‘Water Walker’ Had the Luck of the Irish

It is bound to happen. Some thirsty chap in the seaside hamlet of Portpatrick, Scotland, will wager a pint or two that Daniel Hodes, a 34-year-old Corona del Mar attorney, walked on water Monday.

No way, his victim will say. And the next round will be on him.

Hodes did walk some 20 miles across the North Channel of the Irish Sea from Northern Ireland to the west coast of Scotland.

OK, he didn’t quite walk. But it was the nearest thing to it, and you can bet that there were more than a few wide-eyed Scots staring at Hodes when he shuffled ashore, about 5 1/2 hours after he left Groomsport, Northern Ireland.

It Was Chilly

It was sweater and scarf weather on the blustery Scottish coast when Hodes, wearing only a tank top and shorts, triumphantly raised his arms as he stepped from a pair of pontoon-like devices attached to his feet.

Standing upright and using a double-bladed paddle to propel himself through choppy seas, Hodes accomplished his sixth major “water walk,” including the Strait of Gibraltar, the English Channel and Cook Strait in New Zealand.

His next conquest attempt: The Bering Strait between Alaska and the Soviet Union in the summer of 1990.

But for now, the Irish Sea was challenge enough.

“The first two hours went quick,” Hodes said by telephone from Northern Ireland. “I covered nearly 8 1/2 miles in less than two hours, and began contemplating a double crossing--Northern Ireland to Scotland and back.”

But such thoughts of daring vanished halfway to Portpatrick when a strong breeze kicked up five-foot whitecaps, turning his stroll on the sea into an arduous hike.

“The crossing was never in doubt, but when the wind came up, things got serious. It became a struggle,” Hodes said, adding that the whitecaps made it difficult to maneuver the polyethylene pontoons, which weigh 16 pounds each, through the rough seas.

Despite the deteriorating conditions, Hodes said he never fell, though he came close a couple of times. And considering what lurked just below the surface, Hodes said he was lucky.

“I saw a thousand jellyfish--the big variety,” said Hodes, who chose not to wear a wet suit despite air and ocean temperatures in the upper 50s. “There was a lot of incentive not to go down.”

Breakfast of Toast, Coffee

An accomplished triathlete, Hodes said he readied for the crossing with a breakfast of toast and two cups of coffee. During the walk, he paused only briefly for a couple of bananas and water. Hodes was followed in a boat by an Irish fisherman knowledgeable in local currents and tides.

Only three swimmers have successfully crossed the North Channel of the Irish Sea, according to Hodes, whose “water walks” are listed in the Guinness Book of World Records. A spokesman for the record book said that Hodes is probably the first to “walk” the channel.

When Hodes reached Portpatrick, he said, he was greeted by a noisy crowd, some of whom ushered him into a nearby pub where he celebrated with a pint of local ale.

While crossing the channel was personally satisfying, Hodes said, he also did it for charity. As with his earlier feats, Hodes lined up several dozen sponsors, mostly friends, and made them a deal. If he succeeded, his sponsors would make a donation to the Orange County chapter of the Make-A-Wish-Foundation, the national organization that helps make wishes come true for terminally ill children. If he failed, he would buy those sponsors dinner.

By completing the crossing in 5 hours and 26 minutes, Hodes estimated that he raised several thousand dollars.