In January and February we go to the fabulous Baja Peninsula in Mexico again. A very large part of this trip is the chance to go whale watching where we meet up with the Grey whales who have come all the way down from Canada to mate and give birth. Kayaking, stand up paddling, snorkelling, foraging, basking in the sun, great Mexican food … mmmmm
It certainly makes the Irish winter pass a little quicker.
We still have a few places left on this trip. But I am sure not for too much longer.

We are offering some great and exciting weekend trips over the winter. We will have them up on the calendar in a few days. Stay posted.

With most of our trips now we will be adding a dimension of foraging and nature awareness, checking out the sea weeds, wildlife and plants of the area.

Some of the trips offered will be:

West Cork
Glandore Bay to Castlehaven Bay via the Island and Grey seal nurseries.
Carberys hundred Island including the Harbour seals

Cork to Cobh and Spike Island.

The Barrow Navigation.

We will also continue with our popular programme of courses, including:

Irish Canoe Union courses.
Water familiarity and rolling clinics in the warm swimming pool.
Navigation courses.
Night time kayaking and stargazing through telescopes afterwards, to check out the planets and the cosmos while having a warm drink. Non alcoholic of course.
Rolling clinics in a warm swimming pool.

My Japanese experience brings me to our new and really popular foraging trips. The Japanese tour operators were pleased to know that, as well as all the good food on offer in West Cork, we can also offer them sushi and West Cork fish and seaweed.

We have teamed up with Sally McKenna of the Bridgestone Food Guide to offer these foraging trips. We head out on the sea and look at the various seaweeds and coastal plants.
We fish and look for bivalves. Maybe pick a little dullisk or sea spaghetti. We learn how to harvest in an environmentally friendly way.
We stop at lunch time at some hidden area and, with the help of our Kelly Kettles (Best gadget ever and Irish made) we cook up some seaweed and fish and taste our foraged fare.  Then the seaweed soaking in boiling water gives us a beautiful oily salve which we apply to the skin and revel in the land of Tir Na Nog for a short while.
The Bridgestone Guide folk and ourselves gave presentations at Electric Picnic and at the Skibbereen food fare in the Eldon Bar in Skibbereen lately and it was received very well.

Well we have had a great summer , I did not even have time to write a blog . Well that is not completely true.
I have been face booking and using it as an excuse.
WE HAVE AN EXCITING TIME AHEAD

Sally and John from the Bridgestone Food Guide have asked me to speak at Electric Picnic. For thise of you who dont know it is a modern day Woodstock . Next Day I am off to Japan for a week  as a guest of Tourism Ireland . Again doing some presentations.
Then October sees us in Venice and the finale to the Year our amazing Baja (Mexico ) Whale watching trips.

September the 23rd we are involved in the Port of Cork Culture evening where with two great singers Tony Davis and Jessie Kennedy we will having a story and song recital mainly about the River Lee and the City of Cork.

So as you can see there is more to this kayakin thing than meets the eye.
3 Weeks left to school starting time . Lets make the most of it and get out there on the water but be safe .

Jim

Jim is guest presenter at the Pagia Sea Kayaking Symposium in Girona near Barcelona in April, where he will be holding workshop in how to forward paddle faster and more efficiently. Some of the other presenters also there are Nigel Foster and Nigel Denis to name but a few. Click if you want to see Jim’s Forward Paddling technique in action.

Atlantic Sea Kayaking has been selected by Trip Advisor as one of the world’s 10 most exciting alternatives to the typical tourist holiday.

The selection was chosen as part of the Trip Advisor Newsletter, an on-line newsletter that goes out to millions of travelers throughout the world. We were chosen alongside companies in Mexico, France, the UK, Italy and Greece.

Trip Advisor is the world’s biggest travel community, with more than 40 million visitors, each month.

The citation quoted in their newsletter was from a customer who had experienced the “Glittering water and sky on a night kayak trip” with ASK. It was, she said, “One of the most amazing things I’ve ever experienced”.

What an accolade this is to all our amazing and professional staff, and a very big thanks to all our friends who take the trouble to sing our praises.

We must be doing something right, because earlier this year the travel guide Frommers, selected Ireland as the top destination to visit in the world. One of the reasons given for the choice was “Kayaking in West Cork”.

We’ve also recently been highlighted in the Heathrow Airport Magazine.

The kayak is a great vehicle for collecting seaweed. We can get to those special seaplanes that are found only on the extreme low shore, like dilisk and Atlantic wakame.

In Ireland we’ve used seaweed in our diet since pre-historic times, but only recently has foraging for it become popular again. Why not!? It’s free, it’s delicious and it’s good for you, and we’re loving it.

Including seaweed in our diet is good for metabolism and energy, it stimulates the immune system, it cleanses the blood, and is a natural protector against both bacterial and viral infection.

We’ve been using our catch to flavour miso soups, salads, breads and all sorts of other foods. We’ve also made a simple hand lotion, and shampoo. So why not join us for one of our Seaweed Foraging Trips, when we catch, cook, talk and taste seaweeds.

We dragged ourselves out of bed fueled by the anticipation of the concert we are about to attend. Half an hour later we are floating snugly in our kayaks on the still waters surrounded on both sides by woodlands.

Suddenly a Blackbird taps his beak on a branch and begins to tune up. Then slowly, as if one by one, the other birds begin to harmonise.

Between March and the beginning of July, in the twilight before sun rise, beautiful bird song fills the air of forests, hedgerows, parks and gardens. Bird ‘Calls’ can be heard at various times through the day, but the sounds that create the internationally celebrated Dawn Chorus are different. These are called bird ‘Songs’.

Before the sun rises, birds cannot search for food, as it is too dark. Instead they defend and mark out their territory, and attract female mates. It is generally the males who sing their unique bird songs. In parts of Ireland with a bit of careful listening you can pick out many different bird songs from a whole chorus.

We are lucky in West Cork to have one such magical place. It is a sheltered inlet surrounded on both sides by woods and has a natural echo, so the sounds are magnified. There is nothing more beautiful than to drift unobtrusively in a kayak and listen to the world wakening up with the dawn chorus.

When we finish our trip Carol’s Cafe in Union Hall opens extra early for us to have breakfast.

Our kayaking trips take place each week between now and the beginning of July. Contact us for further details or to arrange a trip.