Sue Honan

First Irish Female attempt at Iceland Circumnavigation by sea kayak May - July 2024 How the expedition began. Both Sue and Caoimhe had independently thought about an attempt at circumnavigating Iceland over the last few years but for various reasons their individual plans did not materialise. Then in September 2023 while coaching together in Ireland at the Mná na Mara Women's Sea Kayak Festival in West Cork, they discovered they had the same dream. United with a shared passion for sea kayaking and drawn to the, hopefully not too much fire and ice of Iceland they began to hatch plans. The connections between Iceland and Ireland are deeper than many realise; genetic studies in Iceland reveal about 20% of the males and 63% of the females have Irish ancestry and there are many personal and placenames that derive from Ireland, e.g. Patreksfjörõur or Patrick's Fiord. With this in mind we chose our expedition name IRIS 24 to link the first two letters of our country names. For both of us the draw of Iceland is to explore these connections, make paddling friends and hopefully encourage Icelandic paddlers to visit Ireland, along the way we will explore the amazing Icelandic coast by sea kayak. Sue and Caoimhe are at different stages of life; Caoimhe consolidating her career in paddle sports and Sue using her time after early retirement to follow her passions. We will be the first Irish women to attempt this journey and we hope that this expedition will show what two women with paddles can do whether we make it around or not! We are thrilled to be supported by Sea Kayaking UK - Nigel Dennis Kayaks, Fragrance Ireland, Hilleberg the Tentmaker, Cascade Designs (Thermarest/MSR), Expedition Foods, and Celtic Paddles for this trip and look forward to sharing our story.