SUNDAY 16th AUGUST 2009

Dan Butterworth & I managed to cut our way through the coast between Plymouth and Salcombe in sea kayaks to raise as much as we could for the town’s Primary School and to raise awareness for kayak4kids.The kayak challenge from Bovisand Point, Plymouth to Salcombe’s  Cliff House Gardens was supported by Marco Brimacombe, the Coxswain of the Salcombe Lifeboat and Tom Sommerton in a boat provided by Whitestrand Boat Hire.

We managed to complete this 21 nautical mile challenge in a time of 5 hours and 50 minutes which was completed unexpected as we had planned to make the trip in 8 hours and meet everyone in Salcombe at 3. Sorry to those who missed us come in :( Even though Dan and I would credit the speed to our training, i must admit that the conditions were perfect on the day with the wind on our backs and about 30% cloud cover. Lets hope that the next trip will be as good :)

The day was fantastically run and we are very proud of our army of volunteers who sported our event t-shirts and rattled collection buckets around the town all day - they managed to raise a fantastic £475 and also raise the profile of the event with some jokes and general banter with those who donated!! I think a big thank you should be given to Janis Donnelly and Ross Beeby who were in charge of the speaker system and gave us a big cheer home. Also, Carolyn Bonnet, John Bonnet, Alice Savage and Emillie Forrest - Jones really played their part to raise more money. 

SOME WORDS FROM PEOPLE AROUND SALCOMBE

“Chris and Dan, like Christine and I, have been inspired by the environment in which we live to get out there and do something just a little bit crazy in order to raise money for a good cause. Salcombe is the perfect place to train and prepare for an adventure out in the wide open sea. Chris and Dan will be facing a huge challenge. People think we are crazy rowing a 24ft ocean row boat across an ocean; personally I would rather that than paddling a tiny kayak close in to a notoriously dangerous coastline, having to contend with tides, wind and waves, not able to even stand and stretch in the process! Give me wide open ocean any day! Good luck to them both, I hope they enjoy the experience, and fingers crossed for calm seas!”  ‘                    

Salcombe’s  ocean row girls                          

  “I was happy to support the challenge when asked for advice on sea safety from Dan and Chris. The fact that Dan and Chris wanted to raise money for Salcombe Church of England Primary School, which is a major part of the local community was an added incentive for me and I will be providing the Safety Vessel and escorting them on their journey back to Salcombe on the 16^th August”         

Marco Brimacombe – RNLI Coxswain

“We and the parents group, Friends of Salcombe School Association, are very grateful to these guys for all their efforts. The children have loved the pool side demonstrations and being able to learn more about kayaking. We’ll be waiting quayside for their return, to cheer them safely home”.          

 Sue Warne – Salcombe Headteacher 

21 MILES IS A LONG WAY – IT’S EQUIVALENT TO.......................

1.     Paddling the East Portlemouth Ferry line 170 times

2.     The HMS Victoria (1859) being laid out 425 times end to end

3.     Having 3275 ‘36 exposure film’ reels laid out end to end

4.     The kayaks being used today being laid out 9600 times end to end

5.     The Hammersmith & City tube line and then the East London line.