July 12, Day 28. A nice slow paced day. Got out of that spot efficiently and made my way towards weaving through the islands of west cork. What a beautiful place. At one point I saw a fair amount of smoke plumming from somewhere in the distance and it smelled like when you get off the St. James luasstop and can smell the Guinness factory. Not really sure what that meant. Around middle calf I really started to have a fun day with the seals. I was floating and just watching the seals pop up to look at me, they are so curious and really want to watch me and what I’m doing. I didn’t move quickly so they don’t get scared. Then as I was leaving I paddled backwards for a couple minutes and it’s just amazing to watch them swim after you and pop up and spin around every now and then. When I started to leave they just took off after me and kept swimming in the wake of my boat. They’re so precious.
Paddled then to Schull because I was staying at the Fastnet Outdoor Education Center! It’s just so cool to see how other outdoor Ed places do things, let alone in a different country than the systems I’m used to in the states. It’s Jon’s center but he wasn’t there but the staff there are just wonderful. What an awesome team. Sinead showed me around and how to use the kitchen and laundry and shower and all that and then I had the place to myself. Really well needed just to clean and fix things and prep myself and the boat for another couple days out.
