The Beat Down Video

The Beat Down Video

The Video comes courtesy of Johnny Mc of UCC. You will have to watch very carefully the video is quiet blurry but you'll see a small black dot infront of the wave then you won't see it, well thats me! Ouch!

Carnage Supreme!

Enjoy

Welcome

Welcome to my first blog. I have been meaning to start this for quiet a while but being so busy in college I never had a chance. Having spent the last few days paddling out into some big surf at St. Finnians Bay in Kerry over New Years, I felt the time had come for this to start.

My name is Michael Flynn, I am a 24 year old Kayaker and student of Architecture in Waterford Institute of Technology, Ireland. My new years resolution is to surf bigger surf in my kayak than I have ever surfed before.

Getting ready for the paddle out in Bunmahon

My life has always been based around the water. My earliest memory of the beach is a summer day when I was about 4 or 5. We all went to Clonea Strand and I was taught to swim by some old lady who will remain a mystery, nobody else seems to remember her. But since then I have swam competitively with the Dungarvan Dolphins, worked as a beach Lifeguard in Clonea, Tramore and Ardmore for the summer months since 5th year in school and volunteered as a  water safety instructor with Irish Water Safety in Dungarvan for nearly 13 years before which I was a student myself learning the skill to become a qualified pool and beach lifeguard.

A busy day at the office, Life guarding summer '06 Clonea

I have been kayaking now properly since I joined University College Cork Canoe Club in September 2003. I had paddled a couple of times before that so I said I'd give it a try. I haven't turned back since. Having failed my exams in 1st year in Cork I took a year out to work before taking up a place on the new course in Architecture at WIT. 

A big fat blunt in Bunmahon

During that year I worked for GlaxoSmithKline in Dungarvan, Co. Waterford. I was well paid and had plenty of time off and being by the south coast I paddled as much as I could, most of my time was spent out kayak surfing the breaks of Bunmahon, Tramore, Clonea and Whiting Bay, with the occasional trip to Lahinch with Liam Cahil an old Friend from my summers life guarding on Clonea Strand. At the end of my year of work I had a bit of money saved up and decided to use it along with a €150 course voucher I won at the UCC varsities in 2004 to go on a trip with Jon Hynes company H2O Kayaking to Zambia. We were accompanied by Paul Burn, Jenny Kilbride and Brian Keogh as well as many of the UCC paddlers on their own trip. It was a great adventure and when I returned I was mad for more paddling and my padding style had greatly improved.

An average day in Bunmahon

I joined the college's fresh new Kayak Club started by Mick Reynolds, creator the first all Ireland Kayaking DVD "Tír ná Nóg" (which I briefly appear in as safety at the bottom of Mahon Falls).  WITKC was a small but very active club at the time being superbly managed by Mr. Brian Somers, Kevin Jennings, Tony Walsh, John McNally and others. It was a perfect base for getting out paddling a lot with so many people so eager to paddle. 

During my 6 years of summers spent life guarding the beaches of county Waterford, I developed a love for the sea and for surf. Before kayaks were in my life a Waterford County Council Rescue Ski was my preferred mode of surfing. Coached by Paddy Murphy on its proper use and how to get the most fun out of it the transition to a deck covered kayak was easy. As most people will know the summer in Ireland isn't so fabulous. More often than not its blowing a gale and the country is being bashed by the tail end of some hurricane having spun our way out of the Gulf of Mexico. With the beaches practically empty on these day we loved nothing better than to don our wetsuits and gear and paddle out and that's where I got my love for surf, big waves and getting pounded. 

And the poundings did come, Bloodyforeland, Capts & Sec '07

The photo above was taken at Captains and Secretaries Weekend, February 10th 2007 at Bloodyforeland Co. Donegal. That day we had driven around for a while looking for something to do and when we came upon Bloodyforeland we couldn't wait to hit the water. On the way down the narrow road to the beach a farmer stopped us and asked us if we we're sure we should be heading down because the surfers turned away from it earlier because it was too big. Kev quickly replied "It's OK we are kayakers we are very safe and know what we are doing".  It was a major case of big and far away, the tide was old as we arrived but as we hit the water is was starting to hit the beach. I made it out past the first few sets of breakers. Then i barely made it over two massive waves until the third one broke on me that the one in the photo above. All I remember was being very very deep and everything was back, I held my breath for ages and I could feel the pressure squeezing the boat. The water slowly started to turn shades of green until I hit the surface and rolled up. My vision was blurry and I was wrecked and out of breath I quickly paddled beyond the breaks . Here I sat for about 20minute not attempting to catch a single wave. I watched for signals from the headland from the guys before deciding to make a run for it. I almost made it to the beach before a foam pile picked me up and bounced me over a few others struggling among the boulders to get out. Johnny from LYIT had popped his shoulder but it had relocated by itself. That was it for the day. It wasn't till days later that it hit me about how massive the wave was. There is a video taken my Johnny from UCC that I will post later showing the hit. 

This was the event that knocked me back a little bit. The next day in Bundoran, Willy McCarthy said he noticed I was looking over my shoulder a lot, I didn't want to be caught out by another wave for a long while. 

This remains the biggest surf I had ever paddled out into but didn't surf. Now my aim is to get back out there paddle some of the biggest surf I can along the way and do a little documentary too. 

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