Seekajaktour: Umrundung Irlands im Seekajak 2015

In high waves keep your spirits high
Aproaching Ross Port (North Mayo) and having some fun close to the cliffs
The Ross Port break-out
Of many conditions we coped with later on – the Rossport-break-out might be worth
to mention. Being stuck again for around 2 days but well looked after by Ray and his
family in Ross Port, the wind was supposed to drop down. From the garden of Ray´s
house, where we were allowed to camp, we could see the “white horses” raging into
Ross Port Bay. What seemed to be a sheltered harbour turned out to be a
mousetrap. The strong westerly force 8 to 9 winds, in combination with the catabatic
winds of the mountain nearby had caused a big surf zone, tricky but manageable.
Anyway, the wind had dropped down to force 6 and we left for a “short afternoon”
paddle, quite windy still, but sunny. When we passed the surf zone, we turned right
towards Kid Island and found ourselves not only in a stunning landscape, but in a sea
with rather big swells – Mirco although being less than 6 m away, sometimes seemed
rather small when I looked up or down to him. We later learned the swell was meant
to be about 4,20 m and found out that this was “one of the most challenging paddles
ever”. A phrase which seemed to accompany us for almost the whole journey. After
having turned round Kid Island our struggle was rewarded by the sight of the Stacks
of Broad Haven. The waves were still really big. For me the challenge was not to get
impressed by their height. So I tried to stay calm by cracking “funny” jokes. For
example I asked Mirco: “How would you call the strong wind combined with big seas
in North Mayo?” The answer: “mayonnaise” – not that funny, but for us it was worth a
laugh and allowed us to cope with the conditions.
© Christian Dingenotto 2015
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