The Coast!

I was drawn to the sea all my life, having been lucky enough to holiday by the Irish coast several times a year. I would swim, crab fish with friends, and lose myself all day by the shore, only returning in the evening for food. I am a water baby.

In 2013 I realised I wanted to sea kayak. By 2017 I had my first taste of what it was like and since then I have been hooked, working towards going whenever I can. I started by racing K1s on a local lake, then tried touring boats and eventually borrowed boats to get out onto the sea. If sea kayaking interests you, I highly recommend you join a canoe club to paddle safely and learn your skills. Equally, you can book with a sea kayaking company to get started.

Why I Love Sea Kayaking

What is it that draws me back, time after time?

I have never felt so alive. I feel the energy around me, and yet feel calm even when the sea is wild. I love the escapism that sea kayaking offers, away from noise, cars, and people. There’s the challenge of conditions, the wind, the tide. I respect the sea deeply and have reverence for her.

Where I have paddled feels like a realm not yet destroyed by man. The waves crash, lap, or rise and fall against the rugged rocks. These are magical, sacred places. The sea is living, with seaweeds moving with grace with the tides, seals slipping into the water, sometimes come up again snorting right behind your boat. There are echoing caves as big as cathedrals to stare up in awe. Sea kayaking is a away to see these gems at a slower pace.

This summer in Scotland, I saw eagles flying overhead, puffins bobbing along and dolphin pods jumping and diving in the distance and wild ponies and deer watching from the shore. Experiences like these take my breath away and the memories will last with me.

On the water, I love the rhythm of paddling – rotating my body, moving with the sea. The smell of the salt air makes me feel whole, at peace, and healthy. Landing on a quiet beach with hardly anyone around, looking back at the land and sea – it feels priceless. Even when conditions are less favourable, I finish with a smile and sleep well. It’s exercise without the confines of the gym, a way of constantly learning and staying humble to nature.

Foraging Along the Coast

Alongside kayaking, I am a forager. Coastal foraging is rich, abundant, and so nutritious. Over 12 years ago, while working in a health food shop, I learned about seaweeds and their incredible nutrients. Since then, I’ve sought out wild, delicious, nutrient-dense umami foods.

When you slow down in a kayak, you start to notice coastal plants, seaweeds, and other wild foods. I pick a little for myself, creating ferments, salts, and flavourful dishes. Sea kayaking gives you the chance to find these treasures and it reminds you of the tides, the moon, the cycles of the seasons. On the water, you have to be in tune with all the elements.

Coastal Foraging & Sea Kayaking Days

In August, Teaming up with Craig Leslie, we ran a coastal sea kayaking and foraging day where we explored estuary plants. The winds were gusting up to 35mph on the sea, which would have meant we would have been grabbing sea weed in our teeth as we went up and down with the swell, so we had a more leisurely day and paddled in sheltered waters. Craig Leslie of SKUK Adventures lead the way with kitting out and sharing kayaking skills. I am delighted to have worked along side someone like Craig who lives and breathes the coast and loves its wild foods too. We had a wonderful day!

On 9th August, our group of paddlers explored, foraged, and shared a wild lunch together in a stunning setting before returning to shore. It was a magical experience of sea, land, and food. We celebrated so many aspects of the coast from marsh samphire pickles, spicy dulse seaweed, welsh laver breads with wild garlic and trooping funnel mushroom, nettle and wrack syphon weed crackers, to sea purslane hummus, and finished with the likes of blackberry and apple curd pie and a blackberry and apple cake washed down with a rose and nettle tea, and to finish and celebrate one attendee’s birthday!