Slieve League, Donegal Bay dolphins

September 22, Day 101

I’ve been waking up early to give myself enough time to fully wake up and deal with dark and cold these days. The long summer days are gone. I had a bit of coffee left over from yesterday so I drank that and the last bit of water I had and once I got out of my tent I went to find more. Luckily that stream I thought I saw had clear running water so I filled 4 liters and put the purifying tablets in and I was good then. Packed up my things and was conscious about time so I really wanted to get going but I just knew that I had to capture the beauty of the beach, so fine, I got out my stupid drone and started to fly it. It honestly gives me so much stress flying that thing especially in the wind, and it was a bit windy this morning so it was making me nervous. Flew it and got some footage of the green cliffs and the beach so I was happy about that. Only took 30 minutes of stress and an emergency out of battery landing before I was off again. Saw another group of club paddlers and they actually didn’t know who I was and I paddled away after some more questions I’ve answered 100 times about - yes I do know the summer has been windy.

Slieve League!! Wow what an insane set of cliffs and a total joy to paddle underneath them, as I’ve hiked above, to the top of Slieve league and have been underneath them as well. Sounds silly but grand landscapes like that always ping a faint memory of watching the land before time as a kid and Jurassic landscapes bring it to mind. Had to make efficient time of it though because nowadays it’s a race against sun down and I really didn’t want to get there after the sun had set, it’s just not a nice feeling to be unpacking and stashing the boat while it’s dark.

I found a funky spot to pee before I started and noticed the wind coming in a direction that wasn’t entirely ideal, it was more coming from my front left side pushing me out towards the sea rather than shifting behind me like it said it would. I went for it anyway because tomorrow won’t be all that lovely. I did the usual listen to music and sing out loud and think about life. It’s all very good for me to be thinking about everything. My eyes were certainly peeled for humpback whales as well, they have been here and there but I didn’t see any. But!! I was seeing loads of pods of dolphins jumping and playing around and about halfway across, I guess this pod of common dolphins liked Greta Van Fleet because when a couple of their songs came on as I was paddling in the middle of the 15 mile crossing, I watched the pod of maybe 10-15 dolphins swimming directly for me. I stopped and watched them jump and play around under and in front of my boat and watching them play their game with each other was so cute, I was laughing out loud at how spunky they were and having fun just witnessing it! Then when they left, two different dolphins came over to me while I was paddling and kept popping up along the front of the boat, twisting around each other and swimming right underneath me. It was just so magical.

Rest of the crossing went just fine and I made it to the beach now in county Sligo before the sunset. And who is there to greet me, but my old friend Paul Armstrong. We stashed the boat in the dunes. Went for a pint and then he brought me back to his house where I saw his family once again, it’s been maybe 3 years and I’ve been able to do laundry and charge things overnight. Definitely fun to be back in their lovely house.