Aran Islands Row

Doolin to Inis Oírr, Aran Islands
May 2007; distance 6nm each way

This was planned as a short weekend trip until we got marooned on the island… We set off from Doolin Pier with three naomhóga and two sea kayaks on a gorgeous calm day and covered the 8nm in two hours without problems. We stayed with Pauric Poil at ‘Gairdín an Mhaighean Mhara’ in Castle Village on 00353 (0)99 75973) and enjoyed his great food and home-made bread. The island offers great walks and unique historical features. The Plassey is the wreck of a 1940s general cargo ship, wrecked in 1964. It has been made famous in the opening scene of Father Ted… There is an early medieval church, uniquely sunken deep into a sand dune. And of course there are a few pubs. Both Ned’s and Ruairi’s offer excellent music sessions on weekends. On the Saturday we set off to row the 2nm to Inis Maein. Landing is very difficult in heavy swells, as the current pier is very exposed (a new pier is scheduled to be opened in 2008); the tidal stream between the islands is less than 1kn. The weather deteriorated rapidly over Sunday, developing into a Force 7-8 gale, forcing us to stay another day on the island. We used a calm weather window on Monday midday, but conditions worsened from a force SW 3-4 to a SW 5-6 with heavy rain and squalls, which forced us to row due south into the wind to avoid being pushed onto the coast - very difficult conditions particularly for the kayaks. However, we made it safely back, wet and exhausted, though. The boats handled extremely well in these conditions, even though the lack of sufficient overlap on the oars of one naomhóg was evident (so don’t cut them shorter to save your knuckles…), making rowing very exhausting.

Doolin: good, free launching, slipway a bit steep; several ferries leaving from here. Approach: keep north of island, mind ferries arriving
Inis Oírr: sheltered harbour, difficult to find mooring space, good beach Approach: Finish Rock breaking, stay well clear. Mind the rocks and shallows along the beach: keep along beach and land on harbour side of the beach. Hotel and guesthouses.

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Meeting Sea Stallion of Glendalough

Dublin Port
August 2007; distance 2nm

We met Sea Stallion of Glendalough at Sandymount power station. After an hour’s waiting around (and getting out of the way of large container ships), she appeared on the horizon with the magnificent red and yellow sail. By the time she was with us, we had hoisted our small lugsail. But even though we were doing around 4kn in a light naomhóg and in a good force 4, we had no chance to keep up with her. Slowly the magnificent ship overtook us with its crew of 65. The two miles row was accompanied by the ship horns of all the large ships in the port, and the rising of the large bridges over the Liffey. A huge crowd had already gathered on the quays to welcome the Viking ship. After paddling around the ship for a while, all participating crews were invited for some food and drink before we rowed back to load the boats on the trailers again.

The 100’ long Sea Stallion of Glendalough is a replica of Skuldelev 6, a the remains of a 12th century Viking ship found near Roskilde. The ship was reconstructed using traditional tools and materials over a period of seven years. The original ship was built in the Dublin area and was deliberately scuttled in the Roskilde Fjord.

More information can be found on the Sea Stallion website.

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Turas Cholmcille

Raghley, Sligo to Rathlin Island (Stage 1)
June 2007, distance 200nm

For full account click Turas Cholmcille

Please note: Information on this page is not intended for navigation!