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Displaying items by tag: Iain Miller

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

Eve McMahon's 2021 sailing achievements

  • Irish Sailor of the Year 2021
  • Gold Medallist Youth World Championships Italy Highest Ranked Irish Female 
  • Star Sailors league Silver medal at the Youth European Championships Croatia Gold medallist U19,
  • Silver medallist U21 Senior European Championships Bulgaria Race win Senior European Championships Bulgaria
  • Selected Paris 2024 Olympic Solidarity Scholarship Sport Ireland
  • 15th Senior European Championships Bulgaria, 1st Irish Female, securing Sport Ireland Carding.
  • Youth ISAF World Representative Oman, equivalent to Youth Olympic in sailing,
  • 4th overall Guinness World Record Participant Beach Clean up -
  • Oman Gold medallist U19 Allianz World Cup Netherlands
  • Gold medallist U23 Lanzarote International Regatta 4th
  • U21 European Championships Montenegro
  • Nominated for Irish Sailor of The Year
  • Bronze medallist Connaught's Wexford
  • 9th Silver Fleet European Continental Qualification
  • 5th Pre-Qualifciation regatta Lanzarote