Murphy's Irish Stout / Beara Kayaks Irish Sea Kayaking Symposium 1996

Last year, my partner in crime Desmond Harrington of Urban Eskimo West and myself in the East (Wallingford, CT) set out to kayak some of the southwest coast of Ireland. 

We left from a small town called Castletownbere and paddled around and up to Valencia and the Skelligs and back, taking up only eight days of the twelve we had planned (we were blessed with unusually good weather). While we were there, we met Frank Conroy, owner of Beara Kayak, who let us borrow a kayak and some gear. He told us he was trying to set up a sea kayaking symposium in Castletownbere for October, 1996, and asked us if we would help him out. So, just over a year later, we found ourselves back in Ireland again for the 1996 Murphy's Irish Stout / Beara Kayaks Irish Sea Kayaking Symposium.

After our flight across the Atlantic, we were greeted by Desmond's mom, Denise (Desmond is originally from Castletownbere). Denise is a wonderful woman who makes Mario Andretti look like a snail when driving those one-lane roads through the mountains. She delivered us to Castletownbere in one piece, fed us, and set us up with places to stay. 

We had two days to kill before the symposium started, so we borrowed a couple of white-water boats from Frank and paddled out to the mouth of Beara Bay to play in the waves around the Pipers - two big sea stacks that you could paddle between if you got up enough nerve. Crazy kayakers thrashing about in the quagmire below proved to be a good photo-op for folks standing on the cliffs over the water (see photo).

The symposium kicked off Friday night with a reception at the pub in the Hotel, which hosted the gathering. People arrived throughout the evening and we all got a chance to meet each other and do a little bench kayaking. It was great talking with people from different parts of the world and hearing their perceptions and feelings about the sport of sea kayaking.

The first full day of the symposium dawned with heavy clouds and rain, but it didn't stop anyone from getting out and doing some paddling. The day was loosely scheduled and went by at a relaxed pace, with a number of activities from which participants could choose. There were plenty of different kayaks to try out in the protected waters of the bay near the hotel, and several guided trips at a range of skill levels. Including one very eventful trip out into a slightly angry Atlantic. There were also some spectator sports - a safety and rescue demonstration by the Urban Eskimos, a kite and sail demonstration by Rob Felloy, an excellent slide show on the Irish coastline, and a navigation clinic that was very well attended.

As the sun went down (or more accurately, as evening came - we saw very little sun during the entire symposium!), paddlers warmed up at the pub, where kayak stories of the day were shared and a pint or two of Murphy's Irish Stout could be had before dinner. After dinner, Steve Hayward (from Sea Trek)  gave a slide show about paddling along the Pacific coast in Canada and in areas of Central and South America. That was  followed with a presentation about the history and construction of "currachs", wood-frame skin boats used by very early travelers of the sea and still used by some fishermen today. And the evening's activities didn't end there - after the scheduled presentations, a live band got people dancing and kept the Murphy's flowing.

Sunday greeted us with more wind and rain, and even bigger seas. Desmond and I were scheduled to take a group out of the bay and up the open coastline to Poleen Cove, a round trip of about 12 miles. Due to the size of the seas and the heart pounding experiences of the previous day's open-water adventures, we had a sizable group of only two, who signed up to brave the elements: a hearty sixteen-year-old named Sam, who'd been paddling under Frank Conroy's guidance for several years, and John, builder of Nigel Foster boats and a founding member of the I.L.C. (John - if you read this, you know what I mean!). 

Most of the other people split up between two other trips, one in the coves around the hotel and the other in the bay down the inside of Bere Island, a more mellow round trip of about 12 miles. That evening there were more slide shows and presentations, entertaining as well as educational, about paddling in various parts of the world. Everyone was getting to know each other so the atmosphere was even more relaxed and informal.

Paragraph about day 3 and the hurricane and canceled race and paddling anyway. . .

All in all, the Irish symposium atmosphere was friendly and relaxed, as were the people who participated. Although the symposium was a bit smaller than most (about 60 people signed up), I thoroughly enjoyed my experiences there, as did everyone else I spoke with. It differed from the American symposium in that it was less commercial, the main objective was to get people together to have a good time paddling and learning about the sport from each other. Several companies did send representatives though, including Valley Canoe Products, Watermark (builder of Nigel Foster boats), and Rob Felloy Kayaks (another British boat builder). Most people were from various parts of Ireland, but there were also folks from England, Holland, and ....??. 

There were only four people from America - me and Desmond from Urban Eskimo Kayaking, Steve Hayward from Sea Trek in the San Francisco area, and Linda Ivany, who also did the photography work for us. 

Kudos go to the owner of the hotel, who did a great job of keeping cold wet kayakers warm, dry, and well fed. The food was great, as was the hospitality (and the patience with all the salt water tracked over the floors and pungent wet kayak gear hanging everywhere to dry! ). Desmond and I really enjoyed working and participating in the symposium, and hope we got to spread around a little Urban Eskimo Attitude while we were at it.

As I sat in the pub after a full day of paddling in the raging sea, with a pint of Murphy's in my hand, and let the relaxing sound of an Irish fiddle calm my adrenaline overdose, I thought to myself that no drug in this world can offer the kind of internal satisfaction that the power of nature itself can give if you let it. Riding my natural high, I enjoyed the rest of the night with new friends and lots of new stories to tell.

(c) Mike Falconeri