#125 - Exploring Ireland's East Coast, RNLI, and the challenge of going solo with Caoimhe Connor

WEBVTT

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Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the

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Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking.

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I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started Paddling the Blue.

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Welcome to today's episode of Paddling the Blue.

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Kiva Conner is today's guest on the show. Kiva shares the inside details on

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the lesser-talked-about East Coast of Ireland and its wealth of paddling opportunities.

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We'll also talk about her personal involvement with the RNLI,

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why she's not a big fan of solo paddling, and her unfinished business with Ireland and Iceland.

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Thanks to Amber Champion from episode 112 for making the connection.

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Before we get to Kiva, James and Simon at OnlineSeaKyaking.com continue to produce

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great content to help you evolve as a paddler and as a coach.

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You'll find everything from basic strokes and safety to paddling in tides,

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surfing, coaching, documentaries, expedition skills, incident management,

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and more. It's all in one place.

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Enjoy today's episode with Kiva Conner.

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Hello, Kiva. Thank you for joining me today.

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Hi, Joel. I appreciate you taking the time. So you've got quite a varied water

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background, so tell me about your history with water.

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Well, I suppose I have always loved the water. I used to play water polo as a kid.

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And then in 2011, I did a traineeship in Tullymore where I work now,

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the National Outdoor Centre here in Ireland.

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And I really wanted to take on whitewater paddling.

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But Ireland, we don't really get a lot of whitewater unless we have lots of

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rain and consistent rain or else our rivers drop.

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So that year wasn't a great year for getting into my whitewater paddling.

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So Mike Baclera, a local coach here who worked at the centre,

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used to run Tuesday night sea kayaking sessions for him and his friends.

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And he invited me along to see if I'd like sea kayaking instead.

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And he had a bit of a competition. So I'm quite competitive,

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even though I'm not very good at anything.

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And I came second because Mike came first, obviously.

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And he said because I'd done

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so well I could get a prize to go to Scotland with

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him and it was the first time I realized that sea kayaking had white water really

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he brought me to the grade augs which is just south of Lunga Island in Scotland

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in the open region and there there's a tidal race that It goes up to, I think, 8 knots.

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And it creates this, he described it as a grade 5 rapid.

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And I went through that following him and didn't capsize.

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And I just remember the adrenaline and trying to take a video of it after on my camera.

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And my hand was just shaking.

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And so I was kind of hooked off of that.

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And that trip, we went to the Garbellix, which overlook the narrow straits of Corrie Reckon.

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And there was this oil tanker trying to make its way up through the strait there.

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And it was just pushing against this massive flue. And it was just amazing to

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watch the power of the ocean.

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Yeah, I think that was kind of where it all started.

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But I enjoy all aspects of paddle sports.

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I do a bit of open canoeing as well, mainly in whitewater, but I do a bit of open water too.

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We have quite a lot of like Stratford and Loch Nye and Loch Arne where we can

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paddle on locks here. and then I do a bit of whitewater kayaking to paddle boarding as well.

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Okay, so you still get down on whitewater a little bit too?

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Yeah, actually yesterday was my first time out this year in my little kayak,

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and we went down Bimburb Steps.

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The level wasn't amazing but it was really nice

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to be back in a little boat but a little

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bit terrifying I hadn't been in it in so long and

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just you know in a open canoe which is

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what I would paddle most in whitewater you're able

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to stand up and see pick a line and get quite

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a good view coming up the drop but in a

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little kayak you're just seeing the horizon line and hoping for the best sometimes

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so yeah it was it was a good day so 2011 you took that first uh that first course

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how long was it from there when you when you did that competition and then end up going to scotland.

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So Mike would have ran a Tuesday night throughout the summer.

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So it usually started, I think, in May and run through till end of August.

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And that was every Tuesday evening. Okay. And it was just like a little bit

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of a bit of crack, you know.

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See, you know, you got points for if you had to roll or if you had to self-rescue,

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you know, you got three points. If you turned up, you just got one point.

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And then the paddles were graded as well, depending on.

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What level like if there was you know strengthford there's

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the narrows there so that would have been a grade three

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paddle because you need to have a bit more experience whereas if

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you were doing further up into the lock it would have been a grade one paddle

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because it's a bit more sheltered with the islands and things like that but

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yeah so after august i think he invited me and i think we I went off at the

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end of September to Scotland and did a long weekend trip.

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And I was actually preparing Ciaran Tasna and Nileman for his level five.

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I think it was the last level five that ran.

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That's a pretty short period of time to be able to go from start to handling some big Thai races.

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Yeah, the funny part of it was that I hadn't done any qualifications yet in sea kayaking. Okay.

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And Mike had said, you know, if you want to get your three star,

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we can do that, which was it's a personal performance award in the old system.

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So I went and did my three star and probably what is now seen as advanced sea conditions.

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So yeah, it was a lot of fun.

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You mentioned a term in there that I want to make sure that I kind of level

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set my expectations and everybody else. You mentioned loch.

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And so loch, is that what I would refer to here in the US as a lake?

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So Stringford loch is actually a sea loch. So it's an opening into the land.

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So if you look at Ireland, it's kind of like a teddy bear sitting on its side.

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Okay. And at the top of the head there, you'll see, if you look at Google Maps,

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there's a little opening just towards the end of the teddy bear's ear.

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And that would be Strangford Lock right in there.

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We do have lakes, which are called locks. So Loch Ness is the big lake almost

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at the top of the head too, you'll see.

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So I just wanted to make sure that I was equating those similarly.

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So what are some of your favorite areas to paddle on? You're near Belfast, right?

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So I actually live in Newcastle County Down, which is just at the foot of the Moor Mountains. Okay.

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So yeah, we've got some amazing water. so from Belfast right down to Carlingford

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Lock which is another sea lock.

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So working your way down you've got the Gobbins

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there which is a sea cliff area with a

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little island above it Muck Island and you

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have some good tides running through there because you've

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got the squeeze of Scotland and Ireland together in the

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air sea there so I think it goes up

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to about five knots in between Muck and the

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mainland land and I suppose

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our east coast is always underrated which

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is quite unfortunate but there's actually some amazing

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paddling we have then more

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local to me Strangford Lock and like

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I've said Strangford Narrows there so it

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is at the opening of the lock

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there the narrows it's about nine kilometers in

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length and at its most narrowest

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point that's about 600 meters wide so that

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section of strengthford lock runs like a river because it's so narrow and that's

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why it's called now on an ebb and tide it's probably it's most interesting because

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you have things like up at Stranford,

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between Stranford and Port of Frey, just below that you have the Routon Wheel and the.

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Has some really cool features like boils

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and whirlpools which is caused by a ridge of rock that runs under the water

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i think it's only about four meters under the water um and below that is about

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18 meters of depth so you can imagine whenever the water hits that shallow it just,

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creates all these mental.

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Features which is really cool, really good feature to

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play on but it also has some really good eddies so

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if you are experienced enough you have lots

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of safe water to paddle into and then

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play in that area and then

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below that you've got Angus Rock which is literally

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a rock with a cool lighthouse that sits

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on top of it and it's a really good spot for

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a barbecue or a picnic now but also

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because the flow of the water hitting there you

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get some good waves that form off

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there at different heights of the tide but also there's

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a little wrap at the forms beside the

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lighthouse on the ebb and it's not

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too big or intimidating so you can

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really play with your ferry gliding and even dropping into it is quite fun and

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then somewhere that's never really paddled apart from people who are really

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local part that would be not really spoken about as much would be the mouth of the Narls.

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It's super deep so it creates this really nice clean zone for surf.

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Now that you need to be aware because it can get dangerous in strong southerlies

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and southeasterlies and even easterlies.

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So it is for more experienced paddlers and being at the mouth of the loch as well.

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If things do go wrong, you're going quite a distance out from the loch on an ebb, which.

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Be a bit intimidating so maybe why we don't

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see as many people playing there but it is

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a fantastic place to surf yeah that's some unique features for sure yeah no

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it isn't actually in the pilot for the yachts um it's it's described as one

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of the most dangerous places to get into because of all the tile flow that's going on.

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But in our Stranford Lack, there's a lot more options for chilled out paddles.

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There's lots of little islands that create shelter on even a windy day.

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You can find lots of little spots to hide and just go for nice paddles and see some wildlife.

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Now, what is the wildlife like in that area? We have quite a lot of seals.

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We have a good population of birds as well.

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So you'll have the cormorant and lots of kittiwakes, guillemots as well.

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You'll sometimes stay around. Okay.

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And do the seals and such come all the way up into the logg?

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Yeah, yeah. All over Ireland, we seem to have so many seals and they're very friendly.

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So they'll come up and be very interested and follow you.

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Around. They're cool. Now you mentioned the east coast there just doesn't see

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as much interest or as much press, I suppose you'd call it. Why do you suppose that is?

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I think because we have the Atlantic Ocean on the west.

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It gets a lot more exposure and just looks cooler.

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Yeah. What is the landscape like over in the east side?

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It's mixed so going from

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yeah like you get so much variation so

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where i live locally we have newcastle

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there's a big bay here we have sandy beaches

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which can be a bit boring to paddle along

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but then we have these cool cliffs

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that run up into the mooran mountains

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and along that coastline there's

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some caves we have lots of history around the

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cliffs as well you've got bloody bridge and maggie's leap and there's lots of

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little local stories based on those which i won't try and explain yeah you've

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got two massive locks as well so strangford lock carlingford lock,

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both with tide running in and out of there.

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So to some degree, do you prefer to keep it quiet?

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Yeah maybe maybe you

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kind of like not having uh all that uh all that press because

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you can kind of enjoy the area and make it feel a little

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wild i think like ireland

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is just so unique in that we have so

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much coastline that's so different and it

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doesn't take very much distance to

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get something different so you'll always

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find something in your local area where you can paddle even in the lakes of

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of belfast where it's a city you don't have to travel very far to find somewhere

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that feels like it's in the middle of nowhere okay and and see wildlife and islands and races,

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we have got it all and so but I think people just like the idea of being on

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the Atlantic coast it's like next up is America and the RC it feels like quite

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small because Scotland's only across the road really.

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Still interesting nonetheless and you've got a varied territory Yeah it's incredible So,

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yeah, we've got a lot going on, which is...

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If you could recommend one paddle to somebody in your area, where would that be?

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I think it would be going to Angus Rock and, yeah, playing at the mouth of Strengthford Lock.

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If you like a bit of surf, it's cracking.

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So now you also do some work with the RNLI. Yeah.

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So tell me about that. How'd that start? So I started as a crew member in Aberdovay.

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I used to live in Wales and work for Outward Bound in Aberdovay.

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And after an incident on the beach, I decided to join the lifeboat to see,

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to get trained up, I suppose, and learn more about how you can help people who are in need on the water.

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And the RNLI are just a fantastic organisation it's all voluntary,

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our crew but with all

00:16:15.914 --> 00:16:19.454
the donations that are made to the RNLI we

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as crew get trained up to a

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really high standard so last year I

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completed my helm pass out

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which means i suppose in

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theory the captain of the d-class

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which is the smallest on the fleet

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of boats that darnel i have smallest lifeboat

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it's just a very small rib we can take four crew on that boat and you kneel

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in it so you can imagine in the rougher water it's not exactly great for the

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knees but it's a fantastic boat for getting into small spaces and on the beaches.

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During LA have done research and it's actually the workhorse of the fleet so

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I'm very proud to be the helm of that boat yeah congratulations thanks so what is the training like.

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There's a range of training, so it depends on where you are on your pathway as crew.

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But the first thing that you'll do as a new member is you'll do a CEP course,

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which is all about sea survival.

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So you're brought over to Poole.

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Poole is in England, south of England.

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And they have a massive college there right on the Poole harbour.

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And they have a big pool built there, an actual swimming pool.

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And there you are put in your kit and they capsize boats. You're on the boat

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being capsized. You have to climb back into the boat.

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You're then put in life rafts. You have to swim in your full all-weather clothing as well.

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It's pretty intense. the last thing that they

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get you to do as well is jump off a large

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platform i think it's about 10

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meters into the water so that

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you can feel your life jacket going off and

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then you swim over to your life raft and i think we spent about

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15 minutes in a life raft with strobes going off and the wind machine blowing

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waves everywhere a couple of the trainers throwing things at you I think there

00:18:40.812 --> 00:18:46.532
was a shark and someone's severed arm and bits and pieces like that.

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So it is a lot of fun, that course.

00:18:49.892 --> 00:18:53.712
But it's a really good learning experience of what you're putting yourself into

00:18:53.712 --> 00:18:59.392
as well, because we are going out in the worst conditions to save lives.

00:19:00.392 --> 00:19:04.232
We do other things around seamanship, navigation.

00:19:05.032 --> 00:19:09.232
There's really good command course, which teaches you about being a leader.

00:19:10.072 --> 00:19:14.932
And that usually is whenever you're going for your helm pass out so that you're

00:19:14.932 --> 00:19:20.232
really switched into how you actually lead your team and making the right decisions

00:19:20.232 --> 00:19:23.972
about whatever rescue mission you're on.

00:19:24.472 --> 00:19:28.172
Well, again, congratulations. Now, how long have you been working with RNLI?

00:19:28.652 --> 00:19:35.452
It's probably close to 10 years now. I did have a gap because I went traveling to Canada,

00:19:36.272 --> 00:19:42.872
so I suppose in total maybe seven years I'm actively volunteering with them

00:19:42.872 --> 00:19:46.792
alright now how has working with the lifeboat helped you as a paddler.

00:19:48.455 --> 00:19:53.935
I think being a paddler has helped me more with the lifeboat in that I understand the sea.

00:19:54.115 --> 00:19:59.455
I think as paddlers, we get a lot more intimate with the coastline and beaches

00:19:59.455 --> 00:20:03.815
in particular, sometimes with a mouthful of sand at the end of the day.

00:20:04.715 --> 00:20:11.675
We get humbled a lot easier, a lot quicker, I suppose, in a small craft.

00:20:11.835 --> 00:20:17.695
But also you realise what a small kayak is capable of doing.

00:20:17.695 --> 00:20:23.295
You know at the amount of times I've been out at sea doing a downwind run and

00:20:23.295 --> 00:20:28.955
maybe a 4-7 came into a harbour and a fisherman's been there going were you like not today.

00:20:30.335 --> 00:20:33.955
They're pretty amazed by what our kayaks

00:20:33.955 --> 00:20:37.215
can actually withstand and that has carried

00:20:37.215 --> 00:20:40.495
through that when it comes to teaching my

00:20:40.495 --> 00:20:44.415
crew about surf landings and actually

00:20:44.415 --> 00:20:47.115
you you know where you want to position yourself in a

00:20:47.115 --> 00:20:49.815
big swell with breaking waves because we've got a

00:20:49.815 --> 00:20:53.015
small inflatable boat they can capsize so

00:20:53.015 --> 00:20:55.955
quickly so we have to understand that trim of where

00:20:55.955 --> 00:20:58.775
we want the boat to be on the wave so that we don't get

00:20:58.775 --> 00:21:01.695
thrown over i'd love

00:21:01.695 --> 00:21:05.275
to hear one of your favorite experiences of working

00:21:05.275 --> 00:21:12.215
on a lifeboat i would say probably just the crew that you have like we have

00:21:12.215 --> 00:21:21.015
training nights every Thursday and we've had some tough times and the crew we

00:21:21.015 --> 00:21:24.195
always have the crack in Ireland crack is.

00:21:25.256 --> 00:21:28.496
Laugh you know and they definitely

00:21:28.496 --> 00:21:31.396
make it all worthwhile you know

00:21:31.396 --> 00:21:34.756
even whenever we're having the hard times the

00:21:34.756 --> 00:21:38.136
crew will will always bring ourselves back

00:21:38.136 --> 00:21:44.476
together it is kind of a nice family community feel to the organization and

00:21:44.476 --> 00:21:50.076
i think the rnli have always been that's what it's always been about was every

00:21:50.076 --> 00:21:55.576
every community was kind of centered around that lifeboat in a lot of rural

00:21:55.576 --> 00:21:57.816
areas as well in Ireland.

00:21:58.416 --> 00:22:02.996
Well, again, congratulations on your work there and thank you for your work there.

00:22:03.296 --> 00:22:09.996
If you could pass along one thing to paddlers as a member of the lifeboat crew,

00:22:10.236 --> 00:22:12.016
what would you want to pass along to paddlers?

00:22:12.636 --> 00:22:17.096
Knowing how to look after yourself and your team that you have out paddling with you.

00:22:17.376 --> 00:22:22.016
Making sure you practice those rescues at the start of every season,

00:22:22.016 --> 00:22:25.076
being slick at them and doing

00:22:25.076 --> 00:22:27.896
that with the people that you paddle with so that you're all

00:22:27.896 --> 00:22:32.436
on the same page having a means of communication whether

00:22:32.436 --> 00:22:36.376
that's a phone a vhf a plb somehow that

00:22:36.376 --> 00:22:39.156
you can ask for help if you need it and i

00:22:39.156 --> 00:22:42.316
think not being afraid to actually ask

00:22:42.316 --> 00:22:47.876
for help if you need it i always make the the comparison that if someone hurt

00:22:47.876 --> 00:22:55.296
themselves on the street and you know it broke an arm you would ask for help

00:22:55.296 --> 00:22:59.396
so why at sea do so many people find that difficult.

00:23:00.176 --> 00:23:03.556
Why do you suppose that is that people find that difficult right and we see

00:23:03.556 --> 00:23:11.176
that here in u.s as well i think it's that fear of seeing being seen as a failure and.

00:23:12.842 --> 00:23:15.702
Know as the helm more than

00:23:15.702 --> 00:23:18.502
happy to go out happier if i'm

00:23:18.502 --> 00:23:22.642
called out and to be stood down from you

00:23:22.642 --> 00:23:27.362
know to find out someone's actually made it safely to shore then to hear another

00:23:27.362 --> 00:23:34.682
story which is not going to be a good outcome yeah i think you know it's better

00:23:34.682 --> 00:23:39.542
to just ask for that help and And if you have to turn it away,

00:23:39.682 --> 00:23:42.062
that's absolutely fine.

00:23:42.502 --> 00:23:45.502
Does the RNLI charge for a rescue?

00:23:46.122 --> 00:23:51.062
No, we do not. So I'm guessing the theory is very similar to the Coast Guard

00:23:51.062 --> 00:23:55.162
here is that they choose not to charge because you don't want somebody thinking

00:23:55.162 --> 00:23:59.102
with their money on whether or not they should make that call.

00:23:59.842 --> 00:24:03.182
That's exactly it. All right. And it's a charity.

00:24:04.402 --> 00:24:12.382
So a lot of the community are actually funded on it. So we're here to save lives, I'd say.

00:24:12.942 --> 00:24:16.822
Good. Well, again, thank you. And we'll tell everybody to give freely.

00:24:17.602 --> 00:24:24.182
Now, in addition to the training with RNLI, you've also undergone a pretty significant amount of training.

00:24:24.562 --> 00:24:28.402
And that has brought you to the Advanced Sea Kayak Leader. So tell me about that.

00:24:29.082 --> 00:24:32.522
Yeah, it feels like a very long, long journey.

00:24:33.222 --> 00:24:41.862
Yeah, I started out by, obviously with Mike paddling, getting that three star in Scotland.

00:24:42.542 --> 00:24:48.022
And yeah, quite early on, I was like, yep, I want to be a sea kayaker.

00:24:48.542 --> 00:24:54.642
So whenever I was in Wales, decided that I would do my four star sea kayaker

00:24:54.642 --> 00:24:58.142
leader, which is now the moderate sea kayaker leader.

00:25:00.347 --> 00:25:06.527
That wasn't as simple as I thought it would be. I had struggles with my self-rescue, my role.

00:25:06.827 --> 00:25:08.967
I had bad days and good days.

00:25:10.067 --> 00:25:18.887
And I went and did the award, but didn't pass successfully the first time.

00:25:19.167 --> 00:25:25.707
So that was quite a hard time. And that was just before I was going to go solo

00:25:25.707 --> 00:25:26.847
paddling around Ireland.

00:25:27.387 --> 00:25:29.767
So it was a big knock on my confidence.

00:25:31.027 --> 00:25:34.347
Thinking okay i can definitely lead in

00:25:34.347 --> 00:25:37.347
these conditions but it was a big learning curve

00:25:37.347 --> 00:25:40.587
about the types of about assessment stress

00:25:40.587 --> 00:25:43.647
and the the old system

00:25:43.647 --> 00:25:47.387
of british canoe and some assessors were

00:25:47.387 --> 00:25:51.147
quite scary back then and yeah

00:25:51.147 --> 00:25:54.607
so i went around ireland pretty much knocked but

00:25:54.607 --> 00:25:57.807
going around I built that confidence quite

00:25:57.807 --> 00:26:00.667
slowly but surely went off to

00:26:00.667 --> 00:26:03.927
Canada and Dave and Amber

00:26:03.927 --> 00:26:06.867
gave me a brilliant opportunity on Vancouver Island

00:26:06.867 --> 00:26:09.887
with Blue Dog Kayaking to lead and

00:26:09.887 --> 00:26:14.407
get into the Paddle Canada system I

00:26:14.407 --> 00:26:17.467
moved up through that system pretty quickly within

00:26:17.467 --> 00:26:21.207
the season and was actually providing awards

00:26:21.207 --> 00:26:25.607
by the end of it and that

00:26:25.607 --> 00:26:28.367
i didn't really realize that you could

00:26:28.367 --> 00:26:31.947
become a provider so easily so it

00:26:31.947 --> 00:26:38.067
was a nice boost in my confidence and just having the likes of amber and dave

00:26:38.067 --> 00:26:43.947
encouraging you and wanting you to progress and doing everything that they could

00:26:43.947 --> 00:26:51.427
to help you become the best coach to be the best leader it was really it was really nice.

00:26:52.930 --> 00:27:01.690
And I came back and did, actually, no, I'd done my, I literally had just done

00:27:01.690 --> 00:27:06.190
my four-star before I went to Canada with Nick Cunliffe.

00:27:06.390 --> 00:27:09.090
And it was a totally different assessment.

00:27:09.510 --> 00:27:16.330
He was encouraging and very upfront about my leadership.

00:27:16.550 --> 00:27:21.290
And we had a really good debrief about things that, because even whenever you

00:27:21.290 --> 00:27:25.510
get your leadership award, You're never going to be perfect unless you've been

00:27:25.510 --> 00:27:27.890
leading for years and years and years.

00:27:29.250 --> 00:27:32.870
So there was lots of things that I had to go away and work on.

00:27:33.050 --> 00:27:37.670
So then I went off to Canada and yeah, my confidence was just slowly being built.

00:27:37.810 --> 00:27:43.410
But I think from that, after doing my assessment with Nick in Anglesey,

00:27:43.690 --> 00:27:46.690
I kind of went to myself, no, I'm never going to do this at Bancy.

00:27:48.050 --> 00:27:49.130
It's a bit much.

00:27:51.190 --> 00:27:58.310
So Canada yeah it slowly but surely started you know those guys are fantastic

00:27:58.310 --> 00:28:04.750
especially Amber and just an inspiration to women paddlers came back to Ireland

00:28:04.750 --> 00:28:10.590
then and I was working in Tullymore where I work now which is our national outdoor centre and.

00:28:12.186 --> 00:28:17.766
Started thinking, well, maybe I could do this advanced C leadership thing,

00:28:17.946 --> 00:28:19.906
you know, the old five star.

00:28:20.866 --> 00:28:25.506
And I think about a year, maybe six months passed,

00:28:25.926 --> 00:28:33.666
and Jeff Allen was over, and myself and my friend Peter Kirk decided we would

00:28:33.666 --> 00:28:37.086
go and do our advanced C with Jeff.

00:28:37.846 --> 00:28:42.566
And we put a lot of effort into it and I think that's one of the main things

00:28:42.566 --> 00:28:47.106
when you're doing these awards surround yourself with like minded people and

00:28:47.106 --> 00:28:50.886
people who are going to push you to your limits and Peter definitely is one

00:28:50.886 --> 00:28:54.986
of those with any time we were out I'd be like right keep up let's roll now

00:28:54.986 --> 00:28:57.746
let's do our self rescues let's do re-entry and roll,

00:28:58.666 --> 00:29:00.086
let's do some towing now,

00:29:01.086 --> 00:29:03.846
he was great for like just getting you.

00:29:05.066 --> 00:29:08.306
Pushing yourself and in every condition

00:29:08.306 --> 00:29:11.026
didn't matter what type of day it was at the end of the

00:29:11.026 --> 00:29:15.066
day we'd be doing everything and we

00:29:15.066 --> 00:29:18.786
really were paddling well and

00:29:18.786 --> 00:29:22.486
feeling confident and out with people constantly

00:29:22.486 --> 00:29:25.146
so when it came to actually doing it

00:29:25.146 --> 00:29:28.446
with Jeff it felt really slick

00:29:28.446 --> 00:29:32.026
it was I think it was the least stressful

00:29:32.026 --> 00:29:35.566
assessment I've ever had it didn't

00:29:35.566 --> 00:29:39.086
feel like an assessment I just felt like I was out for a paddle with

00:29:39.086 --> 00:29:42.706
a couple of people and it was

00:29:42.706 --> 00:29:45.386
just really nice even though actually on the

00:29:45.386 --> 00:29:48.326
day it was probably top well there

00:29:48.326 --> 00:29:51.486
is no top end advancey but you know

00:29:51.486 --> 00:29:54.806
we had all the conditions it was all above what

00:29:54.806 --> 00:29:57.546
they state so we had two

00:29:57.546 --> 00:30:05.346
meters of swell at least we had good surf had had lots of incidences actually

00:30:05.346 --> 00:30:11.386
happen for real so someone got seasick that we had to deal with and there's

00:30:11.386 --> 00:30:16.366
someone who who wasn't doing great with i think they hadn't had enough that day,

00:30:16.466 --> 00:30:19.666
so actually fell out of their boat for no reason at all.

00:30:21.106 --> 00:30:25.966
Weren't taking instructions very well due to it as well, so went to do a rocky landing.

00:30:26.666 --> 00:30:29.866
Yeah, it was pretty full on day, but it.

00:30:30.488 --> 00:30:34.408
Just didn't feel stressful well that's

00:30:34.408 --> 00:30:37.128
okay part of the big difference is probably just working with

00:30:37.128 --> 00:30:40.608
people and being with people who are positive and encouraging and like

00:30:40.608 --> 00:30:43.408
you mentioned that working with with amber at blue

00:30:43.408 --> 00:30:46.448
dog yeah that sounds like it was a big confidence builder

00:30:46.448 --> 00:30:49.928
for you yeah massively like i

00:30:49.928 --> 00:30:52.748
definitely wasn't at my best i just

00:30:52.748 --> 00:30:55.748
spent a whole winter learning how to dog

00:30:55.748 --> 00:30:59.508
sled weirdly and learning how to ski so had

00:30:59.508 --> 00:31:02.708
done no paddling and like i said before

00:31:02.708 --> 00:31:05.608
i'd had some issues with my role they were all kind

00:31:05.608 --> 00:31:09.228
of back but amber although she

00:31:09.228 --> 00:31:12.868
is a talented paddler she's really understanding of

00:31:12.868 --> 00:31:16.248
you know developing people and she

00:31:16.248 --> 00:31:19.408
doesn't look down her nose at someone who's lost their

00:31:19.408 --> 00:31:23.968
role you know she's really supportive and she

00:31:23.968 --> 00:31:27.368
was brilliant she got me into actually Greenland rolling so

00:31:27.368 --> 00:31:30.708
I learned so much from that just about

00:31:30.708 --> 00:31:34.488
water confidence and body positioning and none

00:31:34.488 --> 00:31:37.788
no more of this grunting roll up

00:31:37.788 --> 00:31:41.768
it was like okay if I get my body in the right position it's really easy it's

00:31:41.768 --> 00:31:46.828
just happens and one other thing that I wanted to mention you had made a comment

00:31:46.828 --> 00:31:51.908
earlier that you were surprised how how easy it was to be able to get to a point

00:31:51.908 --> 00:31:55.348
where you were offering provider programs for the Panel Canada program.

00:31:55.528 --> 00:32:01.128
But that doesn't say that you shouldn't have your skills and you did have your skills.

00:32:01.468 --> 00:32:05.988
It's just a matter of the way that the scheme was different and to get to that level.

00:32:06.088 --> 00:32:11.708
But, you know, you still have to be physically, mentally and leadership qualified

00:32:11.708 --> 00:32:15.408
in order to be able to do all that. Oh, yeah, definitely.

00:32:16.248 --> 00:32:19.908
Like coming home back to Ireland after being in Canada.

00:32:21.819 --> 00:32:27.959
To actually go on a pathway of becoming a provider but the process is a bit

00:32:27.959 --> 00:32:34.759
more complex I would say in that you have to wait for an orientation to become

00:32:34.759 --> 00:32:38.679
a provider and then you generally have quite a long action plan.

00:32:39.719 --> 00:32:42.919
So the process takes a lot

00:32:42.919 --> 00:32:46.559
longer whereas Powell Canada as long

00:32:46.559 --> 00:32:49.499
as you had someone who was willing to bring you

00:32:49.499 --> 00:32:54.499
along anybody could really do it with the right amount of skills obviously there's

00:32:54.499 --> 00:33:00.539
a criteria there you have to meet it right but yeah they were like amber was

00:33:00.539 --> 00:33:08.259
able to yes i may offer quite a lot of things and like the two of us went and ran a level four,

00:33:08.859 --> 00:33:15.459
even though I'm not a level four instructor with my British Canoean qualifications,

00:33:15.459 --> 00:33:23.359
it meant I was able to transfer across to support her with the process of taking

00:33:23.359 --> 00:33:26.159
the first level four all women's crew.

00:33:27.319 --> 00:33:31.539
And I went with that, but that was a few years ago. Very cool.

00:33:32.239 --> 00:33:36.539
Now, you also mentioned a few years ago, you did a solo circumnavigation of Ireland.

00:33:37.339 --> 00:33:40.659
Yeah. So tell me about your preparation for the trip.

00:33:41.539 --> 00:33:45.419
To be honest, I was very green.

00:33:47.939 --> 00:33:55.339
I went and was preparing to be a CKC leader and didn't pass that.

00:33:56.319 --> 00:34:02.559
But yeah, I spent probably a year chatting with John Himes.

00:34:03.479 --> 00:34:07.279
He had previously done circumnavigation with a friend.

00:34:07.919 --> 00:34:12.259
And he was great for telling me what I needed to do, got me some contacts as

00:34:12.259 --> 00:34:15.579
well for, you know, getting kicked and things like that.

00:34:16.219 --> 00:34:21.679
But really, I didn't know what I was doing and just kind of went for it. Okay.

00:34:22.419 --> 00:34:30.359
Knowing that every day I would have to plan and, you know, where I was going to go and all that jazz.

00:34:30.519 --> 00:34:38.039
But yeah, I didn't really have a set plan as such. It just kind of had the kit and then...

00:34:39.580 --> 00:34:45.920
Of when and about so I would go and headed home and chose the paddle from Newcastle

00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:52.660
and unfortunately I didn't get finished the circumnavigation I got from Newcastle

00:34:52.660 --> 00:34:57.100
and County Down and I went clockwise to Ackham.

00:34:57.580 --> 00:35:00.600
Okay. So I have about a third to do. Okay.

00:35:00.980 --> 00:35:05.160
But it was amazing learning experience

00:35:05.160 --> 00:35:09.020
for me that you know I'd spent years paddling

00:35:09.020 --> 00:35:12.680
with other people and a lot of time in the industry it

00:35:12.680 --> 00:35:16.420
is a lot of men and they are very

00:35:16.420 --> 00:35:21.540
good at okay this is what we're going to do xyz and i'd be doing my planning

00:35:21.540 --> 00:35:26.800
too but i always felt like well i've i've done what they said rather than for

00:35:26.800 --> 00:35:32.580
myself sure and so this was the first time that really i was depending on myself

00:35:32.580 --> 00:35:36.140
i had a couple of days with other people who would have joined me.

00:35:38.240 --> 00:35:40.960
But majority of it I was I think

00:35:40.960 --> 00:35:43.760
I had maybe five days where I had

00:35:43.760 --> 00:35:46.540
people paddle with me but the rest was on

00:35:46.540 --> 00:35:50.040
my own and even that was was hard

00:35:50.040 --> 00:35:57.200
going which is why whatever going to do Iceland I was like I'm never doing a

00:35:57.200 --> 00:36:03.780
solo paddle again the fact she was willing to do it I was like yeah this is

00:36:03.780 --> 00:36:08.840
about to be we're meant to go and paddle around iceland together yeah but yeah,

00:36:10.060 --> 00:36:13.380
i was turned into a

00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:17.260
solo paddle as well but i knew that solo

00:36:17.260 --> 00:36:20.420
paddling isn't easy on expedition and

00:36:20.420 --> 00:36:23.360
i think i hadn't done

00:36:23.360 --> 00:36:26.320
i'd done maybe two paddles by myself and i

00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:29.280
think that was a psychological thing to

00:36:29.280 --> 00:36:32.220
go okay if I don't do it that much I won't realize that

00:36:32.220 --> 00:36:35.000
I'm not a big fan of this but it

00:36:35.000 --> 00:36:39.880
was a big learning curve of how you actually get your boat off the beach and

00:36:39.880 --> 00:36:46.580
get your camp set up and eat and do everything yeah what what was the uh what

00:36:46.580 --> 00:36:51.180
was the most most challenging part of soloing for you I think it's the end of

00:36:51.180 --> 00:36:54.340
the day and definitely that.

00:36:55.760 --> 00:37:01.660
Paddling is easy enough on a good day if you've had a good night's sleep it's

00:37:01.660 --> 00:37:05.620
just you need to paddle from A to B but whenever you land,

00:37:06.600 --> 00:37:12.060
it's hard on the body firstly lifting all your stuff up a beach or up a slipway,

00:37:12.700 --> 00:37:18.120
and then having to find a camp having to set up a camp having to cook yourself

00:37:18.120 --> 00:37:21.680
some food and you're constantly worrying about is my boat ok.

00:37:24.241 --> 00:37:27.421
Is probably the hardest part for me okay

00:37:27.421 --> 00:37:30.581
and so that experience told you that soloing

00:37:30.581 --> 00:37:33.941
wasn't for you yep but in hindsight now

00:37:33.941 --> 00:37:36.661
i go oh ireland would be so easy so though

00:37:36.661 --> 00:37:39.721
because i think now i've

00:37:39.721 --> 00:37:42.741
got far more experience and i

00:37:42.741 --> 00:37:45.861
realize how well connected we

00:37:45.861 --> 00:37:49.141
are in ireland like it's probably one of the best places

00:37:49.141 --> 00:37:52.121
to do a circumnavigation because there's so

00:37:52.121 --> 00:37:55.241
many spots and doesn't matter what the

00:37:55.241 --> 00:37:58.101
wind direction is there's always somewhere to land

00:37:58.101 --> 00:38:02.001
we have so many little harbors slipways that

00:38:02.001 --> 00:38:05.721
you can always find somewhere to land and there's generally a

00:38:05.721 --> 00:38:09.321
couple of houses around that area as well so you're

00:38:09.321 --> 00:38:12.401
never far from people okay and

00:38:12.401 --> 00:38:15.381
help which is amazing whereas

00:38:15.381 --> 00:38:18.521
somewhere like Iceland it just feels so

00:38:18.521 --> 00:38:21.561
remote and out there and even

00:38:21.561 --> 00:38:25.161
just crossings like I

00:38:25.161 --> 00:38:29.861
remember thinking of Ireland and I didn't get to do it but Donegal Bay and just

00:38:29.861 --> 00:38:35.661
worrying about that crossing because it's the biggest part of Ireland when it

00:38:35.661 --> 00:38:42.121
comes to crossings is Donegal Bay and yeah I think I did Donegal Bay twice,

00:38:43.605 --> 00:38:47.845
Whenever I was in Iceland. So now I'm like, oh, it's not too bad.

00:38:51.105 --> 00:38:56.525
So now you mentioned you got to Eccle? Yep. Okay. So will you finish it off?

00:38:57.405 --> 00:39:01.965
It's definitely something that I would like to redo. Yeah.

00:39:02.525 --> 00:39:05.765
I need to think about how I'll redo that.

00:39:05.905 --> 00:39:11.805
But yeah, I think I would like to start it clean and get it done. picked off.

00:39:12.065 --> 00:39:15.125
Now, would you start from where you ended or would you do the whole thing again?

00:39:15.565 --> 00:39:18.025
I would do the whole thing again. Okay. Yeah.

00:39:18.485 --> 00:39:23.005
I think it would be really good to compare because like I said,

00:39:23.205 --> 00:39:25.125
I hadn't really got a clue.

00:39:25.405 --> 00:39:29.805
I just had this notion that I wanted to paddle around my country. Okay.

00:39:30.905 --> 00:39:34.645
And yeah, now I think it would be quite different.

00:39:35.285 --> 00:39:38.845
And now you've mentioned Iceland as well. So I know that you did a,

00:39:39.085 --> 00:39:41.345
or you were working with Susan Honan, is that right?

00:39:42.065 --> 00:39:46.425
Sue Honan, yeah. Sue Honan, sorry. Okay. And you were planning a trip around

00:39:46.425 --> 00:39:49.465
Iceland. So tell us a little bit about that trip. What was the plan there?

00:39:50.965 --> 00:39:59.545
So myself and Sue, we work all women's festival in Cork, actually organized by John Hangs.

00:40:00.805 --> 00:40:04.465
And because we were coaching, we were staying in the same house.

00:40:04.465 --> 00:40:10.545
And me and Sue had known each other from previous courses and just being in

00:40:10.545 --> 00:40:15.985
the paddling community she would have done quite a bit in Tully more and one

00:40:15.985 --> 00:40:22.465
of the nights we were chatting about paddling and Sue had mentioned that she

00:40:22.465 --> 00:40:24.165
really wanted to do Iceland,

00:40:25.345 --> 00:40:31.485
and mentioned that me and a couple of friends had actually talked about doing

00:40:31.485 --> 00:40:34.805
Iceland a long time ago and.

00:40:36.268 --> 00:40:39.548
Really got anywhere slowly but

00:40:39.548 --> 00:40:43.728
surely my friends dropped out of that and as

00:40:43.728 --> 00:40:46.808
i said i didn't want to be solo paddling

00:40:46.808 --> 00:40:49.848
so it kind of just got moved to

00:40:49.848 --> 00:40:52.968
the side and that conversation then

00:40:52.968 --> 00:40:56.208
let this far i suppose

00:40:56.208 --> 00:40:59.868
that okay we can do this together so we

00:40:59.868 --> 00:41:02.988
started planning that nigel's been fantastic Nigel

00:41:02.988 --> 00:41:06.188
Dennis and then he sponsored me with a

00:41:06.188 --> 00:41:09.108
boat for Ireland not knowing who I was okay

00:41:09.108 --> 00:41:12.408
knowing who I was you know I had no no one

00:41:12.408 --> 00:41:15.868
as a paddler okay and no real track record just no

00:41:15.868 --> 00:41:19.328
track record no he me without

00:41:19.328 --> 00:41:22.328
knowing who I was to go around Ireland

00:41:22.328 --> 00:41:25.488
and after that he just kept supporting

00:41:25.488 --> 00:41:28.488
me which was actually one of the reasons I

00:41:28.488 --> 00:41:31.588
have been able to actually progressed so much in paddling

00:41:31.588 --> 00:41:35.448
because the cost of a boat probably would

00:41:35.448 --> 00:41:39.448
have took me years to actually save that type of one I had to buy a nice boat

00:41:39.448 --> 00:41:45.888
yeah but yeah so he he got on board with Iceland and me and Sue started making

00:41:45.888 --> 00:41:54.388
more plans and we booked flights and off we went Back on the 30th of May,

00:41:54.688 --> 00:42:00.068
we landed in Iceland to start our circumnavigation.

00:42:02.188 --> 00:42:06.528
And that was the 30th of May, 2024? Yeah. Okay.

00:42:07.068 --> 00:42:14.528
And so what happened? Well, when we arrived, we had a weep of really bad weather.

00:42:14.528 --> 00:42:20.868
So we did a bit of the touristy thing and we were so lucky that Maggie,

00:42:21.128 --> 00:42:26.828
who is one of Nigel's distributors of NDK boats in Iceland,

00:42:27.208 --> 00:42:30.608
he put us up along with his wife, Wendy.

00:42:30.608 --> 00:42:34.668
And then the two of them are actually bus

00:42:34.668 --> 00:42:37.708
tour guides in the off seasons and

00:42:37.708 --> 00:42:43.888
they they brought us on some of their tours so we were able to do that for a

00:42:43.888 --> 00:42:49.828
few days which was really nice and then eventually the winds looked a little

00:42:49.828 --> 00:42:55.368
bit more suitable still not great but we decided right we'll start so on the

00:42:55.368 --> 00:42:57.208
6th of June we started paddling,

00:42:58.088 --> 00:43:05.988
we didn't get very far I think we did maybe like 8km on our first day but it

00:43:05.988 --> 00:43:09.828
was just to get started and the second day was kind of similar I think.

00:43:10.846 --> 00:43:13.566
15k but we just needed to

00:43:13.566 --> 00:43:16.706
get started and then from then we started getting

00:43:16.706 --> 00:43:20.086
a bit more mileage under our belts do

00:43:20.086 --> 00:43:23.606
a bit more like 40k just under 40k days

00:43:23.606 --> 00:43:27.126
and we started to realize how

00:43:27.126 --> 00:43:30.906
expanse Iceland actually is

00:43:30.906 --> 00:43:33.966
just nothing like Ireland the the

00:43:33.966 --> 00:43:37.286
mountains are bigger the the winds

00:43:37.286 --> 00:43:40.566
are just crazy they accelerate

00:43:40.566 --> 00:43:43.546
off the mountains and send the wind

00:43:43.546 --> 00:43:47.086
going in various directions with a

00:43:47.086 --> 00:43:54.406
lot more than what the forecast says and so it was real really interesting just

00:43:54.406 --> 00:44:00.726
learning about what the weather was doing and what effect that would have on

00:44:00.726 --> 00:44:05.086
the sea state So then I think we got into our,

00:44:05.206 --> 00:44:07.666
well, on our eighth day, actually.

00:44:08.126 --> 00:44:13.966
I think we'd had one day off before that, which was maybe a couple of days before

00:44:13.966 --> 00:44:15.946
the eighth day paddling.

00:44:16.306 --> 00:44:21.166
And we had quite a big day where we decided to sit out.

00:44:21.286 --> 00:44:26.386
There was some islands and rather than go right into the bay below the island,

00:44:26.566 --> 00:44:30.066
we decided to sit out and do, so it was more of a crossing.

00:44:30.066 --> 00:44:33.326
And it was about 40 kilometres

00:44:33.326 --> 00:44:36.366
we did and about halfway through

00:44:36.366 --> 00:44:39.766
that day I had just been feeling strange I think

00:44:39.766 --> 00:44:42.746
about 10km anyway the weather was pretty

00:44:42.746 --> 00:44:49.826
windy and there was quite a lot of reefs so you had some boomers kicking off

00:44:49.826 --> 00:44:57.206
and things about 10 kilometres into that day I didn't feel great halfway through

00:44:57.206 --> 00:45:01.726
the day then I started getting a spasm in my shoulder so.

00:45:02.852 --> 00:45:10.492
Was a long, long paddle. I think we arrived in at a beach about 11 o'clock at night.

00:45:11.112 --> 00:45:15.372
And in Iceland at that time of year, it doesn't get dark.

00:45:15.832 --> 00:45:21.072
You get a bit of a sunset and the sun will go down, but you just have that twilight

00:45:21.072 --> 00:45:27.552
where you just have a dullness in the sky, but it's still light so you can still see everything.

00:45:27.992 --> 00:45:31.112
So we were arriving onto this beach which was really

00:45:31.112 --> 00:45:34.212
beautiful but i just could not take in any

00:45:34.212 --> 00:45:37.332
of it because i was just in so much pain couldn't talk

00:45:37.332 --> 00:45:41.512
to sue went set up my tent and went

00:45:41.512 --> 00:45:44.812
to sleep and got up the next morning lovely

00:45:44.812 --> 00:45:47.672
day and felt so much

00:45:47.672 --> 00:45:51.992
better we paddled on

00:45:51.992 --> 00:46:00.632
a shorter day because of the long day that we had and that day then Sue arrived

00:46:00.632 --> 00:46:08.232
into the beach and we were outside quite a fancy hotel in Iceland and when I

00:46:08.232 --> 00:46:10.432
arrived Sue just got there,

00:46:11.272 --> 00:46:20.532
she was saying her back just sciatic nerve was really irritating her she just

00:46:20.532 --> 00:46:29.032
didn't know she just needed to lie down type thing and uh i was fine we went

00:46:29.032 --> 00:46:31.112
and actually stayed in a fancy hotel.

00:46:32.372 --> 00:46:39.472
It's cost a small fortune and but the next morning then sue's shoulder was actually

00:46:39.472 --> 00:46:45.492
caused the sad pain and it dissipated but the shoulder was now giving her a

00:46:45.492 --> 00:46:49.012
lot of jip and she was getting a numb hand and.

00:46:50.591 --> 00:46:54.551
That led to then Sue saying, I can't continue on.

00:46:55.931 --> 00:47:02.351
And so I had to make a decision. Do I go home with Sue or do I continue on?

00:47:02.771 --> 00:47:06.851
And I think I spent three days.

00:47:07.291 --> 00:47:15.251
Well, I suppose a full good day, 24 hours, trying to decide what I do next.

00:47:16.271 --> 00:47:21.071
Maggie and Wendy were in the area, so they were actually able to take us back

00:47:21.071 --> 00:47:25.091
to their house and then it meant I could sort stuff out because I decided,

00:47:25.391 --> 00:47:29.811
actually, I can't go home because I'm the type of person that I'll be at home

00:47:29.811 --> 00:47:31.331
going, what would have happened?

00:47:31.911 --> 00:47:38.411
What if? Like, could I have? And that would have destroyed me a little bit inside

00:47:38.411 --> 00:47:41.311
so I decided, okay, I'm going to go solo.

00:47:41.851 --> 00:47:47.531
So spent some days prepping and set off again.

00:47:48.051 --> 00:47:56.471
Solo, Vega, who circumnavigated, I think just after COVID actually, she was fantastic.

00:47:56.931 --> 00:48:06.171
She came and helped me psychologically prep my head for going solo and drove

00:48:06.171 --> 00:48:07.791
me back out to where we were.

00:48:08.231 --> 00:48:14.151
So when we arrived, I did a very short stint by myself, which was good for my

00:48:14.151 --> 00:48:19.511
head game, I suppose. It was only about 15 kilometers, just a farbour nearby.

00:48:20.191 --> 00:48:27.451
And the next morning, Vega set off with me to do a bit of a tricky point because

00:48:27.451 --> 00:48:30.571
we were going around a bit of a headland with some cliffs.

00:48:31.911 --> 00:48:40.611
So it meant I had a bit of company for my proper first day, which was really, really kind of Vega.

00:48:40.871 --> 00:48:45.291
And she's fantastic, as you know, from interviewing her. Sure.

00:48:45.531 --> 00:48:49.571
It was pretty inspiring and then where

00:48:49.571 --> 00:48:52.511
we landed there was weather from coming in

00:48:52.511 --> 00:48:56.911
so i spent two days camping before

00:48:56.911 --> 00:49:06.371
i set off again and yeah like i suppose i spent i think i did another 10 days

00:49:06.371 --> 00:49:16.671
in total of paddling with about four days off due to weather and eventually I got to an area,

00:49:18.511 --> 00:49:25.531
where it was pretty remote and there was a big storm came through and I had

00:49:25.531 --> 00:49:29.311
a bit of an epic with my boat got

00:49:29.311 --> 00:49:37.551
sandblasted and near buried And my tempt decided to take a little trip,

00:49:37.771 --> 00:49:41.831
even though I was attaching it to the ground with rocks.

00:49:41.831 --> 00:49:46.251
And I realized how extreme the weather could get.

00:49:48.179 --> 00:49:51.659
And yeah, I had a bit of an epic.

00:49:52.439 --> 00:50:02.879
And Goodney was a lifesaver because he knew there was a hostel type campsite hotel.

00:50:04.119 --> 00:50:10.099
It was probably about two miles from where I was camped, but it was across Sand Dunes.

00:50:10.219 --> 00:50:17.999
So he contacted the owner and they came down on a quad to pick me up.

00:50:18.179 --> 00:50:23.619
So I could dry out all my, my soaking belongings,

00:50:24.279 --> 00:50:34.179
sleeping bag, everything, you know, like I really realized how much like your,

00:50:34.419 --> 00:50:36.359
your shelter is so important.

00:50:36.359 --> 00:50:41.379
If you don't have that, you don't have the simple things like food,

00:50:41.599 --> 00:50:47.399
shelter, warmth, like expedition life is, is not fun anymore.

00:50:47.399 --> 00:50:51.099
And I think I had made

00:50:51.099 --> 00:50:54.039
quite a clear decision in my head whenever I set off I said

00:50:54.039 --> 00:51:02.519
once the fun goes beyond type 2 fun type 2 fun being once you have a good night's

00:51:02.519 --> 00:51:06.519
sleep and you wake up and you go actually I was just tired I can continue on

00:51:06.519 --> 00:51:12.499
this is great once it goes beyond that I'll call it a day,

00:51:13.119 --> 00:51:16.079
so I paddled to Patrick Fjorder,

00:51:16.999 --> 00:51:23.799
on the West Fjords and Good Night in Vega came and picked me up so that I could

00:51:23.799 --> 00:51:27.299
just call it a day which was pretty nice of them.

00:51:28.239 --> 00:51:33.499
If I had it continued on it was just going to get more and more remote and harder

00:51:33.499 --> 00:51:42.779
to get accessed like a shelter I suppose yeah at some point it just doesn't it's no longer fun,

00:51:43.739 --> 00:51:45.899
yeah but again I'm like...

00:51:47.315 --> 00:51:51.795
Learning i had from them 10

00:51:51.795 --> 00:51:55.595
days of paddling solo was massive

00:51:55.595 --> 00:51:58.575
but i've re-evaluated you know

00:51:58.575 --> 00:52:02.555
the likes of ireland trip going why was

00:52:02.555 --> 00:52:05.835
i making that so hard for myself like that's great

00:52:05.835 --> 00:52:08.935
um and i think like

00:52:08.935 --> 00:52:13.395
iceland i enjoyed far more it's

00:52:13.395 --> 00:52:17.855
you know i realized how nice expedition

00:52:17.855 --> 00:52:22.255
life is it's so simple it's just you wake

00:52:22.255 --> 00:52:29.275
up you look at weather you make a plan you paddle you eat you paddle you eat

00:52:29.275 --> 00:52:37.095
a bit more you go to sleep and you do it all again it's very stress-free in

00:52:37.095 --> 00:52:41.915
some ways The only thing that's worrying is what's coming next, weather-wise.

00:52:42.255 --> 00:52:49.255
What's that headland going to look like? What's this little point going to look like? The crossing.

00:52:50.035 --> 00:52:56.535
But other than that, you know what's ahead, really. You just have to get from A to B.

00:52:57.275 --> 00:53:00.555
So what's the big takeaway? What's the big thing you learned that you can apply?

00:53:01.195 --> 00:53:06.975
I think bring a bigger team so if they get broken, you have more people. Okay.

00:53:14.915 --> 00:53:23.295
That I do want to do another expedition and I hope that third time is a lucky lucky one.

00:53:24.575 --> 00:53:28.295
All right well we'll look forward to hearing about that that third expedition

00:53:28.295 --> 00:53:35.335
whenever and wherever that may be um how can listeners connect with you so my

00:53:35.335 --> 00:53:41.755
email address is kiba connor at gmail.com if they can spell that well done i'll

00:53:41.755 --> 00:53:42.655
include it in the show notes,

00:53:43.695 --> 00:53:48.915
or they can contact me through tullymore if you just google tullymore national outdoor center,

00:53:50.095 --> 00:53:52.835
get our contact details there all right

00:53:52.835 --> 00:53:55.615
excellent what types of things do you uh do you lead

00:53:55.615 --> 00:53:58.875
at tullymore so we do all things

00:53:58.875 --> 00:54:02.615
paddle sports so i'm the lead in in paddle sports so

00:54:02.615 --> 00:54:09.435
any paddling qualifications through British Canoeing we can provide or we could

00:54:09.435 --> 00:54:19.895
do bespoke things for private groups run expeditions we do personal development coaching Fun as well,

00:54:20.876 --> 00:54:25.376
Right. It's been wonderful learning from you and hearing about the RNLI,

00:54:25.776 --> 00:54:32.156
your solo trip of Ireland, your trip of Iceland, and really about your home waters, too.

00:54:32.276 --> 00:54:35.016
It's an area, as you mentioned, one we don't talk about all that much,

00:54:35.016 --> 00:54:37.796
and it doesn't get as much love from the paddling community,

00:54:37.876 --> 00:54:41.976
but certainly no shortage of variety in the area. So thank you very much for the opportunity.

00:54:42.436 --> 00:54:45.976
I do have one final question for you, and that is, who else would you like to

00:54:45.976 --> 00:54:47.836
hear as a future guest on Paddling the Blue?

00:54:48.636 --> 00:54:52.656
I think it would be great for you to talk to Barry Shaw.

00:54:53.136 --> 00:54:57.276
He's a good friend of mine. He always has a really good story to tell,

00:54:57.456 --> 00:55:01.756
but he also has a wealth of experience in lots of expeditions.

00:55:02.476 --> 00:55:06.616
And he always has a really funny story to tell in them as well.

00:55:06.776 --> 00:55:09.556
So I think you would have a lot of fun with Barry.

00:55:10.296 --> 00:55:15.676
Excellent. Well, we'll make sure we connect with Barry. We'll talk offline and make that connection.

00:55:15.836 --> 00:55:18.776
But again, I appreciate the opportunity to talk with you and hear from you.

00:55:18.916 --> 00:55:22.976
And we wish you the absolute best of luck on that next expedition and any other

00:55:22.976 --> 00:55:24.676
activities and fun in the future.

00:55:25.196 --> 00:55:27.316
Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

00:55:28.036 --> 00:55:31.836
If you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler, Power to the Paddle

00:55:31.836 --> 00:55:35.496
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00:55:35.496 --> 00:55:39.896
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00:55:40.076 --> 00:55:43.916
The concept and exercises in this book have helped me become a better paddler

00:55:43.916 --> 00:55:45.556
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00:55:45.856 --> 00:55:49.516
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So visit paddlingexercises.com to get the book and companion DVD.

00:56:14.629 --> 00:56:18.909
To Kiva for joining me today. I appreciate her willingness to talk about the dark side of soloing.

00:56:19.069 --> 00:56:22.769
While some may enjoy the experience, there are some real considerations in addition

00:56:22.769 --> 00:56:26.909
to personal skills to factor in when deciding if soloing is right for you.

00:56:27.089 --> 00:56:29.669
I also appreciate Kiva's work with the RNLI.

00:56:30.049 --> 00:56:35.969
As she mentioned, it's a donation-supported charity, so please consider donating at rnli.org.

00:56:36.349 --> 00:56:40.549
Thanks again to our partners at OnlineSeekHacking.com for extending a special offer to you.

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00:56:49.089 --> 00:56:52.269
Thanks again for listening. I appreciate you. Until next time,

00:56:52.409 --> 00:56:56.029
and I look forward to bring you the next episode of Paddling the Blue.

00:56:57.309 --> 00:57:00.869
Thank you for listening to Paddling the Blue. You can subscribe to Paddling

00:57:00.869 --> 00:57:06.169
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00:57:06.369 --> 00:57:09.309
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00:57:09.309 --> 00:57:11.169
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00:57:11.349 --> 00:57:14.609
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00:57:14.849 --> 00:57:20.369
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00:57:20.549 --> 00:57:23.649
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