Tuesday, April 29, 2008

My first sun-burn of 2008 ! Island-Magee coast Co.Antrim.

The Scottish coast under a cloak of thunder storms , about 15 miles away over the other side of the Irish sea. Whitehead and the oil jetty at Cloghan point .
My friends summer home near the shore. ( Lucky devil ).
Tea-time ! and every few minutes you could hear the calls of Pheasants echoing from the countryside , spring is underway! The gobbins cliff's in the distance .
Rounding the headland.
Razorbills and Cormorants nesting on the cliff face.
Blackhead lighthouse.
The squad rounding Blackhead !
Ernie , Peter and Kevin and me about to have a lunch break. Peter's new Capella and my red Avocet.
In the distance if you enlarge the photo you can just make out the Copeland Islands Co Down .

This is a photo of a little hand cleared slipway at IslandMagee which I used many times in the 90's when my friend had a small boat tied up here .



Steven and I used to set the odd lobster pot and fishing net just off the shore here which was very successful .



Short sleeves today as the weather was fantastic ,as I write with beetroot arms !

Sunday, April 27, 2008

The Lagan descent kayak race - Northern Ireland. 20.4.08.

Michelle and I
The race about to start .
Half way mark and thumbs up from the boss !






Michelle and I both entered the race just for the sheer fun , and to meet up with some old friends we missed from the pool sessions and other paddles we did last year .



The race is 10 miles long and snakes its way through Belfast's valleys and parks and has in times of flood has some very interesting rapids and weirs which I've run a few times with my heart in my mouth ! but as always it was great fun .



This was my other half's first time on a river " hangover and all " and she was over the moon when she shot her first weir at Edenderry like a pro ! but the next one - lets just say backwards and wrong side of weir and no more !



For a great day and some nice scenery have a go , you don't know what your missing .



A big thank you to all at Belfast Canoe Club and thank you Mark for the race T shirt that Michelle has adopted as a second skin , can't wait till November for another go !



Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Roll on summer ! 15.4.08.

Lauren and Lee fossil hunting at the shore line at Carrickfergus , which I did with my dad 30 years ago ! boy time flies.....


My local harbour tonight at 8pm , I had the kids out for a walk burning off some of their energy and I caught the sun lighting up our 800 year old castle , further on down the jetty I saw two paddlers hugging the coast and their blades glinting in the sun every few seconds , so I'm itching to get on the water, fingers crossed for this weekend !