This week’s documentary chronicles the maritime adventure of two Irishmen, who spent two months kayaking the 1,500km circumference of Ireland. The pair are Jon Hynes, who had dreamed of the trip for two decades, and his paddling partner Sean Cahill.
Paddling through a sea cave on the southeastern coast of Ireland. Photo: Screenshot
Experienced paddlers
Jon shares the history of his life and his friendship with Sean as old footage plays. Growing up in County Limerick, Jon began kayaking on the Shannon and nearby Lough Gur. Traveling to Nepal and Africa’s Zambezi River, he soon graduated to sea kayaking and more extreme rivers.
He met Sean in the French Alps in 2000, where Jon was a river guide. They immediately became fast friends. Over a decade later, Sean proposed that they kayak around Ireland. An experienced kayaker himself, Sean turned from whitewater to sea kayaking to better suit his aging body’s limitations.
After two years of planning, they finally managed to fit everything into the boats, and in early summer, they set off.
Jon and Sean had been friends for over a decade when they began considering the trip. Photo: Screenshot
Out from Old Head
The pair set out from a headland called Old Head, near Kinsale in County Cork. They paddled into the wind and the tide for hours; an inauspicious start. In fact, according to Jon, the first week was the hardest. The incessant fog pushed them to use all their navigational skills as they rounded the bottom of Ireland.
Dense fog made the open crossing between two headlands on the first day particularly challenging. Photo: Screenshot
After the first ten days, Jon’s hands were horribly blistered, forcing him to cut the wedding ring from his swollen hands. By then, they’d reached County Clare’s famous Cliffs of Moher. But bad weather continued to plague them, which is actually Ireland’s national slogan. The pair waited in a tent for the skies to clear as they prepared to round the top of Northern Ireland.
Their wait was eventually rewarded. Cheers erupted as they rounded Fair Head, at the top of the island, under bright sunshine. As with every stop along the way, strangers waved from the cliffs and beaches as they passed.
Approaching Fair Head, a headland of Northern Ireland. Photo: Screenshot
Three days from home
But once they were on the East Coast heading south, strong winds made for tricky crossings. Right after they passed Dublin, entering County Wicklow, a gale forced them back onto land.
While filming the conditions, a gust of wind blew Jon off a fencepost, hurting his leg. In an informal confessional from a doctor’s office in Wicklow, Jon admitted that he hoped their luck would turn. He convinced Sean that he was not too injured to keep going, not when they were almost home, but the pain was bad, and so were the conditions.
Jon and Sean set up camp in Bray to wait out the wind. If you’ve ever been at the beach and thought, “This is great, but I wish there was more wind,” then Bray is the place for you. Photo: Screenshot
Back in the kayak, they finally turned west. But they had to push through strong winds as they limped back to Old Head. They passed through a symbolically appropriate sea cave and emerged into the light of their final day, touching beach on Old Head at last.
“Wonderful privilege, lads,” Sean says at their welcome home dinner, “to get to paddle around your own country.”
