I was unable to make the morning start time, but headed out from Killyleagh in the evening to meet the group.
Travelling light, me and Qiqi (my dog) soon made it over to the island, where there were around 30 people already, from young kids to seasoned paddlers.
I soon found a nice spot in the forest behind the bothy to pitch my tent, had a quick bite to eat, then started the important bit - drinking around the camp fire.
We had fun with the dog running around with a glow stick attached to her B.A.
In the morning, we packed up camp and loaded the boats. We were going to head south to swing round Gores Island to return to Killyleagh with the wind behind us.
Not far out from Salt island we came across a Viking long-boat anchored in the middle of the lough. I climbed into it and most of the kids soon followed. We were tempted to paddle it but that might be construed as theft.
We turned around Gores Island to head back to Killyleagh. There was a bit of wind behind us so I rafted up with another canoe and attempted sailing using a sleeping bag as a sail. This would have been successful if the wind hadnt decided to die as soon as we put the sail up.
We gave up on that idea and paddled the rest of the way back.
It was a good trip with lots of good people. Hopefully I will be able to spend more time out at Salt Island during the summer when there is no water in the rivers.
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