentioning about the amounts of fluid he loses during a training session. Anyway I've just got back from a surf session in the Taran, I was going to do some endurance work but the surf was peachy clean and way to tempting. Size was about a surfers 3 occasionally 4 ft. Longer swell faces, so not so steep as the other day and easier and longer rides which were picked up well outside of the surf zone, giving me rides of 200meters plus. I used my Lendal paddle this time instead of the wings, also I made sure that the rudder didn't jam with pebbles before heading out, a different state of tide meant no dump to negotiate. The Taran catches the waves very easily, the rudder works superbly to lock the flat mid section in place, especially on the longer gentler sets and maintained steerage either side of straight by about 10 degrees. Altering the body position and leaning back releases the fore foot considerably, leaning forward and it grip well then tracks both ends, release the rudder and the stern slips down wave.
Without the rudder I would occasionally slip out off the wave because of the flat mid-section but this may well change with a heavier ladened boat.
I started to experiment with the rudder, thinking if it was up when bongo sliding this would help protect it if I hit the beach, but the wave action tends to crank the rudder over and then this served to hold me on the wave and I ended up surfing backwards at 45 degrees on several occasions (any tips from anyone with rudder experience here would be most welcome), in this instance the best way off the wave for me was to capsize with the wave, so next few runs I left it down and this then gave me a degree of control whilst bongo sliding and I could maintain diagonal runs much easier in the white. As I approached the beach I'd have to jam the shaft of the paddle under my stomach and brace one handed whilst lifting the rudder blade for protection. When the stern is free of the wave and your still biased towards the face the flat bottom works really well and you can just drop the chine to determine direction. I have a bit of a bad back at the moment so I didn't work on edging to much but its certainly stable enough to edge with confidence (next time).

I can't wait for you guys to try this kayak out, I hope you have as much enjoyment as I've had today out of it. Yesterday I went out and did the measured mile between Pendennis point and Fraggle Rock and at a strong expedition pace I managed to do it in a little over 10 minutes. I'm impressed.

My personal assessment is that there is still lots for me to learn with this boat, especially the rudder, which definitely improves this kayaks performance. Today I probably had one of my best surf days, ever, the boat is very impressive.

Anyway back to you Chris, seems like your living the hard life, I hope you don't mind but Im going to post those photographs of the training hardships your having to endure. Final shot is one for the ladies

Start and finish point Ao Chalong Bay

Turning mark

Chris returning home, it's a hard life

Training in Thailand

2010-12-21T12:02:00.000-08:00

Tuesday 21st: Went for a training paddle today in my trusty Nordkapp , wishing it was a Taran or as it was calm maybe Harry's Rapier a very sharp looking boat. I paddled from the house across the bay and around Koi Lon then crossing to Coral Island for a Coke and a rest, setting off again, getting hot now the sun is fully up-it's 1100hrs and I am sat in a puddle of sweat, going into melt down- around Coral Island and back to Koi Lon and finally back home , now a bit sun burnt as I did not bother with sun block (big mistake i should know better). Standing in the shower in the garden i realy wish i was with Jeff upside down in a Cornish wave (bet that was cold). Chris

Images to follow

Surfing the Taran for the first time

2010-12-20T09:09:00.000-08:00

As mentioned in a previous post, I managed to get out in the Taran at the weekend and test it out in the surf for the first time. Watch me getting nailed by Neptune during the session at Swanpool Beach.

Video courtesy of Simon Osborne- Sea Kayaking Cornwall

Different boat-different day

2010-12-20T05:47:00.000-08:00

It's cool today, I spent a lot of time slipping and sliding on my way in on the bike but I finally got to the boat shed.

I Paddled the Rapier to London Bridge and back and it was rather cold.

It took 74minutes to paddle the 4.5miles against the tide and came back

on the flood. The Rapier is a difficult kayak to paddle well, it feels like

you use a lot of abdominal muscles to edge the boat and wash hanging is

completely different than in the Knordkapp. Anyway I am off to the pool

now to warm down and get in a 1km swim.

Harry Whelan

Team to meet at the Kayakathon

2010-12-20T03:25:00.000-08:00

It looks like the first chance 'Team Expedition Paddler' will have the opportunity to get together will be at the London Kayakathon. Chris signed up for the event over the weekend and shall be joining Jeff and Harry there.

The London Kayakathon’s founder Simon Osborne started the event ‘Kayaking For Cancer’ in 2002 and has since raised over £30,000 for Leukaemia Research in memory of his brother Mark.

The London Kayakathon is an event whereby participants will be able to paddle the full distance of the London Marathon on the same day as the road race is performed, raising money for charities of their choice. For more information on this event go to: http://www.londonkayakathon.com/

Homegrown surf and the Taran

2010-12-19T11:26:00.000-08:00

I couldn't believe it when I received a text from Roz this morning (Simon's girlfriend) to say that she had repaired a hole in my wetsuit and that the surf at our local beach, Swanpool was looking good. There's nothing better than a bit of homegrown surf rather than having to travel far. So this gave me the perfect opportunity to grab the Taran and get out for a wee ride or two.

It was bitterly cold so I didn't stay in for long, but long enough to say that I was very pleased with the boat, I wanted to try the rudder out as well but the first wave that dumped on me managed to jam the blade so I didn't get to use it at all. I was not so pleased with using the wings in the surf, I should have taken my Lendal's, still we live and learn, that's why we carry spares, it wasn't that they let me down in any way, I think I was just on sensory overload, new boat, different paddle and chunky surf, which is unusual for Swanpool but we had a strong easterly wind blow in over night, but by the time I arrived at the beach it had switched off shore and was now holding the faces up nicely. I hope to get some video edited and a link up soon so you can take a look for yourselves. Happy Christmas guys, hope you all have a good one:)

First time in my new Taran

2010-12-18T14:40:00.000-08:00

I took the Taran out today for the first time, sea was flat as a Dab and hardly any wind, just had to get it wet though, my son Ollie is home for Christmas and he came along to, still waiting for the surf, maybe Monday.

New boat to play with

2010-12-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

A good day

Its always a good day when you get a new boat, today I picked up the Rockpool Taran Which I shall be using for our Ireland trip. I am very happy indeed, Mike is a fantastic craftsmen who obviously knows his job, both inside and out.

Now am I taking a bit of a gamble here? I am an SKUK sponsored paddler, so why am I in a Rockpool Kayak?

I am stepping away from a boat I have sworn by since 2003. The SKUK Explorer has always been to me, a well tried, proven and trusty steed! Truth is I still think, as an all round expedition sea kayak, for 99 times out of 100 uses, it fits the bill, trouble is, this trip is about that 1% that I have never really explored...........Speed & Racing.

Nigel Dennis as yet doesn't make an 'Ocean Racer' and Rockpool does.

So do other manufacturers I know! So why the Taran?

Well it has something to do with having the right tool for the job. Is it the right tool? Well time will tell and so to will the Cornish Surf when I get home.

My choice of tool in this instance, does also have something to do with its designer- John Willacy.

John and I first met when I was supervising the sea safety for the Hebridean Challenge adventure race several years ago. A highly motivated and superfit racer who pretty much ruled the event, certainly the paddle-sport activities. He mentioned then, that he was developing a race boat, so I kept my eyes and my ears open.

Almost a year later I heard how John had been steadily working his way through a whole series of established records in and around the Irish Sea. So earlier this year when Harry asked me if I fancied having a crack at paddling around Ireland with him it was too much for me to bear and curiosity killed this cat.

So a couple of months ago, I gave Mike a call and asked him if he would let me test out this new addition to the Rockpool fleet.

Meeting up with Mike, we took two Taran's out from Rhoscollyn Bay on Holy Island, Anglesey and then headed up through the inside of the beacon, towards Treardhur Bay, a steady swell from the nor-west and a good surface chop bought about by the steady force four wind blowing across the tide. Perfect conditions for the job of seeing what all the fuss was about I thought?

Anyway the first thing that impressed me was the speed which John took off at, wait for me I thought.... the second thing that impressed me, only minutes later, was that in my efforts to keep up with him(I'm no racer yet!) I didn't have to once, think about the stability of the kayak, which, with so many race boats is a definate factor to consider.

This stabilty factor is really essential, especially for what we are planning, as you need a solid platform to maintain good technique and drive. Did I say I had good technique? Well I thought I did, until John gave me a wee bit of coaching in using the wing. My apologies, I know I'm now digressing a bit,

We spent a good hour paddling out and back, we took on a couple of rock gardens, we ran a few gulleys and entered several caves, I wasn't expecting this, the boat manouvres exceptionally well, with or without the rudder, John was obviously showing me that the boat isn't just a speed machine.

I have never really used a rudder too much before and had chosen to try the return leg without it, it handled exceptionally well considering the following seas, the boat surfs a treat, in fact it was an absolute thrill, long, long rides- rudder is still going to take a bit of getting used to though.

All in all, its been a good day, now let's see about that surf?

Web work, feeling like a spider

2010-12-11T14:49:00.000-08:00

Web thingys!
Just trying to sort out the web site and blog account, feel like a spider, every time a thread is woven, I change my mind and re do it, anyway slowly getting there I have been asking Harry for a bio and an image for several days now, but being the humble chappy that he is, he's acting very shy, or he's out on the beer, latter option no doubt. Webs sort of up and running, just got to get some new images to replace the previous expedition images. Chris is out in Thailand, training hard, going to need to start training soon myself, and Harry, well he's always paddling hard (Catholic paddling as he calls it). Still need an image or two Chris if you happen to read this mate?

Test Blogg

2010-12-10T04:41:00.000-08:00

Here we go guys, good luck with your training