August 15, Day 63. I’ve got to sit this weather out even more. Tried to continue on this morning, and was paddling into a force 5-6 just barely moving for 4 hours and went 6 miles. Just so demoralizing and tiring. Even through the sheltered areas of islands I was in, the wind was ruthless and that wasn’t even with swell. I wish I was a better paddler to be able to endure this and be okay with it. So now with the incoming 3 meter/9 foot swell and the 20 mph wind, I need to yet again find a place to stash the boat and somewhere to hang out for nearly a week. This sucks, I really want to keep going and be in it, and enjoy the beautiful outside life but with the storms coming, my tent wouldn’t survive being up and not moving for long.
I’ve thought about going home to Dublin for the week but I just really want to stay “in it” and I can still do other fun things on the west coast, and feel like it’s contributing towards the expedition. Just have to figure out where to stay for a couple days here and there and not feel like a nuisance. I’m camping on a small island near Lettermullen and I sat on a big rock and thought about things looking at the lights in the distance on the mainland. The sheeps trailed off to the other side of the island where their sleeping area must be. A water hound visited me while I was moving my boat higher on the shore line. Water hounds are what Irish mythology calls otters. Was nervous about where my boat was so I brought it up a bit more and did all the necessary things to make sure it’s sitting with not too much pressure in any area and tied to a rock just for a backup. This shore line is steep and all big rock so I can’t really get it up further.
