Northern Ireland Outdoors Forum - Hiking, camping and more
General => Meets, places, trips and reviews => Topic started by: MG1 on September 15, 2010
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Guys i'm planning a canoe trip on the weekend 25th-26th Sept on Lough Neagh.
The plan is to hire the canoes from Sands Marine in Kinnego marina and head for Coney Island for a wild camp.
Anyone up for it?
http://www.discoverloughneagh.com/Places-To-Visit.T87.aspx (http://www.discoverloughneagh.com/Places-To-Visit.T87.aspx)
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Hey MG1
I like the sound of this. J and I were planning a Salt Island trip on Strangford Lough a lot of weeks back but the weather turned nasty and now he's pretty much grounded till baby is born.
I've been given permission to go by the Wiflet provided I arrange babysitters for while she is at work.
;D
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Happy dayz dude, Mickey is in too.
We'll have a good swall when we get there.
any one else we'll need to get the yaks booked?
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Hi there,
Sounds like a plan. I would probably use my Sea kayak. If you prefer to use a sea boat I can borrow a few from my club for free.
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Can't believe I'm missing this after trying for 18 months to get an island camp sorted. Bah.
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Hi there,
Sounds like a plan. I would probably use my Sea kayak. If you prefer to use a sea boat I can borrow a few from my club for free.
Free is always good.
Are sea kayaks sit on or sit in?
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.... I can borrow a few from my club for free.
I suspect you will become a very popular member around here after saying that :)
My wife was keen to do a bit of paddling, but I've currently 0% chance of getting her out on a wild camp at the moment, so perhaps next time...
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They are sit in. We have two club doubles as well. Think they come with spray decks and paddles.
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Just a couple of warnings - Lough Neagh can be very 'choppy' - not unknown for 3or 4 foot waves around Coney - I wouldn't want to be on a sit on in those conditions!! - We did Coney last year and were in catamaraned canadians - very nearly didn't get landed - it was 'hairy'
Be well prepared and if possible have a qualified instructor with you
second warning - watch out for the jet skiers - they land to party - really spoiled our 'wild camp' - on and on and on until stupid o'clock and beyond
be well prepared Guys
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Just to give you a heads up, they are Sea Kayaks, kind of like the ones in the below link.
I know that lough Neagh is a bit lke the Irish Sea in rough weather so if the weather is bad, then we will need to cancel. Unfortunately the last time I was suppose to camp on Coney, the weather was rough and we had to abort our trip. Canoes (open boats would have a rough time with high winds on the lough)
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://alaskakayakschool.com/journal/wp-content/uploads/2010/01/imgp0103valley4x.jpg&imgrefurl=http://alaskakayakschool.com/journal/&usg=__DCCy4RZ8VcZySIFQxFwHkMtNUcE=&h=400&w=640&sz=106&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=C8p17oFTQ2O9FM:&tbnh=131&tbnw=184&prev=/images%3Fq%3Daquanaut%2Bkayak%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rlz%3D1T4TSEA_en-GBGB311GB312%26biw%3D1419%26bih%3D676%26tbs%3Disch:1&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=950&vpy=357&dur=57&hovh=177&hovw=284&tx=179&ty=107&ei=QpmSTIDIAYXJswb--4SGCQ&oei=QpmSTIDIAYXJswb--4SGCQ&esq=1&page=1&ndsp=28&ved=1t:429,r:19,s:0
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If its to rough and we can't make it to the island we'll just find somewhere along the shore to camp.
Are the any other suggestions, It doesn't have to be lough neagh. All we need is a decent paddle in and a good camp spot.
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If its to rough and we can't make it to the island we'll just find somewhere along the shore to camp.
Are the any other suggestions, It doesn't have to be lough neagh. All we need is a decent paddle in and a good camp spot.
Salt Island in Strangford Lough also gets a very good review. Could have potential but may also be quite rough if the weather is bad.
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Strangford can be just as bad. I got trapped on Salt Island last year for a day because the wind/waves made it too unsafe to leave. The Canadian is a bugger in the wind, I'd defo think twice if it looked like the weather wasn't great.
If its to rough and we can't make it to the island we'll just find somewhere along the shore to camp.
Are the any other suggestions, It doesn't have to be lough neagh. All we need is a decent paddle in and a good camp spot.
Salt Island in Strangford Lough also gets a very good review. Could have potential but may also be quite rough if the weather is bad.
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To be honest unless most people have had experience in sea kayaks and rescue techniques i'd wait till next year in fairer weather before a group paddle in exposed waters. The weather can change very quickly especially coming into the colder, darker months and it wouldnt take very long in any type of water before hyperthermia sets in.
The other week an experienced kayaker died in exposed waters so you can never be too careful when it comes to safety with boats and water. ;D