Lost in the reeds!

So at 9:50am I arrive at Charlies eating my breakfast (a hard boiled egg if you must know!).

The plan was to paddle from Eling and try to get as far up the River Test as possible with the hope of being able to cross under the M27, "simple, one would think".

We met Stu at Eling wharf at 10:00am and set off for what was to be a very enjoyable mornings paddle. The weather was not great, a bit over cast but the water was calm, "like a mill pond" which has become something of a catchphrase for us now.

As we paddled out we noticed that the tide was particularly high and thus would allow us to cheat a bit and take a small but significant short cut across one of the mud banks, Stu quite rightly pointed out that it seemed somewhat daft to be taking short cuts as we were supposed to be in training for a paddle of significantly longer length than this one.

We paddle on to the Redbridge flyover but because the tides were so high we were confronted with our first challenge of the day, "The kayak limbo", which for myself and Stu wasn't to bad, but for Charlie who is considerably taller than us, this was a much more difficult affair and one well worth watching for Stu and myself.

With Charlie safely under the bridge we were hit by the force of the tides as they had turned and were against us with the addition of a head on wind, this made the next section of the paddle a little tougher than we had faced through there before but we put our heads down and paddled around the first reed bed where we were sheltered from the wind and things got a little easier.

Just to break away from the paddling thing for a minute, the wildlife that we see on a regular basis in and around Southampton waters is incredible, I mean we have seen some amazing things from seals at Lymington to kingfishers, Harriers, buzzards, a whole host of different ducks and geese, it really is incredible to think that most of us have no idea that this wildlife even exists in such close proximity.

Back to the paddle, we carried on up river passing through the various reed channels that by now were getting narrower and narrower, here is a picture to give you an idea.

We continued on this particular tributary dodging the fallen trees and ploughing our own way through the reeds until we finally came to the test way path and the end of the road "river" for us.

We headed back trying various little runs which all eventually came to dead ends, until finally we had returned back far enough to see another possible way around. As we paddled on we soon came to a small bridge and weir which was again another chance for us to show some bystanders our kayak limboing prowess, unfortunately we had also exhausted all of our options in getting any further up river so had to turn back and admit defeat.

The paddle back to Eling was to be a tough one as the wind had picked up and so had the chop. With our heads down we dug in and paddled back under Redbridge flyover and around in to Eling wharf against the tide, which if you have any experience of paddling against the tide in the Solent "as we have, due to being rubbish at reading the tides" you will know that it is no easy feat.

All in all not the longest of paddles but a very enjoyable one.

After a coffee in the Dub and a beer in the pub, we were warmed up and ready for our roasts!

Help arrives!

It's been a really exciting few weeks in our quest.

Firstly we were contacted, just before Christmas, by Iain Clarke at Action Duchenne, our chosen charity, wanting to meet with us. Secondly we undertook several mini-expeditions during the Christmas period to begin testing ourselves more progressively. And finally we applied for and subsequently were awarded support from Pyranha Mouldings, a kayak manufacturer. I will cover each of these in turn, but they all give us real hope that this is more than just a dream, and it can in fact become reality.

Firstly we undertook some kayaking over the Christmas period, which was a real contrast from last year when is was very cold and snowed on several occasions during December and January. This year we are (a) much hardier and willing to go out in all weathers and (b) the weather has actually been nice and mild.

We have been out on Southampton Water from Marchwood up to the mouth of the Test, where it meets the Itchen. This was very hard work because the water was choppy, and in fact washing-machine like where the rivers meet south of Town Quay and Ocean Village. We paddled back in progressively worse conditions and, although not dreadful, were enough to make me really start to hurt quite a bit - cramp, sore shoulders and a dodgy knee.

However a subseuqent paddle from Ashlett Creek was much more enjoyable and successful. For a start, we are finally getting used to reading the tides and weather and, in particular, how they combine to create various conditions. We carefully planned our route and the timings etc, and headed across the mouth of Southampton Water towards the Hamble River at high tide. I called this trip the Jolly Jolly Paddle because there are pubs called The Jolly Sailor at both ends. When we got to The Jolly Sailor at Hamble we were a little early for a pint, but held on for a half at opening time (it was a Sunday). We then headed back for a full pint at the pub at Ashlett Creek where there is good beer and an open fire. The upshott, though, is that we played the tides just right and this made for a far more pleasant paddle.

Our next piece of luck over recent weeks was the meeting with Iain Clarke from Action Duchenne, which ended up being a confracall. Jon, Stu and I huddled around Jon PC and put the phone on loudspeaker. What we heard was music to our ears, as Iain basically offered to pick up as much of the organisational side of the trip as possible, if we just concentrated on getting fit for the crossing.

Not so encouraging was hit story about another cross-channel attempt he is involved with, this one a swim. He said that, although the distance between Dover and Calais is c20 miles, you have to swim about 40 miles because, given the time it takes to get across, you have to swim in a dog-leg up and down the tide, hence you double the distance!

This send shockwaves through our systems!! 40 miles!! The most we've done so far, on the Jolly Jolly Paddle and once between Hythe and Eling is 9.5m. So, we need to start upping the ante considerably, and fast!

Anyway, Iain's offer of help was very gratefully received, and we proceeded to download all our previous correspondence on matters such as pilot boats, French landing permits and begging letters to his inbox, and hopefully he will then pick much of this type of thing up for us. Even if he can only make a small contribution to the organisation, it will be of massive benefit to us.

The final piece of good news is that Liz Forshaw from Pyranha Mouldings has contacted me and Jon to say we've been successful in our application for expedition support. Her email reads:

"Dear Charlie & Jon

Thank you for submitting your application for support on your Channel Crossing this year. I am really pleased to tell you that we can support your trip and can offer you the loan of two Venture Sea Kayaks for the duration of the trip, for a period of time before for training and after for any talks or lectures you have planned.

In exchange for our support we require the following: 

• A written report of your trip for the Venture Kayaks Website.An article submitted to kayaking magazines and general outdoor magazines (if you need contacts for this let me know)
• A selection of images of the kayaks in action that we can use after the trip.
• A short (100 word max) synopsis of the trip, where you’re going, why etc for our news. ( I need this quite quickly with a photo of you both) 

We will help promote your trip through our blog, news, social network and dealerships, to increase traffic to your blog and giving page.

I suggest the Capella http://www.venturekayaks.com/index2.php#/kayaks/all/Capella%20166 range is most suitable for your trip, and depending on your size the 160 or 166.

I will draw up a basic loan contract if this arrangement is ok with you.

I look forward to helping make this trip a complete success for you.

Kind regards

Liz Forshaw

Marketing Manager"

 

 

Wow, what a great offer! I went back to see if Liz could make this three kayaks, as there are three of us taking part, but even if it's only two and we have to all split the cost of a third, then this will be of massive help to us!

 

So there you have it......some real progress although, of course, we are still a million miles, it seems, from making it a reality. There is so much to do, so much to make happen and so much stamina and fitness to build up. Alongside the day job this is hard work but then, if it was easy it wouldn't be any fun!