SOLD 2/Oct/13 Sea Kayak for Sale

I've decided to put my sea kayak up for sale. I've had some great times in this boat, but now that I'm not around my other kayaking friends, and am into more serious travelling around, I'm not using it so much. Also it'll be less of a burden - not on the roof of the van.
I've listed it here on eBay: Valley Avocet Sea Kayak for sale
If you're interested you can get in touch with me through the contacts page.
I'm back staying with friends now for a few days, so I've been quite busy helping out with a few things in the garden, and working on some internet projects for them. Also I'm beginning to make arrangements for the next stage in my travels - I'll keep you posted once a few things are organised..
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Scoraig to Achnahaird – Scotland Tour 2013 – Living in a Hiace Camper Van

Today I headed off again from Scoraig, to begin my journey north, and follow the original route up to Cape Wrath. It was a beautiful calm morning on the Loch, so after saying goodbye, I walked down to the pier on Scoraig to get my kayak ready to paddle back across to the van. Here's the view from the shore this morning..



It didn't take long to paddle across, although again, the wind did pick up a bit on the way across. I soon made it to the jetty on the other side though.

On Scoraig - Scotland Tour 2013 - Living in a Hiace Camper Van

After one of the most peaceful and quiet nights in a long time, disturbed only by thoughts of what was now nothing but ungraspable memories, I awoke to this view..

I sat up in bed and noticed silver light glancing off the surface of the water, was it? Reaching for my binoculars I saw them - dolphins! - a pod of about twenty where jumping and splashing in the morning light in the loch.

Applecross to Loch Shieldaig - Scotland Tour 2013 - Living in a Hiace Camper Van

The weather is still wonderful. After getting a big load of laundry done and hung out under the awning, I've spent most of the day out on my bike, exploring the area around Applecross bay.

My camp at Applecross

Loch Na Keal, Mull - Ardmore Forest, Mull - Scotland Tour 2013 - Living in a Hiace Camper Van

Hi, how are you?

Today has been such a great day - it feels more like a week with all that has happened..

I was rudely awakened this morning by a ram, butting its horns against the van, and into my bicycle spokes! When I tried to face him off, he stood his ground and made circles of the van, and occasionally butting it again - did he think it was a big sheep? Who knows?

Over breakfast i had decided to go kayaking in the loch, so I gathered my things together and got the kayak down from the roof. (I decided to remove the rear parking mirror to make it easier to get the boat up and down.) This is how the van looked this morning inside as I was getting things ready:

Loch Awe to Mull - Scotland Tour 2013 - Living in a Hiace Camper Van

Hi, I hope you're keeping well..

I'm sitting in my van on the Isle of Mull, looking out at a sunset thats been lingering for hours, reflecting on the day gone by..

How to load a Sea Kayak onto the roof of a hitop camper van single handed

Welcome back!

This afternoon I made this time lapse video of how I load my kayak onto the roof of my Hiace camper:

If you'd like to see how I fitted the roof bars to the glass fibre roof take a look here:
Fitting roof bars to a Hiace Hitop camper van / Solar power update

New video, Part II, Donegal Wild Camping Trip, Ireland

Here is Part II of the Donegal, Ireland wild camping trip video!

In this video you can see Patrick braving the Atlantic for a swim, brave man. We've got some sea kayaking footage from Malin Beg bay by the Silver Strand, and a scenic drive to the the remote and beautiful abandoned village of 'Port'.

You'll also get to see what Liz makes for breakfast in the camper van, and experience the drive up to Europe's highest sea cliffs at Slieve League near Teelin. I round off the trip with an off the beaten track scramble down to check out one of the Napoleonic era sea defence towers at Slieve League. I'll be trying to find something extra and worth seeing at any tourist destination I visit, so stay tuned for something a bit different. Enjoy!

Part 1 of the video is here: New Video - Donegal trip part I

Diary:

I've been back in Belfast for a day since my visit to the North Antrim coast. We had a wonderful time, and the weather was the opposite of the rain that was forecast. If you're planning to visit Ireland, don't be put off by the weather forecasts, as its often totally unreliable, especially on the coasts. The last day, we spend chilling out at White Rocks on the beach, watching the surfers. It was hard to leave and return to the city again.

I'm feeling pretty good today, since I managed to meet my friend for lunch after her job interview (fingers crossed), get my light rock fishing rod repaired, and get the van washed, all before starting my shift at 4pm - all of course after a long lie in following the trip. This is my second last day at work, (night shift tomorrow night is the last) and I've been clearing out my locker and lightening the load even further. I can recommend this to anyone - there's no feeling like walking out of a job and having no ties. My manager even came out to bid me farewell and wish me luck..

What are your favourite camper breakfasts? What are your thoughts on letting go and moving on in your life? Leave a comment..

You might also like ~ Exploring Slieve League - Glencollumbkille Donegal wild camping trip 2013

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Do subscribe for updates, and why not check out the Youtube channel - tab above.

See you soon..

More Donegal trip photos / clearing out

I thought I'd share with you a few more photos from the weekend in Donegal. I was mainly shooting video which will soon be edited and posted on the YouTube channel. (You can click on any picture to enlarge it)

Kayaking at 'The Silver Strand' Malin Beg

Early morning at Malin Beg

The rugged coastline at Port

Parked at the stony beach at Port

The Jaguar car club arrived up at Slieve League

Today I've been finishing clearing out my belongings. I've been keeping some things in storage for the past year and it was time to be free from all of that in time for hitting the road on Monday 3rd June. I made a trip to the recycling centre, and to the local Barnardo's charity depot. Seeing the empty storage space was a good feeling and its taken a long time to get there. Each step of this journey becomes more and more liberating as I release the bonds of possessions and refine my life of simplicity in the van.

What are your thoughts on living a simple life? Any ideas I could implement in my life? Share below.

You might also like ~ The Adventure Begins...

Thanks for visiting! If you've any thoughts or questions please share them below. 

Do subscribe for updates, and why not check out the Youtube channel - tab above.

See you soon..

Spray Deck / Arne Dahl

I know it's Saturday, but I was at work all day today but I'm involved in a good final project before I leave on the 31st. After work, I spent the evening refining the kayak on/off the roof procedure, and I've simplified it quite a bit. I can now load it single handed and attach it to the roof rack all without the use of any extra ladder. Very cool. At one point this did seem like an impossibility, but with a little time and ingenuity such things become possible. I've even used the spray deck to enclose the paddle and keep the rain out too.

View from above with spray deck on.
I'm feeling pretty good today as more and more, things are coming together and finding their way as I prepare to move on..
Later on I watched Swedish noir drama 'Arne Dahl' on BBC4 - check it out on iplayer. Great series, and with each story broken into 2 x 45 min episodes, its something you can really get involved in. No breaks, so have everything you need ready, you won't want to miss the subtitles!

Duck & Kayak

Another good day!
I slept late, glad to have the night shifts behind me.. My final shift in my job will be a single night shift on the 30th May..
At lunchtime I met up with an old friend for a drink and a pub meal in 'The Dirty Duck' in Holywood. I hadn't seen him in years and it was wonderful to share our experiences as well as our memories, made all the more poignant as I'll soon be leaving these shores.. All the best Steve!
This evening I met up with some other friends with whom I'm planning a wild camping trip in Donegal next weekend. We were taking the time to organise the sea kayaks and get all the equipment in order.
I also had to load my kayak onto the roof of the van, using the winch system my friend made up for me. I'll do a video on that process some time - getting a kayak onto the high roof is one thing, and doing it single handed for my Scotland trip will be another. I need to practice using the winch and strapping it on until I'm really confident doing it without a helper.
Tonight we devised a way to fasten the straps without having to be on a ladder - so that's a start. Here's the boat on the roof, nice 'n sturdy:

I'll drive around with it there a few days and also practice the loading/unloading until its second nature. All the kayaking gear stores away nicely in the hatches on the boat itself - saving a lot of space in the van.
Take it easy..

Testing the roof rack on the Hiace camper van Hitop

Yesterday evening a friend helped me load a boat onto the roof to test the set-up and experiment with ways of loading/unloading and securing the boat on the roof. We also took it for a test drive, and everything was solid. (click to enlarge)

It is very high up to load however and a ladder is needed, as well as two people, though I am working on a way of doing it single-handedly that I’m confident will work out. I also think the addition of some kayak cradles on the roof bars would add to my confidence, especially on longer journeys. Something like this is the usual solution:

Although I think that this is an interesting idea, and would be easy to make up from a piece of foam:

Its good to have this job done as I’ve been thinking about the best way to do it for a long time. I’ll get the things I need to make loading easier next week hopefully.

Fitting roof bars to a Hiace Hitop camper van / Solar power update

I finally got my roof bars fitted for the kayaks! (and routed the solar panel cable through the roof). I ended up doing it all myself, as the guy I had tried to organise to do it didn’t come through in the end. I actually think I have done a better job though, and my roof bar solution looks much more in keeping with the van than the one that had been suggested:

To get there I first had to find a set of bars that have flat feet and holes for roof mounting. This turned out not to be so easy, as most roof racks are vehicle specific these days, and have all manner of clamps and devices to mount them. After a bit of investigation it turned out that a Renault Kangoo van has threaded holes in its roof, and so I was able to get the bars and feet made for it.

After removing the head cloth and plywood ceiling, I mounted two alloy channels on the inside of the glass fibre roof to give support and strength, placing them above the roof bulkheads for extra support:

Here you can also see the roof insulation which explains why it stays so toasty up there on cold nights.

The feet where then mounted on the roof, having drilled right through the roof and the alloy channels, sealed with marine silicone sealant, and bolted in place with 3/8 fasteners:

You can also see the solar panel cable going through the roof here too, through a rubber grommet, and also sealed in. It was great to get it all finally finished and a neat job well done!

All I have to do now is test it out with the boats – hopefully this sunday will be the day. Obviously its quite high up, but with the use of a ladder it will be possible to secure the boats up there. Using a trailer may be easier to load, but makes it more difficult to manoeuvre, and also increases the cost of ferry crossings quite a bit. I am already thinking up a solution to loading a kayak single handed – lets see how that goes!

I’ve been using the solar panel for about a month now, and its surpassing my expectations. If I use lights and the computer in the evening for a few hours, it always reaches full charge again in a couple of hours in the morning with the battery monitor flashing. I have also fitted a battery voltage gauge to show me the battery condition:

The solar charge controller:

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This is the life! - Kayaking at Brown's Bay

Yesterday, out kayaking with a good friend, in the bay were moored two large yachts. There was a sizable swell, and it was fun paddling, rising and falling with the yachts rising and breaking the horizon, cables ringing in the sea breeze. We paddled close and conversed with one of the sailors. From the Netherlands, they had been sailing around Ireland and the British Isles. Waiting for that evenings wind, predicted to pick up, next stop the Scots isle of Jura. Telling the guy about my recent visit to Skye in the camper van, he told me about traveling around New-Zealand in a camper. Before paddling on further around the coast, we all agreed, this is the life!