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Displaying items by tag: Umfin Island

This is Umfin Island, which lives 3 km west of Gweedore, Donegal and is uninhabited except for a couple of thousand ground nesting sea birds. The short film shows Iain Miller paddling through a 300–metre sea cave tunnel which passes right through the middle of the island from the Atlantic to the Gweedore side. In the centre of the tunnel is a 30m section which is in complete darkness and is guarded at either end by a constriction or narrowing in the cave walls, these narrowings are very tidal.

Umphin (Umfin or Iompainn) Island is a small uninhabited island living on the sea ward side of Inishmeane and just to the North of the much better known Gola Island. The island sits approximately 3km from mainland Donegal and is normally surrounded by mildly tetchy seas. Umphin is home to a ground nesting colony of several thousand sea birds and sees very few visitors of the human kind. Access to the island is by boat or if you are feeling Olympic by swim. There is no regular ferry service to the island and leisurely sea kayak paddle is an excellent way to approach and visit the island.

On the landward (Donegal mainland) side of Umphin there is a perfect natural harbour and shelved landing beach between mainland Umphin and the outlaying Tornacolpagh Island. The channel between the islands provides a very shelter landing spot which at low tide allows you to walk between the island as the sea retreats.

The rest of the island's coastline is very exposed to every ripple of oncoming sea motion from all directions south west through to north and is effectively guarded by sea cliffs for most of it's circumference.

Published in Canoeing

About Pamela Lee, Irish Offshore Sailor

Ireland has produced some of the world’s most dedicated offshore sailors, and Pamela Lee of Greystones is one of them. She has made a name for herself in the sailing world, having worked as a mate on a charter Super-yacht for two and a half years. After coming ashore, she has been fully committed to her offshore sailing ambitions since 2019.

Lee has raced in various craft, including Figaro 3s, Class 40, Tp 52s, and multihulls, and has eight transatlantic crossings under her belt. In partnership with Kenny Rumball, Lee supported Rumball’s La Solitaire du Figaro sailing campaign to secure the Irish berth in the proposed Mixed Offshore Keelboat event for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

One of Lee’s stated main aims is to promote female empowerment in sport, and she set out to establish a double-handed Round Ireland speed record with Englishwoman Cat Hunt in the winter of 2020. This campaign gained much publicity, and Lee expressed pride in bringing sailing and offshore sailing, in particular, into the conversation for 2020.

To further her offshore sailing career, Lee moved to France, where she has recently secured a place to skipper a yacht in the Transat Jacques Vabre Challenge in October 2023. Lee’s passion and dedication to offshore sailing are inspiring, and her achievements are a testament to her hard work and perseverance.