There were jubilant scenes along the river Boyne today when brave Drogheda paddler Richard Skelly and his friend Damien Hammil completed their around the coast of Ireland trip in their kayaks.
The enduring 1650 km adventure took 48 days in the sea to complete but they were away from home for 58 nights, sleeping in tents on beaches, piers, harbour and wherever they could lay their heads.
The pair join an elite list of over 100 people who have kayaked around Ireland’s amazing coastline. Last year alone fifteen people tried but only one made it.
Over 100 people came out to greet Richard and Damien as they crossed the finishing line at the Boyne Fishermen’s Rescuwe and Recovery HQ on the river.
Proud Richard, a renowned diver and former chairman of the volunteer rescue group ,had the biggest smile on his face and was over the moon at their great achievement.
One of the first people to greet him was his wife Valeria, and her family , the O’Reillys from Termonfeckin along with his mother Chrissie from Brookville where Richard grew up and still lives.
Richard said: ” Damien and I have been kayaking together for a couple of years and we decided over a bottle of Guinness as you do, to paddle our way in our kayaks all around the Irish coast.
” It is just one of those things we both wanted to do and we shook hands and made a commitment to do it.
” But It wasn’t all plain sailing and the weather went against us on a couple of occasions.
” There were times that it got a bit hairy with large swells in the sea off the west coast.
” But remember you are talking about the Atlantic here so what else would you expect and it is next stop Newfoundland or America. This is Ireland, and Irish weather so we just had to be patient and deal with it.”
” I am so proud of what we have done and I can’t thank everyone enough for coming here and welcoming us home.”
The lads carried GPS tracker devices so everyone could follow their daily movements.
Richard said the highlight for him were the wonderful people they met along the way.
He said: ” We were given shelter, food, showers, and the use of toilet facilities by people who we had never met before in our lives. Everywhere we stopped, the people could not do enough to help us .
” It was fantastic to see in a world where there is so much negativity and it just shows how generous and decent Irish people are. That is the one bit of this trip that I will always remember.”
They spent the afternoon yesterday (Saturday) at a well earned picnic with their family and friends and swigging a well deserved glass of champagne.
A large contingent from Damien’s home town of Downpatrick,Co Down arrived down to join them.
