A little chilly out younder !

My two Siberian Huskies - Myst & Skye had only limited success at digging through the frozen beach at Castlerock but it was nice to look at , sadly the poor old sea kayak was left back home under its warm cover and it was much missed !

The two girls chilling out with a snowy Co, Donegal in the background .

Happy 2010 to all and may the new year bring some great kayaking paddle safe .

Danny and family .

Poor Sammy the Seal !

My Siberian Husky sniffed out and found this young Seal inside Carrick marina resting on rocks , i think it has injured its flipper and it took refuge here to shelter from the storms we had over this weekend. Animal welfare guys and local Police will be taking care of Sammy, fingers crossed all goes well for him ! UPDATE !! he is doing well and has been named Paddington, he's about 5-6 weeks old and has got a chest infection and the on going treatment will sort that out for him ! my kids and i are going to visit him at Portaferry Exploris Aquarium very soon , I will take a photo or two while there , a happy ending thanks to all the Exploris staff Tania and Leslie

The Maidens - West / East Lighthouses

The Maidens are lighthouses in the North channel Between N.Ireland and Scotland . 13 miles from Larne port on the Northern irish side .
From the land they can look like two (world war two Destroyers ) and there is an old story kicking about here saying the German uboat/navy mistaking them for such !
For over the last 20 years I have wanted to visit them and it came true thanks to Pete E .
Weather and tide need to be perfect , if you get caught out here you are in big trouble.

Sammy seal !

High and dry , but my boats plastic thank goodness.

Baldy himself, on top of the old tower with the new one behind me .

1903 was the last time this Light was working and the place has fell to ruin .

Spud picking , they still grow here after all this time and Rick plans to try and grow this potato back home , many have tried but failed they thrive here due to a plenty full supply of bird ----!

and are supposed to taste good , but I will stick to Tesco's best !

Bit of a drop 60 feet to be correct but a cracking view on a brill day, thank you lads until next time .




Maiden west 1 km from the active east light.

CLICK HERE ! VIDEO of Isle of Man July 2009 Basking Sharks YOU.TUBE VIDEO.* click here *

Basking Shark heading right for me and Ian !
A small Shark along side me only 30 foot or so !

Lauren getting a tow on her board , a new sport in the making ?

New sea kayakers being born , a male and i think a female heading for the safety of the sea kayak in the distance .



The Place of my dreams - Peel on the beautiful Isle of Man ,
ten days flew past but my memories will last forever.
Many thanks to Jess , Ian and Geoff for a great paddle see you soon.

Northern Irish coast .

Rathlin Island stuck in between a weather sandwich and looking very mystical six miles away.

Carrick a ree rope bridge in the far distance joining the little island.

Sheep Island - with a Gannet colony easy heard from some distance away.

View from Balintoy harbour south.

Balintoy harbour

Sunrise Northern Ireland style above :

4:42 am 1st July I took the wife and kids on an all nighter fishing trip to Balintoy, a lovely old natural Irish harbour right on the tip of N.Ireland.

11:00 pm the night before just for the hell of it we headed up north ! and what fun we had

from eye-balling sea otters ,catching Pollock and Wrasse ,to listening to Grey Seals snoring and sleeping it rough in the motor,

I also earmarked this spot for a carefully planned sea paddle as the waters up here are deadly fast and are prone to huge Atlantic swells,

but the whole coast is outstandingly beautiful and i cant wait to kayak it.

Me on sea Otter watch five o clock in the morning , soon as i turned my back the wife clocked one and it even came up the beach to show off its belly and play !

Mourne Mountain Challenge aid of Northern Ireland Hospice .

Not much to do with Kayaking I know - but for a very good cause ! we swapped latex water proofs for Gortex water proofs and my wife Michelle and I took part in the first ever Mourne Mountain Challenge 17.5 km ( 10 miles ) this place inspired C .S. Lewis to write the books about Narnia and the same for me to write this !

in aid of the Northern Ireland Hospice which was the place my Mum spent her last few days battling cancer.

She was under the great care of the Volunteers and staff at Somerton road building Belfast which relies much on the public for donations to remain open .

A good few quid was raised and we met some really good people and the weather was clear but bitter and the crac was 90 ! we managed no blisters and looking forward to next year.

Thank you to all who helped and gave money to keep this much needed place afloat.

In Memory of Mum who died a few weeks ago , you never did get the chance to see the Mournes after all ,

maybe your looking down at them now at peace and not in pain , xo your loving son Danny.

SNOW !

Michelle ( wife ) and kid's at the Dam near my home,
and the best place for sledging

Sunset at Woodburn dams, there is talk of one of the dams

being used for watersport's .

Michelle and my wee lad Lee having fun ,

just what life is all about !