6. LAZY ADVENTURES: Hooning about in a jet powered kayak

Right. Let's get one thing straight. It was pester power that made me do it. The idea of exploring the coast in a kayak is just brilliant, but the idea of doing it in a 'jet powered kayak' just seemd crass. So when the kids hassled us so much that it was starting to get annoying during a nice day on the beach at O'Carroll's Cove in Kerry recently, we gave in.
It wasn't that I didn't want to see what was in the next bay or have an hour on the water, it's just that I wasn't keen on the idea of noisy, petrol driven kayaks hooning about the bay. That's because I thought that sticking an engine on a kayak rather took away the point of the kayaking. Kayaks are stealthy, quiet and unassuming. They take you to see places and things that are inaccessible any other way - and you do it under your own steam.
But. It was an awful lot of fun. We also saw more than we'd have seen in less time than if we paddled there. Once out on the water I realised that a little bit of engine power combined with a little bit of paddle power could be a good thing - the engine takes you near, the paddle gets you closer (if we'd have used them). The kayaks have virtually no draft so you can get into shallower water that you could with a standard rib or boat and you can launch them pretty easily. Anyway, the kids had a ball and we saw some great stuff, even if we burned about zero calories doing it. Yes, so the seals in the seal colony scarpered before we could get within 100 yards of them (and for that I am truly sorry) but it was a hoot all the same. And my boat was fastest.

• Sunfish Explorer will take you out for a little jolly about the place on the Ring of Kerry. Call Noel Donnelly on 087 9474616