Posts by Izzy_K:
Flotilla with a flourish
November 22nd, 2015You might have seen Sarah Outen in the papers – the “British adventurer” and “explorer from Rutland” who spent the past four and a half years travelling over 25,000 miles around the world by rowing boat, cycle and kayak.
During that time she cycled across the Gobi desert, paddled along the Aleutian Island chain and was forced to abandon her rowing boat in the Atlantic because of the threat of Hurricane Joaquin. On the final leg of her journey, Sarah cycled and kayaked from Falmouth to London, paddling under Tower Bridge on 3 November to complete her journey.
The press were out in force to photograph the conclusion of her epic journey, and a photo of Sarah popping a bottle of champagne graced the cover of several newspapers. You might also have seen a collection of tiny red kayaks in the background – what the Telegraph called a “small flotilla”. That was, of course, the serried ranks of Chelsea Kayak Club out to accompany Sarah on her last leg.
Leaving Kew
Twelve of us met at seven in the morning in Kew, along with members of Rutland Canoe Club where Sarah learned to kayak as a teenager. Kit was prepared and our boats emblazoned with large flapping union jacks which meant we would be impossible to miss. The explorer herself was already out on the Thames and met us bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, along with her friend and kayaking partner Justine Curgenven.
We were accompanied along the whole final stretch by a tag-team of RNLI crews, who looked as though they wanted someone to fall in to liven up their morning. And along the way Sarah was greeted by friends cheering from bridges and gaggles of schoolchildren with motivational posters. You could feel the love.
At some points Sarah was left alone, paddling at the head of our slightly messy arrowhead formation. But it felt wrong to intrude on what must have been for her a deeply private moment as well as a public one.
At the same time, it felt pretty good to be cheered over the finish line, even though we knew that our paltry four hours of paddling was just the full stop to Sarah’s four-year sentence. After a final lap around HMS Belfast, we paddled out under Tower Bridge to much applause and firemen on an emergency boat spraying their hoses 20 feet into the air.
Sarah had kind words for us afterwards – “What a special end to a mad and wonderful few years of journeying”. But it was special for us too, and a real privilege to be a small part of someone else’s big adventure.
Thanks to Alex for his organisation and for the logistics of boats and kit. Now does the club have any idea what we can do with a dozen union jacks?
Izzy Kaminski
Bosham and Chichester Harbour
February 28th, 2011Saturday 26th February 2011
Gale-force winds had been registered on the south coast the night before we were due to paddle, so general expectations were of a tough and bumpy ride, which might have to be cut short. We were down to just six paddlers and approached the village of Bosham on Saturday morning with caution, but the skies soon cleared and the westerly winds seemed to be on our side.
Miranda had meticulously planned out a route and a strict timetable, and thankfully we didn’t have to cut it short. After an extended kitting-up process, in which shiny new equipment (deck compasses!) was displayed and fussed over, we made our way along Bosham Channel and out into Chichester Channel.
We took a break for a few minutes to scope out the state of the sea, at which point the sun came out and the sky was so clear that the Isle of Wight was visible in the distance. After crossing the harbour mouth onto Hayling Island, we stopped for a quick lunch and gawped at the sight of a tiny one-main hydrofoil sailing boat zipping across the sea, but it was still too cold to linger for long.
We started to make our way along Hayling Island, indulging in a spot of birdwatching on the way (plovers and sandpipers, according to our resident twitcher Paul), with the aim of exploring a particular channel. The view was astonishing – the clouds parted slightly in the middle with the tempting promise of more sunshine but Phil and Manda rightly decided to hang back, because there was little to see upstream.
As we came out of the channel, the dark clouds that had been lingering on the edges of the horizon passed over us, the wind picked up and it started to rain. It felt like a gentle but insistent threat to get away from the island, and I expected the crossing back to the east side of the harbour, over a seemingly huge expanse of sea and a horizon that seemed to get further and further, to be difficult.
But the clouds soon passed by and instead we ended up running aground on the harbour’s wide sandbank, and were forced to get out and drag our boats (I’m still not convinced that counts as a swim, Phil). To a distant onlooker, it would have looked as if we were walking on water, like giggling neoprene-clad messiahs.
Back in our boats, we made our way back to Bosham Channel, where a brave Manda practiced rolling in a sheltered spot while Richard showed off his self-rescue skills. I was quite content to stay dry this time. The last stretch was hampered a little by the rain and wind, but at least we were paddling with the tide.
The 11Nm paddle was technically undemanding, but the three and a half hours on the water were pleasantly tiring and it was an unexpectedly beautiful and friendly trip on a cold February day. I couldn’t have asked for a better first paddle with Chelsea.
Izzy K