September 6th, Day 85. Woke up feeling nervous of a repeat. I kept saying to myself, today HAS to be good. Steve brought me back to the tall grass and went to work. I pulled the boat to the beach and slowly got everything together. I was against the tide again on the way there which, I should have cut into the beach more to avoid the speed of the flood but I was just in the straight shot mindset. Quite the tidal race coming into Lough Foyle, that was fun and bouncy but I was worried it would be that way on the outer side of the Donegal peninsula, where you’re unsheltered from the open Atlantic.
As I approached the beach before rounding the corner, I was paddling in and slowly saw someone bee line in towards where I was going to land. When I got close he shouted out “Ariel??” And I called back “..yeah?” And it turns out he has been following my whole trip on Facebook and had paddled around in the ‘80s. I was so exhausted and didn’t want to chat so we had a brief conversation and I went to eat my lunch and take a break. What are the odds he was on the beach the exact time I came. I took a Power Nap leaned against a rock, I must have looked like a lunatic to people on the beach, watching me sing and talk to myself and nap sitting upright. Head back off after having a meal replacement shake as well and although I am enjoying them and get get them down, they aren’t the kindest on my stomach and I just end up filling my dry suit with methane. When I had paddled until the sun had set, I found a spot on a beautiful long sandy beach and immediately on arrival there were two women there on their walk to greet me. I was tired and didn’t want to chat much and just set up my stuff but they insisted on bringing me dinner if I wanted anything and I was glad to say yes please. And I’m sure glad they did because when they came back they brought a parade of shopping bags full with food and one of the woman’s three daughters. It was so sweet, they had packed me pasta in to go containers, a hot flask with tea bags and a jug of milk, all kinds of food, brown bread and butter, a soapy towel to wipe my face with and a postcard with kind words on it. It was so precious. I ate my pasta while I had a good phone call with my mom, she loves seeing all the Irish names of people commenting on my posts about my trip. She feels like it’s a great community from all the way across the world and I agree it is.
