To The Rivers and Beyond

Best day kayaking so far! Put in at Muckross and kayaked round the point. Flat calm up until here and then it got a bit choppy from the wind of the Broad Lough. I'm far from my fear of water but starting to trust my kayak a lot more. We just found it funny that we were getting wet from the waves sloshing over the side. Especially when a huge one filled Kirsty's kayak!

Came across a strange barge round the corner. It was eerily quiet and sounds of a digger in the background made it a bit more freaky. Until I realised there was a doll's head placed on one of the posts on the barge, with a bald head and worn out black eyes. Really creeped me out!

From mouth of Kesh River up was just amazing. Flat calm, brilliant to canoe up. I think it is the best place we have kayaked yet. Able to get the full way up until the bridge and the weir. Had awesome fun popping seeds with my paddle on these plants. Ended up covered in them!

Stopped off for chips at one of the jetties - need to perfect our getting in and out without getting wet / being able to step in haha.

All in all a great day :)

A Paddling Friend is a Friend Indeed

Went back out tonight from Rossigh Jetty. Met the kayakers we met last night and chatted the man for a good while. He's from Belfast and comes down as often as he can.

Chatting them made me think about how lucky we are. Fermanagh is beautiful, I've always known that, but sometimes we don't always see or appreciate it. It was always mornings when I was driving to work that I would catch a glimpse of Cuilcagh in the sun and it would take my breathe away.

John, my new kayaking friend, also kept going on about how great my kayak was. I do love it, looking at other people's kayaks helps to make me realise that, although it did cost a bit more than I expected, the quality is deffo something you cannot skimp on. Plus it has a wheel - how great is that?

Now the new mission is to explore Fermanagh rivers and jot them down. Obviously won't be this season but there is severe lackage in information for paddlers except for the NI Lough Erne Canoe Trail.

Off to put my feet up with some hot chocolate and my new outdoor magazine :)

The Peace of the Open Water

Finally, after nearly two weeks, got out on the lake again tonight. Put in at Rossigh Bay and paddled to Rossclaire and back.

Was a fantastic night. The water was flat calm, the sun setting casting a brilliant reflection over the water and seeing ducks and herons along the banks were amazing. There is something so peaceful about being out on open water like that. Just at one with nature.

Even got to see the local Lough Erne Yacht Club out on their weekly sail. Again something amazing and calming about seeing the white sails in the distance.

Got chatting to some fellow kayakers at the jetty too. The man was really nice chatted away about the sun. Plus his rather lightweight, and crap, sit-in made me appreciate the extra few hundred for my Nomad was deffo worth it for the quality and safety.

One thing that did annoy me - the speedboat at Rossclaire. I think I'm turning into one of those people that hates boats with a motor in general. I just don't see the point of travelling fast and in circles on a boat any more... I'm going to make a brilliant old grumpy woman haha

Lough Erne Lessons Part 5 - Seaplanes and cruisers win

Went for our first paddling session that wasn't just going in circles in a bay today. Put in at Rossclaire and set off around the bay, through Killadeas Bay, around Horse Island and back. Took about an hour in total.

First experience was that of a cruiser coming out of Killadeas Bay. With my inexperience I did not really want to risk being capsized in the middle of Lough Erne so made for as close to the shore as possible to take on the wash. Skip to me being wedged between two poles of a slipway, bobbing up and down and clinging for dear life. Kirsty managed to brave it, but no I end up looking like a coward!

Following that, the paddle around Horse Island on the Killadeas side was relatively uneventful bar passing a boat that was just about seven foot short of being classed as cruiser being beached on the shore without a care in the world and the passengers asking would we take their kids to Enniskillen on our kayaks.

We circled around the island and it was relatively uneventful. Slight wind but nothing to worry about. On crossing the gap between Horse Island and the mainland, I made a passing comment on how exposed we were and then noticed a seaplane. Laughing about this seaplane landing on us, we watched it circle around and head straight towards us. Luckily it decided to land a good bit away, but deffo not the type for a kayak to take on!

Back on dry land now for a well deserved snooze!

Lough Erne Lessons Part 4 - I am a little fish in a big pond

Went to Rossigh today for just a wee paddle. The family was once again viewing so we just stayed in and around the slipway. Everything was going fine, there was a wee swell but nothing major. It was a little choppy further out and a wee breeze but we could fight it in the sheltered part of the bay.

After about 40 minutes of this, we noticed two lots of jet-skis pulling into the carpark and being brought down to the slipway. Then another one. By this point we were starting to realise that our inexperience was not a match for the swell of a past moving jet-ski, especially as one or two of them were being driven by children not much older than ten. By the time the fourth one was put in the water we had had enough. And a fifth was brought down after we got out.

Our peaceful afternoon on the bay had been interrupted by five of the nosiest, pointless machines that man has. We watched from the shore as they flitted across and bumped over waves, causing a swell that even a more experienced canoeist would have had fun paddling in.

Jet-skis clearly are only fun for the person on it, and deffo not for the water users who are lacking in engines!

The beginning of something magical

Ok so this is my first blog to document my move from waterphobic to Kayak queen. I have never been overly water confident due to lack of support and practically blindness as a child but in recent months I have helped myself regain water confidence by swimming.

And now that that has improved I have decided to take up kayaking. And not just by joining my University Club (which I also plan to do) but by actually buying my own kayak.

I have kayaked before, but took the notion this summer when working in a hotel that over looked the river meaning I could watch longingly at the kayakers and canoeists in the evenings.

And so, together with my parents and my best friend, we are setting off tomorrow to find a kayak to buy. Wish me luck!