July 28, Day 45. I rose with the sun and was greeted with warmth. The sunrise was just gorgeous and I could see the bright orange of the sun through my tent before I unzipped the door and it was just so serene and gorgeous. Packed up my things and got on the water at 8, and as I was leaving a man from the very north took some drone footage as I was leaving which was nice. Just as I pushed off from the beach, I saw and waved goodbye to my new island resident friends. Simon (different than Dutch Simon) gave a slow and big armed wave from the hill coming down, and sweet Paul was just getting to the beach after I had pushed off and was paddling away. The way he arrived at the end of the shore was as if he has something to tell me, with a soft wave and a slowed down pace from before as he got to the edge. I was hit with a tinge of guilt, and almost turned around to say goodbye again but I feared I wouldn’t leave today if I had. I do wish I had stayed but I had a good window.
So I paddled on and headed straight for the cliffs of north west dingle. The sea and wind were quite calm and I was happy the sun was out but not hot yet. Paddling past the sheer wall of cliff side was just incredible. The early yellow light hit them and illuminated the green on the other side and there were barely any clapotis waves coming back at me. I had an amazing wind and swell behind me which has just been such a rare occurrence. I stopped for a wee in Swerwick harbor and once I was on the stretch towards Brandon Creek, then conditions kept building and although behind me, it started shifting to the side and blowing a force 6. So good thing the plan was to pop off in Brandon Creek and a friend of a friend collected me and brought me to her home. We were similar in age and got on immediately, was a lovely lady. She had to run and do some things so I had a sunny place to myself to do laundry, wash things, charge my devices and take a shower. Later I made ravioli and sank into the couch. How appreciated is a couch. I slept on a very comfy air mattress with a very fluffy duvet. A total joy.
