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Posts Tagged ‘Circumnavigation’

It started over a beer…..

Posted in Challenges, Cornwall, Friends, Paddle trips, tagged , , , on March 13, 2012| Leave a Comment »

As is so often the case with challenges like this, it all started over a beer.
Geoff and I had just spent a challenging day out on the water paddling between Slapton Sands and Dartmouth.  We had set out that morning with the benefits of all the elements – wind (Force 6), tide and swell.  It was exciting to say the least as we averaged 8 knots into Dartmouth.
Of course with some Ying you also get some Yang.  We could have called the return trip off and got a taxi back to pick up the cars, but we decided to slog it out against the strengthening winds.  It took us 45 minutes to get to Dartmouth, but 2.5 hours to get back!  We both landed almost vertical in our kayaks as the dumping surf got the better of us.  It was one of those days that you don’t enjoy at the time, but as soon as you land, you are filled with a mix of emotions – relief you survived but thrilled that you learnt so much in doing so.

Wish these these things were lighter...

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Yummy Kokatat gear arrives

Posted in Challenges, Kit, Paddle trips, tagged , , , , on March 10, 2012| Leave a Comment »

One the GB360 Team gets married this afternoon. Mike and Caroline are finally tying the knot at St Mawes Castle.  As Tanya hunted through her wardrobe this morning trying on several outfits asking for my expert advice on each, I made a clumsy remark about never finding a man struggling with what colour to wear or what shoes to go for.  Tanya gently reminded me just how many hours I spent looking at the Kokatat catalogue and just how many phone calls and emails there were between me, Mike and Geoff before we could finally settle on our expedition kit.  Ok, good point.  I may not worry so much about my shore clothes but when it comes to looking the part on the water and feeling safe and warm – well that’s another matter altogether.

Our yummy Kokatat gear has arrived and this week Geoff and I got together for a couple of days paddling to get some miles in and test the new gear.

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More safety gear than you can shake a stick at….

Posted in Challenges, Paddle trips, tagged , , , on March 10, 2012| 2 Comments »

A post with a bit of a serious theme this one.  When we talk about the trip to friends and family, after the initial “you are joking right?”, the conversation quickly turns to how we plan to keep safe through out 2,500 mile paddle.  We have prepared a full risk assessment and will be talking this through with the Coastguard before we leave – below is an extract from it.

Safety kit carried by each paddler in their PFD (Personal Flotation Device) or within easy reach - cockpit or day hatch

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Is failing to plan really planning to fail? Or is it just true adventure……

Posted in Challenges, Paddle trips, tagged , , , , on January 4, 2012| Leave a Comment »

….either way, the GB360 team met up recently to start to pull together the route plan for the journey.  Surely all we need to do is set off from Cornwall and keep turning right?  Well at one level that’s accurate but if we want to keep safe and make the most of tidal streams there is a whole lot of detail to plan.

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Will it all fit? The GB360 kit list….

Posted in Challenges, Paddle trips, tagged , , , on December 31, 2011| 2 Comments »

Half the fun of the round Britain expedition is all the planning that needs to go into it in advance.  Not least it provides the perfect excuse to purchase some new kit and some fancy gadgets.  This is the list we are currently working to.  Hope to have all this together by the end of January – that should keep the Postie busy for the next few weeks (and our wallets)!

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New logo for round Britain challenge unveiled

Posted in Challenges, Paddle trips, tagged , , , on December 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Fashion designer Mike Greenslade has been putting the final touches to the new logo for the round Britain paddle in 2012…..

Now we have the T-shirts printed there is definitely no going back now.  I am looking forward to the boxer short version!

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Incident management and nylon pants….

Posted in Cornwall, Paddle trips, tagged , , on October 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

The round Britain team (Geoff, Mike and myself), spent last weekend at the Sea Kayaking Cornwall Symposium.  Fantastic couple of days meeting up with other paddlers, learning some new skills and a spot of kit envy.  If there was ever a sport designed to attract gadget obsessed men (and I believe we gadget fiends are all male) – then this is surely it.

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Date set for start of round Britain paddle

Posted in Challenges, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , on September 13, 2011| 4 Comments »

On 29th April 2012, Geoff Cater, Mike Greenslade and myself will set off in our kayaks from Tatums Beach, Portscatho on the Cornish south coast.  We’ll turn right at the harbour wall and with some hard paddling, some reasonable weather and a lot of luck, we’ll appear again on the horizon just beside the impressive Gull Rock that dominates the view across Gerrans Bay some 100 or so days later.

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