June 26th - 29th, Day 12 - 15. Had a lovely couple of days off staying with a paddler named Peter in Tramore area. On the 26th I paddled into some caves and passed the metal man of Tramore, turns out there’s only two around the country and now I’ve seen both from the sea. The other is in Sligo. So now it’s getting good, the east coast was quite flat and long sandy beaches was just fine and pleasant but now I am paddling past and around big beautiful cliffs and arches and caves and it only gets better from here.
So then the wind picked up and I pulled into Kilfarrasy beach where Peter collected me and I was able to really clean my gear from all the sand that accumulates in everything and do some other bits. I oiled my Greenland paddle that John Wilkinson made me and glued new heel pads in so my heels don’t wear holes through the boat. I also met Mic O’Meara! Legendary paddler who holds the record for the circumnavigation, a mere 23 days. Cool guy and it’s always inspiring to hear others stories and all that. He even saw me off when I launched back out as the wind shifted to a northerly vs the 25 mph in the face that is was the days I took off. Got to spend time with Peter and Suzanne, went to Dunmore East for a swim and the tea and cake after with their swim group (I didn’t swim, I’m uncomfortable enough outdoors). We went to the pub directly across from Peter’s house and there was an afters of a wedding happening too. I always appreciate a warm bed and a fluffy duvet so much more these days. Today on the 29th, I paddled into dense fog for a bit but it cleared as the wind shifted, and paddled through this unreal arch that was a massive stand alone rock/island that had the tunnel going through it. It was so cool and the sea was totally still inside. That’s the stuff I wanted to do this trip for, and to be able to spend a little time floating inside cool things like that. Then I made the choice to camp in a more protected cove vs open beach because the wind was blowing at the time but the walk up the beach pulling the heavy boat on the trolley was ridiculously long. Probably like a quarter of a mile. Oh well, it’s cozy in here.
