Day 13 - Crossing Donegal Bay

My nightmare crossing is now a line on the map…

April 17th - 31 nautical miles/ 58 km

The thought of doing this stretch of big open water solo has kept me up at night for five years. Now, it’s a line on the map behind me. I “did it scared.”

Conditions ranged from intense to pond-calm. I started out before dawn in Enniscrone, paddled 5 miles to get out of Killala Bay, and turned the corner towards Inishmurray (an abandoned island monastery) where I had planned to take a lunch stop and break up the crossing.

The west swell from the weather system that had kept me ashore for four days was still big. Offshore southeast winds were standing up the wave faces and creating chop and confused seas. I stayed well offshore, but I could see perfect peaks peeling over the reefs at Easkey—ideal for surfing but not so much for landing a loaded kayak if I decided to bail on the crossing.

The SE wind had a little more east in it than forecast and was supposed to be backing northeast (in my face) around the time I would be making the final push from Inishmurray to Donegal. That was bad news, and just getting to the island was going to be a slog.

Inishmurray was still over the horizon, but I could see my destination on the other side of the bay—Teelin,a little notch in the coast at the base of the Slaibh Laig sea cliffs. It was only a few miles farther than my first leg to Inishmurray and would mean an 8 hour day instead of 12+ hours. Out in the middle of the bay, the swells wouldn’t stand up as much or rebound off the land, so I might get a smoother ride.

Two friends who were helping me with weather routing for the crossing texted me with the same advice when they woke up and checked the forecast: Get north before that NE wind kicks in.

The scary direct crossing, the one I thought I was avoiding by taking it in stages was now the safe and sensible call in light of the conditions.

I turned towards Teelin and set out across the remaining 20 miles of big open water.

It was rough going for the first couple of hours, but I made good time with the force 3-4 SE wind on my quarter, surfing me along and washing over my deck with occasional whitecap. It was the kind of day where I drew upon a lifetime of lessons in seafaring, reading waves, and riding waves.

Stroke-by-stroke, fear was replaced by reverence and awe for my surroundings and all the vast empty sea around me. Hours of catch-pull-catch-pull became a flow state, the stroke my object of meditation.

Two hours out from Teelin, the nor’easterly still hadn’t materialized, but the SE tailwind had dropped. The sea glassed off. I took a break for a meal bar lunch and put the relief bottle to good use.

At Teelin, I was greeted by a baby porpoise. In the harbour, I met the skipper who runs boat tours of the cliffs for some local knowledge. The weather window would slam shut in the morning with a gale warning—a forced rest day.

I stood around for a while before trolleying the boat up the road to a campsite and let what I had just done wash over me. All that fear and second-guessing myself and the forecast… Now, a line on the map, the big cruxy crossing behind me, and on a less than perfect day for it.

Still a long way to go, but this was a crux, and the timing may have saved the trip.

If I hadn’t made it across during that 12-hour weather window, there’s no telling how long I would have been stuck or how many days I would have left to finish the trip when I got moving again. That’s the sort of pressure you have to set aside when you’re planning so it doesn’t affect your judgement. Now, on the other side of that crux, all that salt water, some of it in my eyes, relief was one of the many feels.

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Thank you to everyone who donated to the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research!

P.S. When I’m not having adventures, I’m helping other people write about theirs. If you or someone in your circle has an amazing story to tell, I'd love to hear it. I have some availability for new ghostwriting and editing projects.

— Charlie

Kokatat is the official gear sponsor of The Lap.

The lap will be fueled by Resilient Nutrition’s Long Range Fuel and bars.

CH Marine will be providing a VHF radio and other safety equipment.

Camp kit and cooking gas provided by Paddle & Pitch. Wool baselayers by Aclima. Trolley by KCS. REAL Field Meals at a discount from Adventure.ie. Discounts from GreatOutdoors.ie. Expedition coffee by 3fe.