Belleek to Limerick 2010

Belleek to Limmerick

2010-06-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

Lunch stop 5 miles past Carrick on Shannon

2010-06-02T06:23:00.001-07:00

Test 002

2010-06-02T02:21:00.001-07:00

Camp on the second day, the share centre .hot shower and batteries charged

2010-06-01T22:55:00.005-07:00

Camp for the night, just outside Leitrim

2010-06-01T22:55:00.003-07:00

2010-06-01T22:55:00.001-07:00

Test

Test 001

2010-06-01T15:17:00.001-07:00

Test 001

Camp. First night.

2010-05-29T19:19:00.000-07:00

Yes... "hi-tech sleeping bags meets halting site", seem to sum this up. A few throw-covers and maybe some cushions scattered tastefully around could have done so much for this....

Fenton's Blog

2010-05-29T19:16:00.000-07:00

Check out Fenton's Blog. It's an alternative view of the universe. Find it in my links on the right.

Paypal Donate button issue resolved.

2010-05-29T19:09:00.000-07:00

Sue & Sue at Casting for Recovery have got the issues with PayPal donations resolved after a bit of a marathon effort. You can all pay up now :-)

tech problems

2010-05-29T13:39:00.001-07:00

firstly..im ok

Secondly we are making good progress

2010-05-24T23:22:00.000-07:00

A few people have mailed me regarding the Paypal donate button .. Which isn't working

Casting for Recovery are aware and are working to resolve it

As soon as its fixed I'll let you all know

Andy

Final Preperations

2010-05-24T06:41:00.000-07:00

Final preparations are under way . Checked all the safety gear this afternoon , washed and dried the tent and self inflating mat . I've a few bits and pieces to purchase before we leave on Thursday evening

Sea trout

2010-03-19T14:38:00.001-07:00

im camped on strangford lough. Just caught my first decent sea trout of the year.Well chuffed

sea trouting on Stramgford

St Patricks Day Paddle

2010-03-17T09:24:00.001-07:00

Fenton and I padled from Bangor to Cultra and back this morning

After the Difficult paddle home on Sunday it was interesting to see how we'd do today

Again paddling down the lough we were against the wind , average speed was down to 2 mph and it was hard going. The return journey however was a lot easier with the wind behind us we were averaging 4.5 mph until 3 miles from Bangor when the wind swung round again turning the final leg of the journey into a gruelling slog against the wind

Upper Erne

2010-03-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

Paul and I got some paddling in over the weekend
Unfortunately due to a late start we weren't on the water until 11.30 on Saturday

We launched just below the Killyhevlin hotel and paddled south, covered 12 miles and set up camp for the night on Inishturk

Coming back today was a nightmare .. we had a strong headwind all of the way our average speed was only 2mph . It'll be a miracle If I can lift my arms above my shoulders by the morning

I got to try out some of the new kit I've bought for the trip .

Change of Plan

2010-03-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

Because of the weather forecast we're moving Inland ... Upper Lough Erne is the new Venue ... same distance per day .. I'm working on the new route now

We'll be launching at Carrybridge paddling towards Belturbet

The joys of Irish weather ..ho hum

Andy

Overnighter planned for the weekend

2010-03-10T12:42:00.000-08:00

If the Weather forecast is correct ( ho hum ), myself and Paul will be launching at Whiterock and paddling North towards Comber, once we reach the Elner river we'll paddle east to Ards sailing Club and then South up the Lough to our camp site for the night at the Dorm .. The next morning we will paddle towards Portaferry then cut across towards island Taggart through Ringhaddy sound and back to Whiterock .

The journey is approx 60 kms ..and obviously we'll be carrying overnight kit so the yaks will be fully loaded

10-14 knot NW veering W by Sunday afternoon forecast

Departing at 10:00 from Whiterock on Saturday 13th hopefully back by 16:00 on Sunday

Andy

Collection Boxes

2010-03-08T05:01:00.000-08:00

There are Collection boxes a in Belfast Angling,Tight Lines , Woodford Fishery and The Jet Filling Station Shore road Belfast

Paddling the Quoile today

2010-03-02T14:57:00.000-08:00

Just a quick paddle this afternoon .. 11.4 miles from Downpatrick to Annacloy and back
Glorious March Day with hardly a breath of wind and bright sunshine

We managed to remove a large tree that was blocking a few of the Culverts under the Bridge

2010-02-20T08:29:00.000-08:00

Paddled from Hollywood to Bangor and back today .. just shy of 14 miles

It was very cold with freezing fog . but thankfully it soon lifted , It was hard enough going agaisnt the tide on the way up and with the wind in my face on the way back

belfast lough

Kayaking On Saturday

2010-02-17T13:41:00.000-08:00

Planning to paddle from Hollywood to Bangor and back against the tide on Saturday ...15 miles
There are light North Westerly winds forecast ,but the temperature's not expected to rise above 0 C.

Could be a cold one

Andy

Irish International Fly Fair

2010-02-14T15:53:00.000-08:00

I'm tying again at this years fair 3rd and 4th of July at Killyleagh Co Down

there are some fantastic fly tyers in attendance this year ... check out the website

http://irishinternationalflyfair.com/

Mountain Biking today

2010-02-14T15:45:00.000-08:00

Borrowed a friends mountain bike today and took it up to the forest , I thought maybe with all this running I'm doing that cycling would be easy. Ouch how wrong was I ,, I can barely walk this evening

testimg mobile blogging

2010-01-31T15:48:00.001-08:00

posting this from my phone. I hope to update the blog daily when our trip begins

test

Snow today

2010-01-31T14:44:00.000-08:00

Driving up to the forest for the morning run.. no problem to the Landrover

Handy App for Nokia 5800

2010-01-31T08:51:00.000-08:00

I discovered this handy app on the Nokia OVI site...Endomondo sports tracker

It uses the gps and a data connection on your phone to track your progess when running , kayaking etc it displays distance covered ,average speed and mph
It then uploads the data to the Endomondo website where you can view your track on a google map

I was out running this morning ... the run did'nt go to plan and I ended up helping a girl look for her car keys for a quarter of an hour ..however you get the idea from the screen shot below

I went for a paddle afterwards from Carrickfergus to Hazelbank Park at the top of the M5 and back ..Unfortunately Endomondo must have lost its data connection ..it only shows me doing 3.1 miles according to my Garmin I paddled 10.1 miles

Andy

The Kayaks

2010-01-29T07:55:00.000-08:00

Normally we would use these for fishing from , however we did test their load carrying abilities last year when we paddled the Bann Canoe Trail 67k over two days

I paddle an Ocean Kayaks Prowler 15

Paul Paddles an Ocean Kayaks Elite 4.5

The Plan

2010-01-29T07:36:00.000-08:00

The Plan is to paddle from Belleek in Co Fermanagh to Limerick City, Co Limerick in ten days approx 250 miles , although we have allowed 14 days in case of severe weather

We will be paddling sit on top kayaks made by Ocean Kayaks , Normally we use these for fishing but this time they will be loaded with camping equipment and supplies for our journey

Below is a picture from a trip on Strangford Lough last year

I'm working on a GPS tracking device that will plot our trip in real time on a map displayed on this blog

Who

Me.. Andy Elliott my dog Ciaomhé and my good friend Paul Hawthrone

Why

To raise funds for the charity Casting for Recovery , and it seemed like a good idea when sitting round the camp fire last year