Newferry - Portglenone

Yesterday the weather was horrendous: cold, wet and windy. There were power cuts and trees blown down all over the province. Today the weather forecast said it was to be better, but not much.

We decided to begin at Newferry and paddle upstream into Lough Beg, knowing that it'd be choppy with the wind. When it got

too difficult we could turn at any time and paddle downstream towards Portglenone. The journey along the river would

be the main part of the morning, but if we got to explore Lough Beg it'd be a bonus.

Evan picked me up just after 9am and we went back to his to load the canoe onto his roof rack. From there we drove

to Newferry and got dressed. Waterproof trousers, wellie boots, raincoat, buoyancy aid, and a floppy hat were the uniform of the day.

We carried the boat to the slipway instead of launching from the canoe step. There were some points of interest along the waterline of that slipway. We successfully identified a dead dog and floating fish, besides the usual green slime and discarded takeaway boxes.

Once in the water we paddled upstream onto the lough. Me providing the power at the front, Evan steering from behind. It's a while since I had a decent trip in an open canoe, but I quickly settled into my rhythm as we headed across to the far bank and made our way towards the

lough. I must have been pulling well enough, because my strokes were driving us towards the bank, and Evan had to ask me to stop a few times so he could straighten up.

When the shelter provided by the long grass and high bank subsided, the full force of the wind built up and up. We could see whitecaps across the lough, and the waves were getting pretty lively as we paddled towards the island at mullaghardry. I was sure we were still making good headway though, until I looked at the bank beside me and realised we hadn't moved at all for a full minute! Time to push a bit harder. Evan told me 'Short, powerful Strokes' and I know that's the right thing to do, but after a couple of minutes of constantly planting the paddle and hauling the boat towards it I have to admit I got slower and slower. and slower.

We did eventually make it into the lee of the island, had a quick look around and opted to take the simple decision, turned round and headed downriver.

It's a lot easier paddling

with the wind behind you, let me tell you. I wasn't steering though and I think Evan would have preferred it if I'd stopped pretending to be a sail and seeing if I could tack and jibe!

Back on the more sheltered river we had a fun, but generally uneventful journey down to Portglenone. We stopped a few times to free fishing tackle and old ropes from the trees, watched the herons and kingfishers and meandered down the river, taking turns to steer so we could practice our 'J', Indian and Canadian strokes in the stern, and sweep strokes and bow rudders at the front.

When we hauled up at the slipway there were workmen refurbishing it all. It was a building site with cranes and diggers, concrete blocks and cables lying everywhere. We were just contemplating carrying the canoe out to the road when Pearl's Renault came bumping over the debris, swerving to avoid heavy machinery. As nervous builders dived for cover she skidded to a halt beside us. Evan leaped into the passenger seat and they roared off to retrieve his car with the roof bars leaving me to wait with the boat and the shell shocked builders.

trying out the boat

For his coaching course, Evan needs to get as much practice as possible so he's always a willing accomplice on a day trip, We're heading out tomorrow. I took Ricky up on his offer and borrowed his canoe. He even offered to pick us up at the end of the journey, but he won't be available until 4pm. Evan only has a half day off work, so his mum volunteered to do the shuttling instead.

Ricky was great, checking we know what we're doing, volunteering buoyancy aids, equipment, advice and experience. He keeps a first aid kit clipped to one of the painters, there's enough flotation lashed into the boat to raise the titanic, spare buoyancy aids tucked in bow and stern, and last thing before I drove off he tossed a throw bag into the back seat of my car. We won't take it because we both have our own, but Ricky didn't know that. "Keep safe" he said again and again. He knows I've done the coaching course, but he's only ever seen me paddle at the family day on the six mile water, so he has every right to be concerned. He's still willing to loan us his canoe though, and is falling over himself to be helpful.

I dropped the boat round with Evan and we discussed tomorrow's trip until late into the night.

back on the bike - proper

Today's X-ray shows a change in the bone. it's still broken, but there's more fibres connecting the two sides. i'm allowed to ride the mountain bike, but nothing crazy. I never do anything crazy so I should be OK there.

Mucky

Robert from work lives in Portmuck. He used to be a commercial fisherman and he's full of stories of the sea, and of his many other exploits. We went paddling together last year in the USA on the river Kankakee, and since he's got a couple of sit-on-tops we always planned to get a paddle together a bit closer to home. After work tonight, we finally got it together.

I got the train to Larne where Evan, who did the coaching course with me and who's now doing the level two course, picked me up and we drove to Robert's house. When Robert finished work, he came home on his scooter and we met up with his girlfriend Maggie, carted the sit-on-tops down to the harbour and launched onto the glassy water of the Irish Sea. A leisurely paddle around Muck Island followed by a 'skills session' from Evan and a barbecue on the beach. perfect.

Eye Feel Good Route Blog

Here's the blog of the EyeFeelgood charity paddle from Antrim to Castlerock

Kit List

I came across this useful list of kit on the EyeFeelGood blog. They're organising a canoe trip next week from Antrim to Castlerock, the same journey as us, but probably a little bit further because we'll not be starting from Antrim... or will we?
It's way too late for me to get involved in their paddle this year, but it'll be interesting to see how they get on.

Now I can paddle

Ciara, my physio, phoned to say she's talked to Mr. Swain and i'm allowed to paddle gently on flat water. Just as well, because I already have, and I'm not very good at telling lies.

Paddling gently

Had a great afternoon paddling up and down the mouth of the sixmilewater in kayaks and canoes courtesy of MobileTeamAdventure. The two oldest kids were total naturals. we really have to get out as a family sometime.
Best of all, Mobile Team Adventure were assisted by Ricky Fee from EyeFeelGood. Ricky knows my wife Alex because she runs the local parent and toddler group in our church, and she's also been to a couple of Eye Feel Good fundraising events. He made it very clear that any time I want to borrow a canoe, I just have to ask.

I'd been starting to worry where we'd get hold of a boat for the trip. That's that problem solved.

In case you've never heard of Eye Feel Good, they're a charity which organises events to raise money to help people with cancer. Many of the events are outdoor activities.

obstacles

I've mentioned the surgery on my wrist more than once. I thought that by now it'd be practically healed and I'd be back to doing all the things I love doing. Well after one week in a backslab plaster, and four weeks in a cast, then another five weeks taking it easy, this is what my latest x-ray looks like.

It's an impressive x-ray, but there's still a gap between the two parts of the bone, and that's not good. "Non-Union", they call it and it's one of the risks of getting your bones surgically broken.

The plate is holding it in place so I'm allowed to do some cycling, though nothing too extreme, but my physio said I'm not allowed to paddle for a while yet.

Adventureland 2011

Northern Ireland Adventureland 2011. (Yep, that's one of the CAAN websites) The link probably won't work forever, but the idea is that you can try pretty much any outdoor activity in Northern Ireland for £10 this weekend. I think it's a great idea, the only problem is that it seems to be only people like me who're already into outdoor things that have heard about it. I've been telling everybody, and booked the family to go paddling on the sixmilewater on Saturday.

New Bike

Got a new Bike on the cycle to work scheme!

It's a Vitus Vee-1 singlespeed.




shame i'm not allowed to ride it!
I also got suspension for the marin - Rock Shox Sektor - which cost more than the vitus!



Cycle to work means I pay them off over the year, and I don't have to pay VAT or Income Tax on them. Bargain!



Now Why can't the government introduce a canoe to work scheme?

Route Planning - Done.

Outdoors activities are much better represented online in Northern Ireland than the rest of the UK. the Countrywide Access and Activities Network (CAAN) is an umbrella organisation whose job is to make it easy to get involved in outdoor activities. I've met the director, Caro-lynne Ferris and some of the projects they've completed and are planning are ambitious enough to turn Northern Ireland into the place to go for Outdoor activities.

We truly do have it all within a very very small area. world class surfing, kite surfing, kite buggys on great beaches, sea kayaking as good as anywhere in the world, massive inland seas in Lough Neagh and Strangford with untapped potential. The mournes and Sperrins aren't very high, but they are proper mountains which are unbelievably accessible, allowing any of us to experience fell running, mountain boarding, hill walking, climbing, and mountain biking. We can develop world class road cycling, and horse riding, go caving in Fermanagh, we have some awesome cliffs, particularly at fair Head... CAAN's plans to develop Magheramorne quarry as a downhill mountain biking centre are very ambitious, and they have totally rejuvenated the previously disintegrating Ulster Way. What's even better is their venture Outdoors programme which makes outdoor activities accessible to those who would otherwise miss out.

CAAN's imagination is limited only by the fact that they're a charity, so alongside every project they take on they need to raise the funds to pay for it.
They've got a number of specialised websites under the outdoorsNI brand: walkni, cycleni, canoeni, which identify routes and promote activities. It's a great integrated system, and because it exists, Northern Ireland has a disproportionately large number of well documented canoe trails, including the Lower Bann Canoe Trail which we're going to travel this summer.

So there's less for Martin and me to do in the way of route planning this year than last - plus the fact that we're paddling down a big river, navigation won't be a major challenge.

skills are another matter, and equipment too.
I've done some paddling before. I took a canoe coaching course in 2009, but failed to graduate because I was out of the country on the assessment weekends. It was very useful though because it got me a lot of experience paddling diferent canoes and kayaks on flat water.

Martin's a bit of a paddling novice, but he's got plenty of time to find a couple of taster sessions.

Neither of us has any real knowledge of what to do beyond basic flatwater paddling so I've got to gain some experience of locks, weirs and a little bit of whitewater before we go.

The Initial Plan

Before we'd even set off from St. Bees last Summer we already knew what we wanted to do this year. It's a much more leisurely challenge, but i don't think it'll be any less memorable.

We're going to canoe the length of the Lower Bann.

phase two

It's time to dust off the old blog again as we prepare for some mild excitement in 2011. I had my ulnar shortening surgery in January and I'm not yet allowed to do anything that would impact the wrist, so the only thing I can do is plan.

I made a book

Mild Excitement by John McClean | Make Your Own Book