One of the questions I have been asked is what I think the most difficult aspect will be. Of course paddling for 8-10 hours a day for 100 days will be physically tough, but as a friend of Geoff’s put it – it’ll be the top 2 inches that will be the difference between success and failure.
Paddling on a sunny day in calm seas with perhaps a light wind behind you is one thing, slogging against a Force 5 or 6 for hours or maybe days on end can be soul destroying.
The passenger
Each day is likely to have its ups and downs. Setting off with energy and enthusiasm in the morning fueled by a hot bowl of porridge and a pint of tea, things can change very quickly if conditions deteriorate or aches and pains don’t go away after warming up. I liken it to cycling. We all know how much fun a ride can be on a pleasant day, but when the wind picks up and you hit a hill, all of a sudden it is a lot less fun. No time to take in the scenery, its head down and slog. Its even impossible to talk to each other over the noise of the wind.
To make things worse, distances at sea can be deceptive. Coming round a headland and spotting a village or a town to stop and rest – they are always further away than they appear!
We have a few handling strategies for the mental challenge.
For days when we are hugging the coastline, we’ll break the paddling up into chunks of 2 hours or around 8 miles. We’ll then stop, stretch, eat and drink and be on our way again. That way you don’t think about the miles – just how many more minutes before you eat again! For those days when we are committing to open water crossings – there are around 20 that are significant – we might not be able to get out of the kayaks for 4 or 5 hours. In which case, we will raft up – bringing the kayaks close together to form a stable platform – so we can each stretch a little, eat and take a pee! No room for shyness on this trip.
We are each packing little treats and luxuries to help boost morale. Amongst the growing list of luxuries is a bottle of single malt whiskey, a digital radio so we can pick up the sport and lots of chocolate!
We have also discussed as a team how we might feel at different stages of the journey. The first week around the Cornish coast is likely to be adrenalin fueled. We’ll be getting used to the daily routine, probably ditching some kit we don’t need and picking up other stuff we do. By the end of the first week we should be ready to face our first major challenge – an 18 mile open water crossing of the Bristol Channel.
Once into Wales we expect the enormity of the trip to sink in and are expecting a bit of a low period. Best not to look at the map at this point but rather bury ourselves in the beautiful scenery and take each day at a time.
Then the trip is punctuated by major milestones and more incredible scenery to distract us from the monotony of paddling. Leaving Wales and back into England, crossing Morecombe Bay safely, entering Scotland and navigating up the stunning west coast, rounding the evocative sounding Cape Wrath – from the Viking words meaning turning point – and surviving the 12 knot tidal streams around Pentland Firth and so on.
Of course after that it is all down hill!
Between us we have half a dozen friends who live along the coast who have offered us a welcome night under a roof and the opportunity for a warm shower. Very brave of them – I wonder if they realise just how smelly we might be by then.
We are all a little unsure about how we will react to the journey, the inevitable scary moments, the monotony, being away from our friends and family. I suspect we will come back a little different, changed in some way – hopefully not broken.
When we think about the charities we are supporting however, the small niggles that we have to deal with pale into insignificance compared to what injured service men and women, or children dealing with life threatening illnesses are coping with. And thoughts of their stories while we are paddling over the next 4 months will provide tremendous inspiration and motivation.
Tanya, Sue and Caroline – our respective partners – have been wonderfully supportive. In fact so supportive the three of us are wondering what they have planned while we are away! They may join us for some of the trip, but primarily we are preparing to be unsupported most of the way around. We are hoping though that friends, family and fellow paddlers will want to come along and join us along the way, either for a paddle or a beer or two – particularly when we are shore bound by the weather.
Midlifekayak 
Another great blog Andy this time quite an emotional one to read. Our support and love will be with you on this voyage and our home, hot water and food will be waiting for you all when you reach Whitley Bay.
Looking forward to a hot shower Salome! And some fresh fish and chips 🙂 Andy x
Sent from my iPhone
Sorry to have only just got round to reading this but agree this is a great blog. Made me want to cheer at the end ! I do hope I can come and find you somewhere along the journey – either Wales or Scotland (on the ‘uphill’ part). I’ll bring a top up for the whiskey flask.
Hi Dom. We were training down at Lyme Regis last weekend – parked outside the Boat Building Academy – reminded me of your sabbatical there. A top up of whiskey will go down very nicely!
Cheers
Andy