Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Cornwall, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged Britain, Britain Circumnavigation, Charity Fundraising, Circumnavigation, Sabbatical, sea kayak on August 25, 2012| 10 Comments »
Well, a little later than advertised (2.30pm) on Thursday, Geoff and I paddled into Portscatho Harbour, let off a couple of smoke flares, jumped out the boats and gave each other a big hug. But the biggest hugs and kisses were for Sue and Tanya.
2,318 miles, 115 days, 92 paddling days, around 2 million paddle strokes (no we didn’t count). Job done, expedition over.
We had paddled to Portloe on Wednesday night and caught a glimpse of Portscatho in the distance between Gull Rock and Nare Head. Just for a moment we discussed just pushing on and landing to surprise everyone but that was just for a moment. We were looking forward to a couple of beers on our last night in the knowledge that we only had 5 miles to go and of course seeing all our families and friends.
That night we washed, changed and slept on two benches pretty much in full view of the village. Sorry about that Portloe but we were demob happy and didn’t care! The next morning after breakie and a chat with a few residents and holiday makers we launched. To our surprise we got 3 cheers from them as we left. We were both in tears as we paddled out of the harbour.
We had plenty of time so we paddled round Gull Rock and waited for some friends who said they would meet us to paddle in the last few miles. Mike Greenslade, who was so much part of the expedition early on, Simon Osborne, from Sea Kayaking Cornwall who coached both of Geoff and I to get ready for this expedition, and his fiancé Roz Leahy. To our surprise John Shaw, Zoe and Pete Shepherd also paddled out to meet us. A couple of motor boats (sorry no names) joined too. So that was our amazing little flotilla as we made the last few miles.
As we got close to the harbour we could see the crowd that had gathered. I think we were more nervous than we had been all trip. Such an amazing welcome. Better than we had ever imagined.
Thank you all so much!!
Sorry we couldn’t get round and say hello and thanks to all of you!
It may take us both a little while to adjust and certainly a few days to clean and repair all the kit. I may just write a couple more reflective blogs as we get used to life back on land. But in the meantime thanks for following our journey. It’s great to be home!
Andy
(Photos courtesy of Mary Alice Pollard http://www.justnicephotos.co.uk/ and Simon Osborne Sea Kayaking Cornwall)
Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Paddle trips, tagged Britain, Charity Fundraising, Circumnavigation, Extreme Challenge, Sabbatical, sea kayak on April 27, 2012| Leave a Comment »
A big thank you to MooD International who have just made a very generous donation to our charities. MooD International are Mike Greenslade’s employer and have already donated in a sense by allowing Mike to have the time away from work to take part in this expedition. The GB360 Team are all very grateful for this latest contribution to our sponsorship.
Posted in Challenges, Kit, Paddle trips, tagged Britain, Circumnavigation, Extreme Challenge, Sabbatical, sea kayak 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.
Posted in Paddle trips, tagged Sabbatical, sea kayak on July 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »
What better way to spend the first day of a year-long sabbatical. Got up at 4am, but instead of climbing into a pile of emails, I climbed into the car and drove down the A3 and headed for Hayling Island with the sea kayak. (Stopped off for a pee at the Liphook services on the way – by far the cleanest and most pleasant service station toilets I have ever visited!). I launched near the fun fair mid way along the south coast. Perfect conditions for a very gentle paddle – 18 degrees, force 3/4 from NW, 10KM visibility, negligible swell. As I set off I took few minutes to watch the sail boats out in the Solent over towards Cowes. Would have been a great day for a crossing – but maybe later in July!
Tried out my new gadget on this trip too – the Garmin Etrex. Which told me that 14.1 miles and 3hrs and 38mins later I had completed the circumnavigation. Thought that was enough work to justify a cheese ham toastie before heading back into London in time to watch Andy Murray lose to Nadal. A traditional Wimbledon summer then.
Midlifekayak 