The Alamo through The Window |
| Date: 26 08 06 Submitted by: Martin Mc Guigan Owey Island July 06. What a great week end. So many people did so many things that it would take a small book to cover. Climbing, canoeing, snorkelling, abseiling, camping, ferrying, towing canoes, campfire singing, potholing, the list goes on. Even the item that I will cover involved other people so they may have a different slant on it. The Alamo (which has been moved fron Malin Head to Owey Island at colossal expense) is the really big sea stack with two windows pierced through it and lays about 300m north from the harbour. Alan and Bill decided to paddle to the base of the stack and climb up the stack via The Window. I did not have a boat and not wanting to be left out of the fun I decided to abseil down the cliff of the mainland and swing out to the stack, somehow? This I managed by tying a big knot in the rope and throwing it across and into a nice notch on the stack. By lowering myself on the abseil and pulling on the notched knot I managed to get across. I met Alan and Bill and gave them a hand to get the boats well up on dry land, not an easy task, as the swell was at least two metres. I started checking the climb as the boys got the gear out of the boats and just seem to keep on going up and up until I realised I was near the top and might as well go for it. Alan and Bill came up behind me and we had our picture taken by the large audience now gathered on the mainland cliff. Mark had a great idea. He would through the rope over to me and I would do a Tyrolean traverse back. This I did with a double rope two carabineers two jumars and a lot of pulling. The two canoeists abseiled back down and paddled back to the harbour. Great craic. |
 |
