A book detailing an adventurous sea kayaking trip along the Irish coast had its launch in Bantry on Saturday October 3.

Sherkin resident Pat Rodgers (55) wrote Chasing Tides about his extraordinary journey around Ireland, based on travel diaries from 1997.

The book, newly published last week, tells the story of the 1,500 km circumnavigation, which started at Toe Head.

It documents a style of outdoor adventure travel mostly vanished since the use of GPS trackers and digital maps.

“I wanted to tell the story as it actually felt at the time,” said Pat, who also runs H2O Sea Kayaking on Sherkin.

“I couldn’t just look at an app on my phone to get the forecast.

We listened to the sea area forecast on a Walkman radio, or sometimes we made it to a pub in time to catch it on RTÉ after the news.

I didn’t even have tide tables. I estimated high tide from what I could see on the water.”

Pat recalled: “There was a much greater sense of stepping into the unknown.”

The former engineer was introduced to kayaking at the age of 13 on a school trip to an outdoor pursuits centre.

He says he was hooked the first time he got into a fibreglass kayak.

Pat later became an instructor and has run his own kayaking business on Sherkin Island since the summer of 2021.

The book had its official launch at Sherkin Island Library on Sunday last, September 27.

Chasing Tides will have its mainland launch at the Irish Sea Kayaking Association's annual symposium in Bantry this weekend.

The books is available at www.chasingtides.ie and at Cathal O’Donovan’s bookshop in Skibbereen. 

Read the full story of Pat's adventure in this week's Southern Star.