We Did It!
Thank you to every one who has followed and sponsored my efforts in the Hebridean Challenge. I was placed 14 out of the 16 kayakers, but that didn't seem to matter because we all had an incredibly sociable paddle. Best of all, UK Lifeboats are now £1000 better off.
I've posted three galleries of pictures all linked from one site - click on the title above.
The plan had been to race to the Shiant Islands and back on the Wednesday, but this was cancelled. Instead we had a social paddle, then a whiz around the Shiants in three fast ribs acting as safety boats. Then we raced for about 12km.
In one day we saw:
* 2 pods of dolphin (from the rib) one of which played in the bow wave - pictures in the Shiants page.
* 3 sightings of a (relatively) small basking shark - four pictures on the "Leisurly paddling" page
* a minke whale - no photo
* a sea eagle - again no photo
No wonder the paddlers felt more of a group than part of their teams!
No team does well in its first year. We came in last of the five-person teams, which didn't surprise us, as it wasn't until day four that we started to understand the event! However, the marshals awarded us a prize for being the nicest team to deal with, which is some consolation. Surviving the five days was enough of a challenge for me.
It will be on BBC Scotland in about 4 weeks time, which is also on satellite. You won't have to look hard for my nasty, bright orange kayaking cap, it'll find you!
Thanks again to all who sponsored me.
THAT'S THE END OF THIS BLOG
I've posted three galleries of pictures all linked from one site - click on the title above.
The plan had been to race to the Shiant Islands and back on the Wednesday, but this was cancelled. Instead we had a social paddle, then a whiz around the Shiants in three fast ribs acting as safety boats. Then we raced for about 12km.
In one day we saw:
* 2 pods of dolphin (from the rib) one of which played in the bow wave - pictures in the Shiants page.
* 3 sightings of a (relatively) small basking shark - four pictures on the "Leisurly paddling" page
* a minke whale - no photo
* a sea eagle - again no photo
No wonder the paddlers felt more of a group than part of their teams!
No team does well in its first year. We came in last of the five-person teams, which didn't surprise us, as it wasn't until day four that we started to understand the event! However, the marshals awarded us a prize for being the nicest team to deal with, which is some consolation. Surviving the five days was enough of a challenge for me.
It will be on BBC Scotland in about 4 weeks time, which is also on satellite. You won't have to look hard for my nasty, bright orange kayaking cap, it'll find you!
Thanks again to all who sponsored me.
THAT'S THE END OF THIS BLOG
posted by Simon Willis at 5:31 PM
