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Posts Tagged ‘sea kayak’

Talk on our Ireland adventures at Stackpole Seakayaking Festival 20-22 May 2016

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Circumnavigation, Paddle trips, tagged , , on May 7, 2016| 3 Comments »

Found this shot of a Lion’s Mane jelly fish in amongst some photos from our trip around Ireland last year.

If you want to hear more about our little adventure, Geoff will be heading off to the National Trust’s Stackpole Seakayaking Festival 20th – 22nd May to give a talk about it. The event is being run by our mate, Mike Greenslade, who is now living the dream as an Area Manager for the National Trust.

There are still tickets available if you fancy a weekend of stunning coastline and great kayaking courses.

http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/stackpole-outdoor-learning-centre/features/stackpole-sea-kayaking-festival-2016

Andy and Geoff

Lion's Mane Jelly Fish

Lion’s Mane Jelly Fish

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Eat, Sleep and Paddle (2)

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Paddle trips, tagged , , , on January 30, 2015| 2 Comments »

Found a couple more videos we haven’t shared yet.  One of some of the amazing wildlife we saw along the way (forgive us – David Attenborough we are not), and another to counter the perception you may have got from our Eat, Sleep and Paddle video that it was Caribbean sunshine all the way round!

Geoff and Andy

 

 

 

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Midlifekayak Talk – Geoff and Andy at the Harbour Club Portscatho, 15th January, 8pm

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Cornwall, Paddle trips, tagged , , , , , on December 30, 2012| 6 Comments »

Hi folks,

Hope everyone has had a fab Christmas and is looking forward to the new year!

If you are struggling for things to do once the festive season is over, you could always pop down to The Harbour Club, Portscatho on Tuesday, 15th January at 8pm.  Geoff and I will take you on a little journey around Great Britain, share some of our experiences, stunning scenery, incredible wildlife and some of the inspirational people we met along the way.

We have some photos, some videos and plenty of tall stories to tell (getting taller as the weeks go by!)

Entrance is free, but we’d welcome donations to charity.

Hope to see you there!

Geoff and Andy

Home Coming

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Thank you to all our heroes

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Friends, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , , , on September 24, 2012| 2 Comments »

A little video to say thank you to all those special people who made our little trip possible, who wished us well, who inspired us along the way and of course, who made such generous donations to our charities.

There are so many people to thank and sorry if we have missed anyone!

The fabulous total raised now stands at £11,800 (including Gift Aid this should climb to over £14,000).

Cheers

Andy and Geoff

http://youtu.be/MC4-dz4-QWk

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Job done – home in time for tea and cake (what else!)

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Cornwall, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , , 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)

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Video update from GB360

Posted in Charity Fundraising, Friends, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , , on May 11, 2012| 5 Comments »

Our apologies for the poor quality of this video and we promise to get better ones up in future!!

You may get neck ache watching these….

Part 1:

Part 2:

 

 

 

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A spouse’s perspective….

Posted in Challenges, Friends, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , on April 29, 2012| 2 Comments »

So, only two days to go … and I cannot wait!  Probably not the reaction you’d expect from a loving and supportive wife, but this might help clarify things:

  • the guest room will revert back to being to a guest room and will no longer be a kit and exercise room
  • no more packages to sign for – the constant doorbell-ringing also makes George bark, incessantly
  • no more hearing him whinge about niggles, old and new
  • no more wondering what all the grunting and groaning is coming from the garden and the shed – fortunately its just him huffing and puffing while exercising
  • no more ‘would you help me carry the kayak through the cottage’ – bearing in mind the kayak is almost 18ft long, always drips water and sand, and is not the most manoeuvrable of things
  • I will become top dog

I could carry on, but I won’t.  It is all of these things (and more) which, actually, will make me miss him so much.  Even writing this makes me tearful (get a grip TB), but I am so proud of Andy.  This trip has been months in the planning, and he has been training religiously to make himself as strong and as fit as he can be.  It is important for him that his body doesn’t let him down, and he also won’t want to let Geoff and Mike down – and not to mention everyone who is supporting them and of course the charities they are hoping to raise lots of £’s for.  I’m not too worried about the actual paddling, it’s the other stuff that wakes me up at night, like, will he get a good night’s sleep;  will he stay injury-free;  will the weather be kind to them;  and I hope no-one steals the kayak!

I cannot wait for the day I see him appear from around Nare Head – I’ll be the one on Tatums Beach in floods of tears and popping open the champagne.  I’m sure this trip will be a life-changing experience, I’m just hoping it doesn’t make him want to do it again – his Mum won’t be happy!  But then again, at least I’ll know what to expect.

Good luck honey.  Be safe, be strong, but most of all, have fun.  Love you, xxx

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New donation from MooD International brings total to over £7,000

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Paddle trips, tagged , , , , , 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.

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Gales delay start – new departure 1st May

Posted in Challenges, Cornwall, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , on April 26, 2012| 2 Comments »

Well, a year in the planning so what’s an extra couple of days?  Sadly the forecast for Sunday is looking pretty awful – Force 7 (gusting gale Force 8), so we’ve made the call to delay setting off till Tuesday 1st May.  Really sorry if you had hoped to join us down on Tatums Beach to say cheerio on Sunday but we hope you can still pop down on Tuesday.  We’ll be there from 11.15 am and will be heading off around midday.

Andy, Geoff, Mike

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Final preparations and cheerios

Posted in Challenges, Charity Fundraising, Cornwall, Friends, Paddle trips, Sabbatical, tagged , , , , , on April 25, 2012| 2 Comments »

Tanya and I spent last Saturday with family and friends at a surprise farewell gathering in Rowledge Village Hall in Surrey – where my folks and sister and her family live.  So much laughter and fun (as you’ll see in the photos), amazing food and fantastic company – a perfect way to say cheerio.  When I’m having a tough day out on the water, I’ll remember that afternoon and everyone’s good luck messages. Thank you so much for a fabulous send off!

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