Seekajaktour: Umrundung Irlands im Seekajak 2015

started being easy going north and we believed we made good progress until we
ended up - fully geared seakayakers as we were - in a tiny little creek less than 1,20
m wide. So it was time to ask for the way again. Leaving the kayaks behind,
stumbling through the wet swampy area of the creek, climbing up a slope, walking up
a small road then arriving at a farm still fully geared up. First Mark Leneghan, the
farmer we met, wondered if we were parachutists. When we told our story he showed
us on his smartphone where we really were: Due to the spring tide we had moved
north to Muingtreana parallel to the inlet into the Belmullet direction. Mark even tried
to find us a trailer for the boats because the right inlet was less than 2 km down the
road. But no way we had to go back the way we came (another 15 km), because the
tide had turned already and we risked getting stuck in the mud for the next six hours
at least. So Mark even accompanied us back to our boats (perhaps making sure that
we really were no parachutists) and took some
photos of sea kayakers in one of the weirdest
situations ever. Then we hurried through the last
drops of receding water. When we were safely back
into deeper areas I just started laughing. The whole
story was too funny and too absurd to start
quarrelling again. After we finally reached Belmullet
we had a long break waiting for the tide to turn. And
with our usual amounts of coffee and cake we
managed to talk it over, matching our expectations
to the circumstances of the trip and thus becoming
a team. Just before we left Belmullet a white van
stopped at the pier: “Oh, so you found it finally”, said
the man. “Who are you?” asked Mirco “I am the
postman. Just talked to Mark Leneghan today. So
stay safe and good luck”. Now, it was really time to
leave before our “fame” as first navigators of the
Muingtreana Creek would have spread in the whole
region. However, we left as a team - finally.
If it goes well - never go too far:
The Kilkee-Trip
After a choppy passage round Kerry Head, the crossing of the “feared” River
Shannon was almost easy going. So we landed quite early at Kilbaha celebrating the
crossing as usual with coffee and cake. “Just another 15 km”, we thought, “round
Loop Head than into Goleen Bay.” I could have asked at the pub if Goleen was a
safe landing, but I did not. We just “made” the Shannon. Why ask? We know what we
were doing, at least that is what we thought. So we turned round Loop Head into
crossing seas. There was no way getting closer to the shore less than 800m and no
way of exactly making sure where we were. So we paddled on and on, looking for a
sheltered beach and Gholeen Bay or the Bridges of Ross as a safe landing. It got
dusk and finally we saw a bay and the tiny blinking lights of a town. The bay was
sheltered, but it was sheltered by a big reef blocking the swell to get in and almost
blocking us as well with huge 2 m breaking waves to get through as well.
© Christian Dingenotto 2015
31