So I have broke the onlyish kinda rule I set my self when I started this blog thin up, “to keep it updated regularly”. The only positive is that I’ve had loads of stuff on as of late which included some boating & good times.
Clifden Fun Rodeo 09
So for the few weeks leading up to the weekend of 20th/21st of June myself , Bowsie & some of the NUIG/GMIT kayak club crew were busy making plans for Event 2 of the IFS league which was to be held in Clifden Co. Galway.
The idea of the event was was pretty straight forward, “lets get everyone over to Clifden do a training / freestyle event lash a BBQ & beach party in the middle of it all and hope every one has a savage time”. From the feed back we have gotten I say it’s safe to say we did what we set out to do.
As some of you might know I am a member of the Irish Freestyle Committee and that our National Team are in preparations for the upcoming World Freestyle Championships In Thun Switzerland later in the Summer. RTE’s magazine program Nationwide decided to do a a small piece on the Freestyle Team and Freestyle kayaking as a whole, this was a bit of honour for us as we are the only sport/ discipline to get covered twice.
As this was Filmed at relative short notice and that the team are currently spread from Uganda to the Ottawa I drafted in some help form friends / Sluice locals and those of the national team that were in striking distance of Dublin.
Fellow team i-canoe member James VdB took some shots on the day
The piece aired on Irish National last Friday evening to approx 500,000 + and was received well among both the paddling / non-paddling community. My only regrets are that there was not some more kayaking shown as a few of the guys managed to go huge on the evening but this wasn’t shown, there were also a couple of more interviews shot too which didn’t get aired ( one of which included the single best “why do you kayak” answers I have ever heard ).
So very recently I loan my cag to a client and we had a bit of an oopsie with the neck seal when it was being taken off. This happens loads of folks & and I know people panic and think it will cost a fortune to send it away to be fixed. With a little bit of concentration and less that 20mins you can have the job done and ready to rock and roll for full use 24hrs later.
Now to be fair I have done a bunch of these back in the days when I worked in an outdoor shop many many moons ago but its seems more daunting that it actually is. The folks in i-canoe hooked me up with a Kokatat neck seal repair kit which has everything you need to do the job, the seals come in two sizes so everyone is covered.
So a while back I did up a bit of a guide for one of Irelands best play spots Clifden on Irish Freestyle ao I thought I would stick it up here so it wouldn’t get lost in the depths of cyberspace. One of the reasons I did up this post was folks are always asking me the same questions…Where is it, how does it work, can you camp, where can you get good online tides. So I am going to stick up the relevant info and hopefully that will answer any questions, and with the lack of water and the good weather there is no better time to get over to one of Ireland’s premier playspots.
When does it work.
As Clifden is tidal it changes when it works, it works about two hours before Galway harbour high tide ,only Spring tides (full moon / new moon)which are twice every month. The tide has to be above 4.26 meters ( 14ft old money) but comes into its own 4.72 (15.5 ft ). So how that all comes together, look at the tide time table for spring tides and make sure thew are big enough.
Take two hours of the time in this case its 15:52 and get to Clifden and be on the water ready to enjoy yourself. Clifden is usually a pretty friendly place to paddle and great for paddlers of all abilities with swims not being a big deal as the saltwater lake it flows into is not dangerous and gear is easily recovered. What I will say there are a few 5.4 meter tides which while not particularly dangerous it’s not for the faint hearted. But still worth the trip for the more adventurous paddler.
Welcome to my little part of the interweb, I know what you are thinking " Ah jayus..........not another fecking blog", sure bear with me and see how it goes.
I will be updating it nice and regular with photos/ stories / random banter & little "how to" guides. Stay tuned it might help you waste some time during the working day.
