Day 24

Up this morning at 6 a.m. and on the water for 7.30 a.m. (I think the lie in was due to the fact that Tony got no drink last night). We paddled up around Bloodyforeland and onto Horn Head in very good conditions - calm seas, little wind although we did go through a few rain showers. Once we rounded Horn Head we were paddling across the top of Ireland and we headed for Melmore Head. It was at this point that things got tough - the wind altered between North Easterly and South Easterly and Easterly which made going extremely tough. Because of this we decided not to stop for lunch and try and gain as much ground as possible before the end of the day. Up to Horn Head we had been averaging up to 4 mph. From Horn Head onto Melmore Head the speed dropped below 3 mph. Conditions continued to worsen as we made our way to Fanad . We rounded Fanad Head shortly after 5 p.m. and made our way inland and landed on a beach approx 2 miles from the headland. As look would have it there was a shop just a stones throw from the beach so we are restocked with all of the necessities (rumour has it there is a pub only 2 miles up the road so we are pitching the tent and going exploring!). Forecast for tomorrow is not great but the plan is to try and sneak across Lough Swilly and make our way around Malin Head. (a lot will depend on whether we find a pub or not tonight) 37 miles today and 10 hours and 20 minutes paddling.
Blog typing is courtesy of Chez Moloneys tonight...many thanks