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Displaying items by tag: Walk for Aoife

#Kayaking - Despite only learning how to swim last year, Manchester man Alan Creedon took up the challenge of paddling across the Irish Sea in honour of his late sister.

And this week he achieved just that, when he and his much more experienced kayaking partner Mike Alexander reached land at Dun Laoghaire by sea kayak after a 22-hour crossing from Holyhead.



According to The Irish Post, Creedon's journey actually began earlier this month when he set off on foot from his Manchester home for the North Wales ferry port – a journey of nearly 200km.

But the journey's not over yet, as Creedon's #WalkForAoife as he prepares to continue by foot across Ireland to Dingle, where his Irish family are based.

Along the way he'll continue to recount his experiences on his blog where he's also fundraising for a Dingle housing charity as well as mental health support.

In other kayaking news, island communities in West Cork are set to benefit from a kayak-sharing scheme modelled along the lines of bike-sharing in Irish cities.

As the Irish Examiner reports, Whiddy Island will host a test of the scheme next week before it's rolled out to Cape Clear, Long, Heir, Dursey and Sherkin Islands over the next three years.

Published in Kayaking

About Conor O'Brien, Irish Circumnavigator

In 1923-25, Conor O'Brien became the first amateur skipper to circle the world south of the Great Capes. O'Brien's boat Saoirse was reputedly the first small boat (42-foot, 13 metres long) to sail around the world since Joshua Slocum completed his voyage in the 'Spray' during 1895 to 1898. It is a journey that O' Brien documented in his book Across Three Oceans. O'Brien's voyage began and ended at the Port of Foynes, County Limerick, Ireland, where he lived.

Saoirse, under O'Brien's command and with three crew, was the first yacht to circumnavigate the world by way of the three great capes: Cape Horn, Cape of Good Hope and Cape Leeuwin; and was the first boat flying the Irish tri-colour to enter many of the world's ports and harbours. He ran down his easting in the Roaring Forties and Furious Fifties between the years 1923 to 1925.

Up until O'Brien's circumnavigation, this route was the preserve of square-rigged grain ships taking part in the grain race from Australia to England via Cape Horn (also known as the clipper route).

At a Glance - Conor O'Brien's Circumnavigation 

In June 1923, Limerick man Conor O’Brien set off on his yacht, the Saoirse — named after the then newly created Irish Free State — on the two-year voyage from Dun Laoghaire Harbour that was to make him the first Irish amateur to sail around the world.

June 1923 - Saoirse’s arrival in Madeira after her maiden passage out from Dublin Bay

2nd December 1924 - Saoirse crossed the longitude of Cape Horn

June 20th 1925 - O’Brien’s return to Dun Laoghaire Harbour

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