A super fun and stable sea kayak that has playfulness and ease at its core. 

I have been paddling the Dagger Stratos 12.5 L for the past 12 months, and have been as impressed with it as its predecessor the Stratos 14.5 which I reviewed (Here) some 12 years ago! 

The 12.5 is short compared to any traditional sea kayak and starts to blur the lines between long whitewater boats and sea kayaks, but it does loose its sea kayak feel. It doesn't look or feel as short as its length suggests either.  
I have paddle this boat mainly in surf, teaching sea kayak surf courses and guiding on flat water estuaries.
This is its ideal environment and where it excels, but its also a great little kayak for exploring your local river or lake and for first timers to get afloat. 

Its stability if phenomenal! I have had students struggling to catch waves and stay upright in their more traditional boats. A quick swap into the 12.5 and the difference in their confidence and ability is striking. Catching waves with ease, turning, running straight and exiting the waves with ease.

​This boat isn't an arm chair but is reassuring and predictable. Exactly what you want in dynamic water like surf or rock hopping around cliffs. 
Speed wise, it short so has to compromise but its not a slouch and could easily take you on a short over night expedition. 
The outfitting is great as always with Dagger. Super comfortable, simple and easy to adjust.  

If you have in the market for your first boat or have space for an addition to your fleet I'd highly recommend trying the Stratos 12.5. 
You can check out a demo with the Canoe Centre and see how mcuh fun it is for yourself. 

Thanks to the Canoe Centre for the use of this kayak and long term demo. 

Why do I choose ISOBAA Merino to keep me warm in the worlds coldest climates and everyday living?
​Natural materials with high thermal and anti odor properties makes the perfect garments for the job. 

I teamed up with ISOBAA last year as I have long known about the incredible properties of merino wool and ISOBAA are a company who make amazing products with high standards.
My kayak guiding work takes me from the Arctic to Antarctica and staying warm and comfortable can be tricky to get right. Turning to natural materials could be seen as a step backwards by some, but we have a lot to gain from natures wonder material. 
Merino is truly incredible, it can keep you warm when its cold and cool when its warm. Its anti odor capabilities are also a big bonus because you don't always have the luxury of laundry if you are on a wilderness expedition. 
​This past week I was camping for 5 days on Lough Corrib, an inland Irish lake. My Merino 320 long sleeve top, merino boxers and socks were perfect. I felt fresh and warm all week. A quick swim in lake each day and back into my ISOBAA gear was all I needed for 5 days of comfort. 

On polar voyages I do have the luxury of bringing more luggage and multiple changes of base layers. So I can use a number of different layers throughout the expedition. From freezing cold temperatures on the water to chatting in the lounge or scouting on deck, I am almost always in a ISOBAA base.  
At home I find myself wearing ISOBAA layers more and more as the autumn days draw in.  The only time I have found merino slightly uncomfortable is if I was doing a high intensity training session. If I am sweating I can feel the wool fibers more on my skin. This maybe a personal thing. Overall I am very happy with ISOBAA products and working with this fantastic company. I'd highly recommend to start adding ISOBAA merino products to your wardrobe and adventure kit.

#joinourflock 
Check out ISOBAA socials at:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/isobaamerino
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/isobaamerino

A class leading watch with the most insane battery life available.

I have been using the COROS VERTIX 2 sports watch for the past 8-9 months. *Dislosure. This watch was provided to me bu COROS FOC.  But like all the gear I use, I only take sponsorship from brands I actually use and believe to be the best available.

When I was looking for a new GPS sports watch last winter my research brought me to COROS, a brand I had not heard of before. But after some research it appeared that they had a strong following in the outdoor and endurance sports market. And for good reason, their product range has been challenging the long establish big names and push the boundaries of watch performance. I was excited when I started reading about the features available and confident I had found the best brand for my requirements. My main requirement being battery life and the VERTIX 2 hasn't disappointed. 

Battery life 
The COROS watch batteries are simply immense, they out last everything else and more.
The Vertix 2 offers 140 hours of continuous GPS, and around 65 days with day to day use with training  1-2 hours a day. Actually remembering where your charging cable is is a real issue as you have to use it so little. 
Even the PACE 2 which is the cheapest in the COROS range offers 30 hour GPS coverage.
I can confidently leave the house with less that 10% battery and go training and I'll still have few days battery in hand. I don't think this can be said of other brands.

Other Features
The VERTIX 2 is packed with features, many I don't use but it can do so much, but this are my favorites.
​
-Gopro control from the watch
-Offline mapping
-Find my phone
-HRV test
-Solar cycle timing
-Weather warnings
-Air temperature 

COROS - The Company 
Another major factor I like about COROS is the company itself and its ethos. When new updates or features are available they are pushed to all watches as an update. This means that rather than bring out a new watch every time a new feature is created everyone gets the most up to date and newest features. Ethically this is much more environmentally friendly and saves people having to buy a new watch for new features.  
Also I have found COROS to being very reachable and engaged with its customers and sponsored athletes. They are always open to suggestions on improving and developing new features. 
I have even had some of my suggestions implemented in the last update. The addition of Nautical miles/Knots as a metric was a suggestion I had made. Hopefully a few more will come down the line, like ocean paddling specific activity fields. Overall I have really enjoyed all my communications with the COROS team and they have an excellent customer service channel. Also a Facebook group where developers regularly answer users questions and take feedback from users.

I would certainly have no hesitation recommending any of the COROS range to anyone. 
PROS-
-Incredible battery
-Future proof with across the range updates 
-Class leading satellite receiver 
-Excellent company support
-Changeable strap
-Did I mention the battery life? :)

CONS-
-Bulky
-Common issue with main button on Vertix 2 (Covered by warranty)
-Limited activity fields and no ability to create custom ones 
-Slow satellite acquisition on occasion 

Overall I can't really knock the VERTIX 2. It does everything and more than I need and its always ready to go no matter how long or demanding the adventure. 

I have been paddling my Roman kayaks Dynamic Evo for just over 12 months now and feel in  good position to review it. Its the kayak I paddled to win the 2022 Devizes to Westminster kayak 3 day 170km marathon. 

The first thing that you notice about this K1 is its striking looks. The hull shape is completley different to all the other major brands and popular K1's. The only other K1 that has this shape it the Kayak Centre Spectra.

Snap shot:
Pro's -

• Stability is excellent for a fast K1
• Build quality is excellent
• Fittings are excellent 
• Looks amazing 
• Turns very tight 
• Good direction and control on the wash

Con's -

• Weight- I would prefer if it was a little lighter for a marathon K1(I havent weighed it but it feels heavier than 8kg) * Have have since change the footrest to a full plate pedal system and the kayak now weighs 8kg race ready. 
• No watch holder. I think it would be great if boats came with these fitted as standard.

The hull is a V shape that becomes flat at the stern. This shape makes the Dynamic have 2 characteristics that I like -stability and good wash riding.
This was reason I bought this boat and I did buy it!, so I have zero incentive to make a biased review.

Stability: The Dynamic Evo offers great stability. 3/10 on the scale. I am super comfortable in it while I paddle in cold choppy or wavy water. The Evo gives a lot of confidence and that in turn allows you to paddle harder.

Wash riding: I haven't raced the Evo much but in training it sits on a wave very well and doesn't move around too much. Which is essential for marathon racing.
​
Bow design: The bow is excellent for not catching weeds and if it does it is only takes a little bounce to clear it. During the 2022 Devizes to Westminster this was notable when racing along side Nelo Quottro which is very difficult to clear of weeds. 

Build Quality: The build quality of Roman Kayaks is fantastic. The craftsmanship is clearly evident and the attention to detail too. I really like the foot rest as its rock solid and can accommodate two pull bars and hell plate. Also the fittings are standard so you can change between other brands like Nelo. I have an Elio seat in my as I have used it for several years and like it. The clear carbon finish on my K1 is amazing and a real eye catcher.  

Speed and handling: The Dynamic Evo is a fast boat. It is put to great use by Swede Joakim Lindberg at senior world championship level. He is regularly at the point end of the main group and has posted solo 10km time trials of 39 minutes in the Evo! 
The boat turns very well and is probably the best turning K1 I have paddled. 

MessyWeekend are a Copenhagen based sunglass company with a cool social responsiblity program called Clean Oceans and a really cool selection of eyewear products from sunglasses to ski googles. I have been testing out a couple of the sunglasses over the last few weeks.

Euroman X MW 
​These sports sunglasses are great for days out MTBing or road cycling. I was really impressed how well ventialted they are and they do not steam up when working hard or climbing hills. The fit is really comforatable and they are super lightweight so you hardly notice you are wearing them. 
They come with a spare set of smoke lenses for darker days when you still want to protect your eyes. I have been using them driving too and they really kill the glare from the winter sun on the road.

MAKALU POLARIZED 
These offer a more casual style and were my choice for day to day wear. The polarization  ​works well, and the fit is comforatble. I like the style of the reflective lenses and clear frames. They are very lightweight and this makes them feel a little plasticy at first but they seem robust enough so far and have stood up to my daily use and travel. 

SOCIAL RESPOSIBLITY 
Like I mentioned earlier MessyWeekend have a great social responsibilty program called Clean Oceans. They aim to help remove 2kg of plastic from the Pacific and Caribbean oceans for every pair of glasses sold. They have partnered with NGO's in the region to affect this commitment. You can learn more HERE.

SUMMARY
Obviously there are hundreds of sunglass brands out there. What I like ablut Messyweekend is thier fresh image, cool, minimal, funtional designs and their commitment to improving our envirnment along the way.
If you are considering some new shades for this summer I would highly recommend checking out thier website and rangfe of glasses. 
​MessyWeekend WEBSITE 

DH

First off, when I initially  heard Aqua Bound were interested in me using their paddles I was a little surprised. I never associated Aqua Bound the brand with high performance paddles, more introductory and intermediate plastics paddles. |But in recent years they have started to build more high end paddles at their US factory. So I agreed to take this paddle to put it to through some testing and see how it went.
I did make the caveat with Aqua Bound that I would only take the paddle if I could give some serious testing before joining the team and an honest review good or bad,  they agreed. 

I received the Whiskey Carbon in March and have been paddling with it for about 4-5 weeks now. My preference was for a full carbon, bent shaft paddle at 205cm.  The first week I had it, I used it on a 7 day intensive Advanced guide training and observation in tough conditions. Surfing, rock-hopping, open crossings and lots of rescue scenarios. It got more abuse that week than many paddles would see in a year. Since then I have been using it every other day for guiding and teaching.
The Whiskey is a high angle, high performance paddle aimed at paddlers who want a light weight, strong paddle that delivers power when you need it and smooth delivery when cruising.

Build Quality.
Opening up the package on its arrival the quality was instantly obvious. The finish is excellent.
What is most striking is the weight of the paddle. Everyone who holds it remarks about how light it is.  
Its extremely strong and has withstood some hard impacts off rocks in rockpools and being put under full force to punch through waves.

Performance.
The Whiskey is very nice to paddle with, both cruising and for high intensity bursts. Initially it took me a few hours to get used to the catch of the paddle (the beginning of the stroke). It does not have an aggressive catch but it does engage and its power comes on through the stroke. 
The carbon bent shaft is comfortable and has a slightly triangular feel to it which sits well in the hand.

2- Piece  
This model comes in a 2-piece set up using the Aqua Bound patented Posi-Lok system. It works well and doesn't seem to be affected by sea water as its plastic. There is a small bit of play in my paddle but I can not notice it when paddling and have to shake it hard to notice it. You can vary angle but not length which is a bit limiting if you only have one paddle.

Pros
- Very Light
-Strong
-Looks great
-Feels smooth

Cons
- Not length adjustable 
- Small amount of play in the joint


​Conclusion
A very good quality paddle that is super light weight, robust and delivers power well without being too stiff. The finish is excellent and the Posi-Lok system works well. At the moment there is limited but growing number of dealers in Europe which means getting your hands on one of these paddle might take a bit of searching. Overall I am very happy with this paddle and will be doing all my coastal rock hopping and guiding work with it for the season.

What happens when three seasoned adventurers from the West of Ireland get together a for paddle? A night crossing of the Irish sea no less! 

On June 26th at 8pm Ali Donald, Shane Young and myself set out from Rosslare in County Wexford on the Southwest coast of Ireland to cross the Irish Sea to Pembrokeshire in Wales, a journey of 85 km as the crow flies. This is a serious crossing with big tidal flows, lots of shipping traffic and the exposure of venturing 40km from the nearest land is never to be taken lightly. 
This was not the plan that had been hatched in the lead up, but a last minute scramble to make the crossing as safe as possible and ended up delivering an amazing experience.

Rewind a few months and I was driving to the Inishowen Sea kayak Symposium with Ali as we were both coaching at the event. Ali mentioned that Shane and himself were eyeing a crossing of the Irish Sea, without hesitation I said I was in and we discussed some strategies for the rest of the journey.

Ali has been paddling for a lifetime and has lots of experience on rivers and the sea, Shane has done loads of adventure racing and ultra running and I have done my fair share of endurance paddling, none of us had done any thing like this together before as a team but,  we had all completed at lease one non-stop  Devizes to Westminster, so we knew we could go for a long time in a kayak. A strong team by all accounts. 
​
We set up a Whatsapp group to discuss plans and set the window of June 25th-27th as our target. We would simply prepare for the crossing and hope the weather would line up on the dates we were all available. It's always 50/50 in Ireland with the weather, but to our surprise it wasn't the usual high winds or big swell that was going to be our obstacle with the weather on this occasion. 

June 25th arrived and we found ourselves in the most unlikely situation of a massive heatwave that had temperatures soaring in the UK and Ireland for a few weeks. 
I met Ali and Shane in Athlone, we all piled into Ali's van to drive to Rosslare. The initial plan was to sleep on the beach and hit the water around 5am the following morning. Giving ourselves 12 hours to make the crossing we would be in Wales at 5pm that day and on the ferry home that night.

On our way to Rosslare the heat soon had us all drenched in sweat, with fans on max and windows rolled down for some relief. It must have been close to 30 degrees and the forecast for the following day was for higher temperatures. We started to wonder if we would be cooked alive paddling through the height of the midday sun, on what would be effectively a huge mirror. A new plan was needed!

After some discussion for and against we decided to pull our plans forward and go for a night crossing as soon as we got to Rosslare. This would allow us to avoid the daytime heat and also make spotting ships easier. It did mean however we would have no rest or much time to prep.  We stopped for food and to re do the tidal plan. After 30 minutes we had a bearing to follow for the crossing. Straight across! 

Fueled up we loaded the boats, sorted our gear and set off paddling into the evening at 8.19pm passing Tuskar Rock to our South, with a huge school of porpoise passing close by as we paddled.
The weather was perfect, flat calm seas, no wind and warm enough to wear short sleeves. We didn't have time to think about the magnitude of the paddle ahead with the change of plans and rush to get on the water. Not a bad thing to be honest!
​

We set about executing our plan and 20km soon passed, the sun set behind us in magnificent style, it was hard not to turn around and gaze at it. Onward we pushed, at around 11pm it was dark enough that we had to light our deck compasses. As we did we were surrounded by a school of dolphins who were keen to play, but we were busy and they cruised on. The moon rose steadily ahead of us, arching across the sky through the night. For a few hours we had no visibility as a low bank of cloud matched the colour of the sea, differentiating the two was impossible and the compass was our only guide.  

​Around 3am the moon blazed red before sinking below the horizon, sun rise creeped up and the sky filled with jets crossing the Atlantic. We were deep in to the effort now with over 50km paddled. Shane was struggling with fatigue. An experienced adventure racer and ultra runner this was his first big outing on the sea and unfortunately he was unraveling. Me telling him we had only 30km to paddle probably didn't help. The classic juxtaposition of endurance sport, he was in a hole and 30km sounded like a liftime away, I was feeling good and relished the finish line insight. It could have been any of the three of use feeling the effects, but we needed to work as a team to protect Shane to get him to the end. Ali was flying and we had to reel him in a few times and manage the pace. I was confident Shane could pull through, he's tough and we weren't going to let him stop.

It was full daylight by the time we reached the South Bishops Light House 10km of the Welsh coast. Here the tides run strong and we were soon paddling hard to cross river like tidal streams. A 5km ferry glide to Ramsey Island and we were nearly there. As we ferry glided we all split up taking different lines, Ali went low and direct, I went high looking for the eddy and Shane followed in between. Its always so tempting to go for the direct line when you are close to the finish but its a trick to catch you out, I've learned the hard way. My high line catapulted me 500m ahead of the lads. I waited behind Ramsey Island to regroup and shout some encouragement, we could potentially break the 11 hour mark if we pushed hard for the finish..

The closest landing looked like St. Justinians, so the last 2km push was on through some tidal flow.  We regrouped 50m from shore and landed together stopping the watches after 10hrs 51min and 92km paddled. Bang on target and just under our real target of 11 hours. Making us the second fast team to complete the crossing. 
The paddling wasn't over though, there was very steep steps and no coverage at Justinians, and our lift was due to meet us at Whitesands 2km around the corner.  As we paddled into Whitesands we could see Benjamin Edom waiting to chauffeur us to the ferry at Fishguard.  We got ourselves cleaned up and unpacked the boats ready for the return home. Minimal chat on the 30 minute drive as we were all knackered. A big feed in Fishguard was called for before catching the next ferry back to  Rosslare.
​

I am just coming up on my fourth week here in Australia and the trip so far has been action packed. I arrived on September 15th and its been non stop. I have competed in four races, two K1 and two Ocean ski races. I have been to the Snowy mountains camping and fishing, and completed a whole load of training.

I am based in Canberra, the Australian capital. My brother and his family live here, so its great to be able to spend time with them. I have been training at the Burley Griffin Canoe Club, who have been very welcoming and give me the use of a very nice Vajda Infusion K1.  My training partner is Ben Rake, who is the top marathon paddler in the club. Training sessions are early here compared with Ireland, we are at the club before 7am most mornings. The weather has been unusually  cold and wet for this time of year so some mornings its tough to face getting out on the water. Summer is starting to make an appearance and it is starting to warm up now.

I am doing way more paddling than I expected, which is fantastic.  There has been loads of races on that I didn't know about before coming over. The weekend after I arrived I headed to North Sydney for "The Chucky" ocean race.  My mate Kieran Babich of Wash Rider was kind enough to host me and lend me his Fenn Elite ski.  Unfortunately it was way too big for me, but I still raced! Finishing around 50th in a huge field of 200 with some big names at the front.  It was a great experience though and the weather was fantastic. It definitely opened my eyes to the level of ocean paddling here and given me some ideas for future races in Ireland.

That evening I was back in Canberra. The following morning myself and Ben Rake traveled to Tumut for a small race that has just been revived after 20 years.  22km of fast down river paddling, shallow bends and swirly eddies tested river reading and boating handling skills. Ben Rake, Rob Mcintyre and myself were lead bunch from the start of the race.  In an unusual turn of events I was leading into the finish only to miss a stroke and fall out of my boat, giving Ben the win and Rob McIntyre 2nd. One I would rather forget!

The following weekend we went to Wagga Wagga for the final race of the NSW marathon series. The race had to be moved to the lake as the rivers were all flooded. Four laps of a 5km course with no portages.  I got a good start making the front group with Ben and Brett Greenwood.  The course was a J shape with near hair pin turns, which made life hard for me as I only had a small sprint rudder on my K1. I fell off the lead on a tight turn back into the wind and was unable to get back up.  Ben and Brett pulled away into the wind. I paddled on in 3rd. Unfortunately for Ben he broke a rudder cable on the third lap finishing his race and leaving 2nd place for me.  I was happy with my race covering 20km in 1hr 38min. These high paced marathon and ski races have been tough for me, as my training has not been focused on them and I haven't raced all summer in Ireland either.  I am only now starting to get race fit and build some speed endurance.

Last weekend I was back up in Sydney for another Ocean race. The Lion Island Challenge is a 14km surfski race around the Palm Beach which is famous as the Home and Away beach.  Wash Rider and Pro Kayaks were kind enough to sort me out with a ski. An ultra light  Fenn Elite Spark, which fitted me perfectly.  Just over 100 ski's lined up for the 14km course. Conditions were good, but there was a few long legs into the wind and I knew it would be hard on me, I needed to stick to the heavier guys to hold my place.  The race went well finishing in 15th ahead of a few well seasoned ocean paddlers.  There is definitely still some improvement to be made  for the next ocean race coming up in Bondi in a couple of weeks. Its difficult preparing for ocean races 200 miles inland though!

It hasn't been all paddling, I have been up to the Snowy Mountains a couple of times. Tried my at hand a fishing one day, didn't even get a bite, but its early in the season here.
Unfortunately I haven't managed to get any cycling done yet. Canberra has some of the best mountain bikes trails in Australia, so I definitely want to hit them before I leave.
This Saturday we are planning a trip to the coast for some surf ski paddling and sunshine. Then Im back to Sydney the following weekend for an Ocean race from Bondi, which should be good.
The weekend after that the Hawksbury Classic is on.  Straight after the Hawksbury I am  going on a trip to New Zealand with my brother.  We are renting a camper van and touring around the South Island for a week. It should be an awesome trip. Everything I see online looks amazing and I have got loads of info from people. 
​Its going to be a busy few weeks!

I cross train a lot all year round and especially during the winter. I love cycling, running and strength training and for me they are essential ingredients in my training program for a few reasons.

The weather - Living on the west coast of Ireland it simply is not possible to get on the water every day. Sometimes it might not be possible for a week!. Gale force winds, driving sleet and rain make water based training a non runner for a lot of the winter. The lack of sheltered waterways like canals mean it is often too rough and dangerous to get out training on the water. Luckily I do have a kayaking machine (ergo) so I can do interval sessions on this is the weather is too bad. I usually limit its use to 60min sessions.

My sanity- Yes!, its a major factor to consider when you start to train big volume in a sport that is not mainstream. Not everyone can give up 2, 3 or even 4 hours a day to go training and even fewer people would want to. So by cross training on the road bike or going for a run, I can usually find good partners to train with a few days a week. Having someone to talk to helps pass the time and you usually work a little harder or go further.

Injury prevention- There is no point making big plans and training hard if you are going to get injured. Its most athletes biggest fear and is often avoidable with some sensible planning. By mixing up my training I can still build the volume to grow my aerobic engine without over stressing any one muscle group. If I kayaked every day I would most likely end up with shoulder injury within a few months and be out of action for even longer. 
I also follow a daily ritual of specific exercises to maintain my shoulders as I have suffered from an elevated scapulae on my right side.

​After finishing up in Patagonia I caught a 4000km flight north from Punta Arenas to Calama on the 20th of December. I flew with Sky Airlines and luckily I had no problems with the strikes that were going on with airport workers in Chile.
Arriving in Calama the sun was baking the ground and the change in landscape was dramatic. I had a transfer organised to take me straight to San Pedro De Atacama where I hoped to get on a tour to Bolivia via the Uyuni Salt flats. Before I got to San Pedro I didn’t really have a plan as I had mixed information about getting tours on the Salt flats during Christmas. The internet was full of horror stories of drunken guides and businesses closing for Christmas.

​However I had nothing to worry about, as San Pedro was open for business and the streets were full of people shopping for tours. San Pedro is a crazy little place. Set in the middle of the driest desert on earth the streets are lined with tour agencies, restaurants and money exchanges. You can take tours from a few hours to 4 days across the desert, star gaze or go biking in the baking sun. I was here to take to famous 3 day tour across the high desert antiplano to the biggest salt flats in the world – Salar De Uyuni. 

​As soon as I arrived in San Pedro I took a walk around to see what was on offer. There must be fifty tour agents all selling the same tours at similar prices, reviews online are very mixed and the choice is overwhelming. I eventually went with Estrell Del Sur as I heard some good reports from people staying at my hostel. It was a good choice. Our driver was very professional and helpful.
I had one day to relax in San Pedro and soak up the 30 degree sun. Of course I over done it like a typical paddy and got sunburned! Next morning the 22nd I was picked up by the transfer bus and headed towards the border between Chile and Bolivia. San Pedro is at 2400m and we started climbing as soon as we left the town until we reached the boarder at 4000m after about an hour. 

​The landscape is incredible on the climb, as you pass a huge volcano and a taste of what is to come. Formalities over we were treated to a delicious breakfast and then got in to the jeeps we would be spending the next 3 days in. It was also the first time I met the rest of the group. There were two couples in their twenties, from Brazil and Netherlands, a retired German man and myself. A random crew but we got on well.

​The first day you go to a head frying 4900m to see fuming geysers. The air at this altitude has half the oxygen of that at sea level. Move to quickly and you will know about it! It makes for a slightly weird, dreamy experience. I chewed on coca leaves to offset the symtoms but Im not convinced they do anything. 

We had a few stops at Lagunas also on day one where we got our first sight of the elegant Flamingos wading in the parched lakes. We also met a cyclist going the opposite direction at 4000m. He had been cycling for the past 2 and half years starting in Alaska!
Our accommodation on the first night was described as basic by the tour operator, but we were all pretty happy with the shared room and good dinner. I had been feeling fine until I went to bed. I hadn’t had many symptoms from the altitude all day until my head hit the pillow and the throbbing headaches started.

I thought the night would never end. Sucking coca sweets and dreaming of sea level, I managed to get a few hours very uncomfortable sleep and eventually morning came. I took some Ibuprofen and the symptoms started to ease. 

Day 2 we visited the “Stone Tree” and the semi active Ollague volcano. Lots of Flamingos again on the various lakes we passed before arriving at our hotel accommodation for night 2. Double rooms with en-suits, big beds and slightly lower altitude made for a great nights sleep.

​Day 3 started early – 4am. We had to be up early to get to the Uyuni Salt flats for sunrise at about 6am. As we drove towards the vast salt flats an electrical storm filled the sky in the distance with explosions of lightening. As the darkness faded the vast Salt Flats started to reveal themselves. After driving for about 30 minutes we pulled up to watch the sun rise. 

After sunrise we went to the Island of the giant Cactus and had breakfast in the glorious morning sunshine. Around 9 am we started to head towards Uyuni. Along the way we stopped at different locations to take pictures and take in the vast landscape that surrounded us. 

The tour finished in the town of Uyuni on Christmas Eve. There is not much to do here bar tours of the Salt Flats so I stayed the night and  managed to get a cheap flight to La Paz the following morning.

January - 2015 did not start as I had intended. After three months of base training in preparation for the Devizes to Westminster race I picked up a chest infection during Christmas and I was out of action for the first two weeks of the new year. A planned trip to Malta in mid January for some training in the winter sun came at the right time to get me back on track and eased the winter blues.

Feb/March - Training for the DW resumed as normal after Malta. I also had some instructor training courses to attend in the South of Ireland which meant weekends kayaking in Cork and Kerry. The crazy weather continued with storm after storm. This meant more time training indoors on the ergo and bike. 

April- Devizes to Westminster
After months of training and a few set backs Easter arrived and with it my second DW. This year I was taking on the K1 event. Back in October I had set out my goals for 2015. A top 5 or sub 18:30 finish in the DW was top of the list. Thankfully the hard work payed off and I finished in 18:20 and 9th place in what can only be described as a high class field with 4 previous winners in the top 10.

May - Italy
​Val Sesia in Northern Italy was the location for the Canoeing Ireland Level 5 skills assessments in 2015. With a number of classic steep creeks in the area, it was the perfect location to put candidates through their paces. After a dry Spring at home and a lot of time focused on flat water training, a few days warming up were required beforehand. Thankfully the assessment went well and we all passed. At the end of the May I was back in the K1 taking the win in Irelands first ultra marathon. The Blueway Ultra Challenge 

June
​Was a busy month of training as I had started road biking and was building up to a 200km Audax event. A punishing training regime with one of Ireland's top Audax riders - Eamon Nealon had me eating up miles in about 8 weeks. During the build up I completed a 120km sportive in 4 hours and countless hill sessions. Excellent cross training and really enjoyable.

July
The summer weather was incredibly frustrating and caused a lot of cancel work so to keep myself from going mad I decided to take on the River Shannon and establish the Shannon Sprint Challenge. 210km over 2 and 1/2 days down the longest river in the British Isles.

August/September 
I had a plan to kayak the Wild Atlantic Way in September but due to a delay with getting the kayak I was to use and poor weather I decided not to start and wait until a better window. While I was disappointed not to be paddling the WAW I did use the opportunity to tick off some of the training trips I had hoped to do over the summer. A solo crossing of the North channel of the Irish Sea was high on the list all year and I finally got it ticked off in 3hrs 51min. I also managed trips to Eagle Island, The Slieve Leagues, The Duvillaun Islands, Inish Murray, Inishkea South and most of the Mayo coast.

October
Started with a bang- A solo Achill Island circumnavigation. After such a poor summer I had written Achill off for 2015, but just at the last minute before I headed off to Cornwall, a few days of high pressure moved in and I was able to set a new best for the 65km route, in a time of 6hrs 41min. Beating last years time by 11 minutes. 
Two days later I was on my way to Cornwall for a two week placement with Sea Kayaking Cornwall. A fantastic experience working with industry leaders.
​

November/December
​After two great weeks in Cornwall I was home for a few days to pack for another adventure in Patagonia. Like all great plans mine changed after a few weeks guiding in Torres Del Paine and I decided not to spent the season there. Instead I opted to pick up some freelance work and spend a six weeks travelling around South America. A decision I do not regret. The last few weeks have been an amazing experience. From the hiking in the snow above the world most southerly city -Ushuaia, Argentina to watching the sun rise on the worlds largest salt flats in Bolivia.
Sometimes you never know where life will take you and I never in my wildest dreams thought I would be posting this blog at Christmas from Cusco in Peru. 
In the next few days I will visit Machu Picchu for the New Year, then return to Bolivia and Ireland in mid January to really start working on 2016.

Thanks for reading. Have a great New Year - make it your best yet.

David