Expectations - Positive or negative?

So this is it for me and Otto.
Wrist has taken a turn for the worse. And knowing the weather, conditions and area coming up on this trip, it would be nothing short of dangerous to continue. Also the chance of really injuring myself permanently was to great.
Yesterday was a hairy day, and after going a while agains rather sizy swells and strong headwinds, I felt a pop of pain in my wrist and I lost all feeling in my fingers. It wasnt like they were sleeping. I could actually not feel what they were doing.
This was kind of the last drop. And once finally on land I let the girls know that this would be where I leave them. I think we all felt that this was the right decition on that moment, even though it was hard and sad.

Now, I would like to give the biggest thank you for all the support and concerne ive gottn throughout this trip. I feel so blessed and cared for. This being from other teams going aroung Ireland, new and old friends, colleagues, total strangers and family. Without you all I would never have been able to get as far as I did.
I finnished 1/3 of this trip. And feel quite proud of that. Of course I am gutted and in quite a state at the moment. But I know I made the right decition for the team, and most of all for my self. I do not want a lasting injury when this is over. I know I did the best I could under the circumstances. And I really am in so much pain at the moment that I almost feel a little bit of relief now that the decition has been made.

Now the expectation I had for myself and for the trip, they changed almost on a daily basis for me. The outdoors never care about your pride or ego. It most sertainly do not care where you want to land and how long you have planned to paddle that day. So expectations for me was changed with great force. So did the insight to own abilities and paddlefitness..And I will leave here feeling quite defeated..But most of all blessed. Blessed for all I have seen, blessed for all I have learned, blessed for the people I have met..MOST of all the two girls I have had the honour of spending two weeks at sea with..They are the strongest and most stubborn pair of girls I have ever met. Qualities that makes me sure of their ability to succeed in this adventure. The teddies continue, one man short. But I believe more capable and stronger than ever.
I love you ladies dearly, and cant wait to follow and support - even though it will be from land this time.

I will travel home to Norway on august 2. And hopefully find a small comfort adventure (involving legs this time, as they are still working fine) to pass the time while I wait to go back to see and support them again.

Ireland we meet again - And I will get around in the end!

Thank you all
-Vibeke

Rest days.. Day 16

We landed on the beach on Tuesday afternoon at Garrettown. Wind was starting to pick up from the south west and rain was due to come in. After a long day in the boats be decide to have a bath and wash some clothes, get the tent up quick before it started to rain.

As we are standing there in the drizzling rain eating our dinner generous locals start coming past offering water and so on. Pat bless him went home to fill our water bags to return within a few minutes. He also then mentioned the team of four men, now two Lee and Oney were soon to be landing on the beach finishing their expedition around ireland. What a coincidence and how amazing for us to be there to greet these guys after their challenging adventures. A few friends of them were waiting for them on the beach it was brilliant and motivating to see them. We got some very useful tips and extra food and supplies.. Thanks for the help guys.

Jon Hynes had been in contact with us and if we were passing through we were more than welcome to stay with his family. Having made only plans for a quick stop we stayed on the beach in the pooring rain but through the night the winds had picked up like the forecast predicted.. When Jon came back the next morning to see if we were heading out.. It was a no. Bit too windy for not getting very far. Yes please we would love to come and recuperate at your home.

Choosing yes or no to go on the water isn't the easiest decision. When it's blowing 10m/s and it will be in the face for the whole day.. Are we better off resting and making it up on a better weather day. There is a fine line. We chose to have two bad weather days waiting for the wind to drop down. We don't want for Vibeke's wrist to get any worse and battling against a head wind is no fun. But could we have gotten a few kilometres. Probably but after being fresh from a few days of rest we are then ready to attack the next few days with more energy. We also made a trip upto the old head.. Which up that town put the wind strength into perspective. It was yes a good idea to be on land.

It has been great staying with Jon and his family. We have been made to feel really comfortable and well looked after. A load of washing went straight in the machine.. Probably more for their benefit.. And the girls enjoyed their showers. Enjoying the log cabin and having real home cooked food has been amazing. It's been a few weeks since home cooking.. And the queen of puddings... Was something special. We have learnt a lot about Irish sports and it has just been great. They will have to kick us out to get us from here in the morning. Thank you for all your generosity and help. We have definitely benefited from going over the maps. That has probably saved us the two days in itself.

We have been driven here there and everywhere. Today we went into Kinsale and met the staff at the Kinsale centre. Great to share our story with fellow outdoor folk and hopefully we have motivated someone to set themselves that goal that they want to achieve.

The girls are on the water at the moment having a bit of a wind session with Jon. Hopefully we will be recuperated and ready for paddling tomorrow. Westerly winds but they are said to drop off. Fingers crossed.

Almost in Cork day 11

Day 7 and 8 we spent the time recuperating. Vibeke visited the doctor and we enjoyed a few beers and dinner in Tramoure. Seems to be well know for its surf school and has a fun fare. Where I did lose the odd euro or two in the slot machines... and trying to win more teddies for the team.

After two days of rest.. In all fairness the winds were pretty rough too; we were ready to get back in our boats.. Forecast sun and light winds.

Day 9 was our longest stretch so far with 38km. It has been nice with a steady start and hopefully we will get some longer days in soon as our bodies adjust to expedition life. Great to finally get out of Tramoure Bay and we made it to Helvick head with a dolphin display on the way in. There is a spa at Helvick head for next time we will book in in advance. 

Great slip way next to the rnli station and we had a great night sleep on grass.. After the horrendous sand flees everyday at Tramoure.

Day 10 was beautiful. Helvick head to Youghal. Lovely channels and caves coming around Helvick head a few long stretches and we stopped at a beach for lunch. Luckily it was Sundays farmers market.. We tuck in to pasties and pancakes. There was a family on the beach who had seen us on Facebook. It was great.. The young boy had recognised our teddies. Yeah!! Great to have a chat and a send off. We had some great tips to watch out for a crane.. Which we found thanks! Rounding the next headland and then approaching Youghal crossing over the bay.. A romany surf in plastic drives down the hill.. I know that boat. And before we knew it Rob was on the beach to great us. Lovely to see a friendly face. We all enjoyed beer and dinner. Great with some company.. Keeping us sane and socialised.. As we have been lacking a few manners just being ourselves as you can imagine. We were stopping here to pick up our post. Looking for a camp spot wasn't so easy. We ended up lying under the stars on the slip way. Not so comfortable.

Day 11 Youghal to Gyldendal. Great start to the day by picking up our post.. Having a coffee and Rob joining us on the water. Our first guest paddler. Great with some company. Chatter on the water hadn't been our priority so it was lovely to break up the silence. After a bad night sleep and long day on the water.. We make it to a camp spot to later find out it a camp spot for teenagers and their teenage parties.. Mmm.. Fingers crossed we will get more sleep than yesterday.

- Ashley

Day 8 - Trouble in paradise

Oh so..Day 8..And landbound for another day.
Although I am enjoying every minute of this adventure, I will have to admit that I have had quite the challenging first week..There has been some expected issues, and then some quite unexpected ones.

For me, maybe the biggest challenge is to get enough food in me. I have never been a "breakfast person" and I hate eating when on the move..
These were things I knew beforehand, and had spent a lot of time thinking about. So I tried to find sollutions where I brought food and supliments I knew I would enjoy as much as possible. I have to admit what I missed the mark on was the lunches. Maybe the most important meal for fuel. And also bars dont go down to easy on the move.
After the disastrous crash the other day, I have very much realised that these problems are not to be taken lightly. I thought I could push it, and restock on land. I could not. With the problems I have in my wrist and well..Everywhere..My body was working overtime. I could have put myself and my friends in a really dangerous situation, luckily it only ended with a slight scare. And a very huge load of hard work. for them..Now the shame of that no energybars or food can fix. I have to admit I was crying my eyes out, really feeling the stress of holding my team back and making such a stupid mistake.
I am just so blessed and lucky to be here with such understanding and patient friends and SUPER strong paddlers. That not only wants the best for me, but also do everything possible to help and be supportive.
The group dynamics and just the whole learning experience of doing something like this in a group with 3 totally different girls. It might just be the biggest learning experience for me. Like Ash says...Vibeke..Just get over yourself...Come on..
A welcome, nice and positive learningexperience. The quality these two girls posess are nothing short of amazing, exciting and inspiring. Lucky me!!

Now, second problem was much more expected. Blisters. Of course I would get blisters. And they would be hard to heal, as you just keep paddling.
The beauties I now posess on my right hand....Oh wow...And then camping on beaches with loads of sand. Sand is clean, so not at all the worst thing. Only..You are not supposed to have grinding micropieces of sand and shell into open wounds for days. They will get infected if you are not careful right away. Which I was not. Enough....So one day I woke up with these swollen fingers I could not bend. Open soars and it all was just looking rather grim.
Luckily Frida is an excellent field doctor, and we also got sponsored with some brilliant first aid kits. So my suggestion as to what to bring first aid wise to a longer paddling trip would be: A flush surringe (this is to rinse sand and other grim stuff from soars and scrubs), anticeptic creams, variety of plasters and gloves (no matter how warm the weather), and anti inflamatories in pill form.
These little blisters are not to be taken lightly! They could easily ruin your whole trip!!

Third problem came completely out of left field..Tendonitis in my wrist...REALLY?? I have never in my life had anything like that. I have paddled on longer trips. I have paddled hard..I have trained..I have had amazingly physical jobs. Never before have I had any problems with that before...Just my luck!!
So when we decided to have a rest day I thought it best to go to the pharmacy. Try and get something for the pain and the wrist. The ladies behind the counter were just adorable. One of them kept staring at my arm that was very red and swollen..I showed it to her, and had her feel it grind and squeek whenever I moved the hand.
Scuuuuse meeee...Got anything for this maybe miss? Girls chuckling in the bacground..I tried my most charming Norwegian-Irish in the hope I would get some helpful advice..and maybe even some juicy pills. They oh my dear-ed me for a while before they suggested to go to the local family practice down the street.
Brilliant advice!! Got to see a doctor straight a way..
I told him what we were up to, and he looked at me for a while..Sighed..And said I had left him in a little bit of a spot there...
He didnt really want to give me anything as he wouldnt want to help me ruin my arm and hand..On the other hand he said he could see I would just continue anyway, so he felt he needed to try and help me as best as he could.
So got something for the swelling, painkillers he refused to give me. Said if i were to continue against his better judgement, he hoped the pain would stop me before anything got ruined in there. Fair enough..I rather liked that actually!!
So here we are then..Bad case of Tendonitis..The wrist will not get better as long as i keep paddling with it like this...And might likely get worse..He thought...
But then..I cant really quit now because someone thinks that. I have to keep trying atleast. So thats what I am left with really. Kind of between a rock and a hard place.
I do want to paddle on. I want to get around. I want to continue with the girls and will do whatever possible to be able to. At the same time, its a hard enough trip being fit and well..And the last thing I want is to be the reason for the other two not to get around. Also I never again want to put them in the same situation as I did the other day. So whats the best thing to do right now? I have no idea what so ever. Its all I can think about really...
But right now I think I will try to continue. Give it another week and see how the progress is, how my wrist is holding up and how I am affecting the girls. As the group will be my number one priority always!! Worst case I will have to go on land. Travel a week up the coast and wait for the girls. It would be devastating..But it would keep me with the girls. And Ashley really have me thinking..What are you really doing this for? It would still be an acomplishment..Even tho ive missed 200 km of the 1600 we need to cover. All of this have made me feel a lot more happy and optimistic. And ive reconsidered my whole reason for being here and doing this.
What a learning experience this all is!!!

Interesting days......



-Vibeke

Day five and six!

Day five Rosslare to Cullenstown

Getting ready to get onto the water.. Anticipation lay to what was ahead. The unknown. Reading the map there was marked tidal races around the headland from Rosslare and then the intimidating St Patrick's bridge.. 

I was a little bit unsure about St Patrick's bridge. From the maps we have I was unsure whether we would be going around The Saltees or not. And then I read a book given to me called Oileáin which suggested that we would get pulled down onto the bridge.. What did that mean. Sucked in? Or were we to expect a small tidal race. Anyway we head around the headland from Rosslare no problem and then headed straight for Kilmore Quay over the bridge.. How bad could it be if we go on slack.

Anyway there was no sucking down or pulling in.. We crossed just as the tide turned to the flood and there was a little race picking up but we were fine and great place to stop at Kilmore Quay. This is where we found the RNLI shop and needed to show our support by adopting two new bears to the team Sam and Billy.

This day we had lovely winds from behind all day force three to four. Expedition boats are a must for a working skeg. Although NDK boats are not dependent on the skeg the tired paddler is. Very useful to put the skeg down and cruse along. excellent surf in the afternoon for those small energy bursts we had in us.

We then landed on a beach first one with facilities for those of us that wanted a lovely cold shower... Mm...

Day six Cullenstown - Tramore (east side of the bay)

Today was the first day of rain.. Wet rain it was poring down. Can we wait five more minutes? No use it was hammering it down. Quick dive to the kayaks with our kit and a strategic packing of the tent to keep the inside as dry as possible.. We will see how long that lasts before we stop caring so much.

We had a lovely morning on the water dispite the rain. It was actually nice to have the cooling rain instead of beaming sun for a few hours. We had lunch and continued around to the light house and hooks head. For the first time in six days we met other kayakers on the water. No surprise really as we have been staying out and making some crossing but today we kept close to sure and met a group on sit on tops.. Friendly guide with a group of Americans. Great to see others on the water.

As we got around hooks head the sea fog came in and the visibility was low. Time to trust my navigation skills and follow a bearing 280 degrees for an hour and we should hit land... And we did.

Having been in our kayaks for a few hours already it was maybe time for a break. But not the best landing spots. The decision was made to carry on. I had my fist pee in my kayak with the use of a sheewee very happy about that and a quick bar to eat and we carried on.

Six nautical miles to the next landing spot we decided to proceed. This was around three o clock.. Knowing the wind was going to pick up at five.. We head on. As we were paddling I could see the speedometer was going slower and slower. Vibeke was finding it hard against the headwind which was picking up. But we were plodding on getting closer to the headland we needed to get around. Energy levels we obviously a bit low. So I shout over to check if she had food. Yes. So we continue. We were not far but with a decelerating speed we were not getting there very quickly. And the winds still picking up.

Vibeke' she energy levels getting lower and lower and she also squired a pain in her wrist resulting in her not being able to paddle.. Especially in a surf as her hand was hurting. The beach didn't look for away so frida rated up and I started toeing them into the beach. Yes towing two fully loaded kayaks was not easy. Going at about one and a half knots not too quickly but faster that what we were paddling with an injured paddler. After about thirty minutes the beach wasn't looking much closer. And it was time for me to give up my super hero badge and asked frida to drop forward in the contact tow and paddle as well. She then replied.. But she did just pass out a few minutes ago. With me to just reply. Ok just lay her on your back deck then. So she did where Vibeke was sound asleep until being woken up by the occasional breaker.

Wasn't the best situation to be in. The thought was there ready to make an emergency landing on the rocks. But steady wins the race. We kept the pace down and carried on. The river coming out and wind waves blowing in there were some interesting conditions.. I almost went over.. Waves pushing me one way and the raft of kayakers pulling me backwards.. I took the biggest deep breath ready for that roll.. Turned out my very low low brace saved me.. That was a close one.. Steady through the surf and eventually we made it to the beach.

We were amazed we made it to the beach all of us exhausted.. Camp went up quickly and food in the belly. Best night sleep for us all.

Day seven

Day seven we have had a rest. Hitch hiked to the nearest town. Vibeke had visited the doctor for her wrist and had some great advice from the pharmacy.now we are enjoying a cold beer in the pub hopefully ready for more paddling but less action tomorrow.

- Ashley

Day four!

We haven't long got off the water. The last few days we have been trying to catch the tide as much as possible so today it was two hours on the water and then a three hour sun bathing then five hours non stop paddling riding on the ebb. It's a bit of a drag getting off the water at low water though with Frida's really heavy kayak.. Either the repair it had done on it recently added some extra weight or she is feeding us all from that kayak.

It's been a lovely few days paddling. Bit of head wind but it settled down today giving us a lovely days paddling. We got a good rhythm going in the group so that has been super.

Today was beautiful. We got the kokatat shorts and rash t-shirts on and our kokatat caps to shade us from the sun. Really impressed with all of our kit.

We have been astonished by the seals dancing around us all day and some other nature elements. I got a bug in my boat with pincer type tail on it.. He was crawling around in their keeping me on my toes.. I tried to drown him.. We will see the results in the morning if I have any bite marks. And then a poor bee didn't have the best odds either flying straight for my face.. The paddle makes a useful weapon against bees. Me screaming like a girl and making kung-fu with my paddle his days we over. Sorry bee.

We are start to feel it in our bodies today. We have made it to Rosslare and are excited to see what's around the headland.

- Ashley

Day one!

Today has been an excellent day.. Full of nerves, excitement and anticipation.

We started out at Dun Laoghaire. It was high water at 1500 so we decided to set off at around 1230 paddling against the rising tide before catching a ride with the ebb.

Meaning quite a slow start until lunch and then moving a bit quicker but still Into a head wind.

Having been told about the wildlife around Ireland, I wasn't expecting to wait too long to see seals.

After an hour or two of complaining they started popping their heads up to say hello. It was amazing.

We haven't had much practice together so finding a pace that suits everyone has been difficult but I am sure we will come closer together as the days go by.

Had our first challenges of surf landings. By the third one we were improving. But we have had an unattended boat in the water Mm..

We have put out tent up.. Fast and easy then dinner was served.. The sun is going down and soon ready for bed.

Landed in Wicklow.

- Ashley

Tomorrow is the day we have been waiting for.

Tomorrow we will be setting off for our adventure around Ireland. Setting out from Dun Laoghaire harbour and heading south. Both teddies and ladies have butterflies in their bellies.. We can't wait. Follow our track by using the link. http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0BpiI4h1Zbk7nzLJ96BDbFHonoqF2bo93