Three months later... and the crossing is booked!

It's been a while - almost three months - since our last post, but masses has happened in that time.

The main things were:

- Sunday afternoon tea to discuss how to really get this thing moving, at Charlie's mum's house. Yes we are so disorganised that we are having to get our parents involved!
- An evening training session for Jon & Stu with Liquid Logistics down at Buckler's Hard on the Beaulieu River
- It's booked!! w/c 27 August is the chosen date for our cross channel kayak, and the kind people at Action Duchenne have paid the deposit on the safety craft! So it's definitely happening!
- Lots of kayaking - now twice a week! All of these things will be written about but first it's worth covering our new regime.

We decided that once we were just four months away from our chosen date i.e. 27 April, we had better start getting serious about the training. I have been getting hassle from one mate in particular saying that we won't do it because we won't be fit enough, and as he no doubt suspected this has riled me a little and had the desired effect! So we are now going twice a week, on Thursdays and Sunday.

The distances are creeping up. Or should I say wrenching up, or even throwing up, because last Sunday (13 May) we set off from Calshot Spit (£6 for the day) towards The Hamble River and ended up going all the way to Fairthorne Manor, which is almost 8 miles from Calshot.

We left Calshot knowing we were going up with the tide, and that it was not long since low tide and therefore we would get pushed nicely along upriver. We also knew it would be a hard slog coming back against the tide, and this was deliberate because we need the exercise. We sort of think that if we go against the tide, we can add 50% to the distance (although any distances mentioned here are actual rather than manipulated!).

So we got to The Jolly Sailor pub and I started to pull in, thinking only of the Doom Bar, Jon called me back and suggested we go on to the next pub, which apparently Stu and he had paddled to whilst I was away one weekend a month or so ago. "How far is it?" I asked, the imaginary but very realistic taste of Doom Bar evaporating from my mouth. "Just around the corner a little bit". Stu clearly doubted Jon's estimate, given he'd done it so recently, but played along with only a small mumbled caveat, and off we went.

It was at least an hour before we turned right up a small creek and got beached in the mud as the water ran out. High tide hadn't arrived here yet. We retreated, our goal desperately close, and I decided that I was going to race back to the JS as quickly as possible to see if I could get some perseverance and stamina built up, despite the almost-eight-miles that were behind us (or, as they were now, in front of us again). Plus I was gagging for a pint.

Now going on A to B to A routes is a always very exciting and inspiring during the A to B bit, but coming back via the B to A bit is actually quite demotivating, because you start to see landmarks that you saw on the A to B bit, only now to realise how far they are from A. You constantly are saying to yourself "flippin' heck, we've got miles to go yet!". And so it was on this journey. I kept waiting for the motorway to go over the river. Around every corner I was thinking "the motorway bridge will be just around this corner" but, alas, it was not. Until, finally, it was. But it took ages.

Not exactly "Just around the corner a little bit", eh Jon??

So we disembarked at the JS and duly had a pint of shandy, because by now we were dehydrated and needing a sugar rush (we added a couple of bags of crisps each for salt), and Jon mentioned that he was feeling a bit nauseous. It had occurred to me that during this marathon and unexpectedly long journey I had not worn a hat or suncream, and it was not a dull day at all - very bright and mild, in fact. I knew that I would be burned by the time we got back and that Jon was probably getting sunstroke or something. But we tried to ignore those minor inconveniences and set off again.

Another landmark eluded us, this time the pink ferry shelter which sits on the north side of the river near to where the Hamble meets Southampton Water. We kept thinking it would be in sight soon, but it kept failing to deliver. And then, all of a sudden, we almost got chopped to pieces by the pink ferry! Imagine the shame of being knocked into The Hamble by a pink ferry....well it almost happened. But we survived and now, almost at the mouth of the river, we felt like we were getting somewhere.

However equally we knew, from previous experience, that doing the crossing back to Calshot against wind and tide (which we were about to do) was a nightmare scenario. It was going to take an hour, we guessed. Fifty minutes later we beached on the slipway at Calshot having hauled ourselves against Southampton Water like paddling through treacle.

We were knackered, but it was all worth it about an hour later when Jon's text came through. 15 miles. More than 50% more than our previous best!!! The only downside....? The channel is 21 miles in a straight line, and more likely 25 once you take the tide into account.

So there's a long way to go yet!

Sun-drenched and copper-tainted

With Jess Andrews' fitness advice still fresh in our minds, Jon and I arrived at Hythe planning to paddle to Eling and back, a route we knew to be just under 10 miles. On a previous occasion before we took any real notice of tides or the weather (quite important things as we have since discovered on many occasions!) we went the other way, had a fantastic paddle as far as Hythe but turned back and had to heave our way back to Eling against tide and wind.

But now we know better. High tide was at 12.54 yesterday and we knew that if we started from Hythe at around 11.30 we would get to Eling at 1-ish and then settle in for a gentle surf back to Hythe on the retreating water.

Timing has never been our strongest point, and a puncture meant that Jon needed to visit a garage, so at 1pm exactly we launched off Hythe slipway and headed off upriver, minus Stu because of unfortunate shift patterns. It turned out to be one of the nicest paddles of the year so far - a nice sunny day with little breeze and, although we started to feel the tide pushing against us as we came up through the container terminal opposite Marchwood, it wasn't too challenging.

Soon after setting off we found ourselves in the middle of the waterway, which is actually quite wide, and passed some container ships and the normal mix of industrial sights. We spotted a police car on the end of a jetty and it momentarily reminded me of films I've seen with shady police involved in smuggling or other unsavoury activities at wharfs or harbours.

Anyway the provision by Jon of some Sports Mix sweets, sort of wine gums+, made a pleasant paddle even more enjoyable. Although this blog is not sponsored by Sports Mix, I have to say they were rather nice and I would recommend them as a supplement to your normal energy drink or whatever it is you use when doing exercise!

We broke the physchological barrier that we both had in the back of our minds from the last time we did this route, namely the long wide stretch from the dog leg of the container port to Eling, which seems unending. We finally beached at Eling slipway at 2.50, this was a good 20 minutes later than anticipated. After a short leg stretch we got back in and started the paddle back.

To start with it felt like peddling a bicycle downhill, when you can't quite get traction. This was because we were now going with the tide, but bizarrely it didn't really feel like we were getting anywhere. It was only when we looked at various markers in the water, such as deep water buoys etc, that we realised we we moving quite fast.

Before too long we were approaching the jetty where the police car was parked and, suspiciously, he/she was still there. We decided to paddle underneath the jetty and directly underneath the car. As we came out the other side and cleared the jetty, we heard a shout of "oi lads", turned around only to see the policeman beckoning us back towards him. We spun around and drew closer, used to people showing an interest in our kayaks and asking where we'd been etc, only to be told that he didn't think it was too safe to be paddling under the jetty.

This to us seemed a little bit odd, and we wrote it off as being the actions of a bored copper who had been sat there for almost two hours by that point, for reason or reasons unknown to us. We paddled away slightly bemused, and a little unclear as to why paddling under a jetty was any more dangerous than paddling at all. To be honest, drowning is probably our first concern, and slightly higher up the list than....um....something harmful that could befall us under a jetty.

It felt a bit like the villain in Scooby Doo warning the kids not to go near that haunted house, but really just trying to keep them away from their secret lair. All a bit odd. At this point it is important, of course, to confirm that I have no reason to suspect this particular policeman of being a villain or being involved in anything unsavoury. It was just a little bit weird.

Nonetheless we paddled onwards and, in a total of just 75 minutes, found ourselves back on the slipway at Hythe, a full 35 minutes quicker than the first leg of the journey....what a difference the tide makes.

As far as our challenge goes, this was an important milestone. 10 miles in just over three hours bodes well, although it wasn't a particularly tough trip. However it suggests that a time of 7-8 hours might be achievable for our crossing when the time comes.

And there isn't likely to be any bored coppers in the middle of The Channel to delay us unnecessarily...

Fit as [knackered old] butchers' dogs

So with our fitness in mind, and a slight concern in the back of my mind about being able to complete 20+ miles on rough sea (=hard bloody work I expect!) given my general level of fitness, we headed off to meet Jess Andrews, personal fitness trainer to Hampshire Fire Brigade. His time had been donated to us by the Chief Fire Officer of Hampshire, and of course through Jess's own generosity.

It is fair to say that my aim is to arrive on Shakespeare Beach near Dover, on the morning of our crossing, and only be worried about the weather...I definitely don't want to be concerned about either the distance or my fitness and ability to complete the crossing.

Jon, Stu and I met a the Turners' house after work on Tuesday, in our "loose clothing" as requested, and headed nervously over to meet Jess at HQ in Eastleigh. Jon said at this point that if Jess at any point in the evening described him as mobidly obese, he might have to resort to violence! He also admitted that he'd eaten virtually nothing all day...

After getting to Easleigh in quick time, we were introduced to Jess who made us a cup of tea and sat us down in his office.

He was very interested in the challenge we had set ourselves and what we were doing to prepare for it, in fact he kept challenging us, absolutely fairly, about the need to get on and take some action by perhaps joining (or at least attending) Southampton Canoe Club for some tips, and doing as much kayaking as possible which, he said, was undoubtedly the best training.

He showed us some exercises we could do to build up our core, one of which is known as planking (which I previously thought was a Facebook craze) and involves doing something similar to press-ups but on your elbows, the idea being to lift your stomach towards your spine. He got out his Reebok pilates mat and showed us a few exercises and got us to try them out.

He was really engaged with what we were doing and provided some really useful ideas/tips, plus he emailed us a load of factsheets etc to help us and spoke, whilst we were there, on the phone to a mate of his who is involved in Southampton Canoe Club.

He was, in my opinion, a top bloke who was committed to helping us.

But then came the moment we were dreading....the body fat/BMI test. Using a highly technical device that, frankly, resembled little more than a set of electronic bathroom scales, he determined a whole load of data about each of us including something called "metabolic age". I won't reveal the outcomes but it is fair to say that some of us were less happy than others about these readings!

After arranging a follow-up gym session with Jess the following week we departed for home, resisting the temptation of a McDonalds Big Mac Meal or a pint on the way home.

We all felt a little more comfortable that, with six months and counting, we definitely have time to get ourselves in shape. Equally we are in little doubt that we need to get started asap.

Let the planking begin.

Shaken, Rattled & Rollered. Saturday 18th Feb.

Having had a couple of weekends off for work commitments and bad weather, Charlie, Jon and I were looking forward to getting back on the water.  We met at Hythe marina at 09:30 and the plan was to get as far up the Itchen river as possible but leave enough time to get Charlie back as Saints were playing at home (not much gets between Charlie and St Marys stadium on a Saturday afternoon!).

Luckily, we came across these kayaks just lying around on the slipway, they made our rubber outfits appear far more socially acceptable.

The weather was reasonable; no rain and only a slight breeze, and Southampton Water appeared fairly calm with only a little top-chop.  We set out on what has now become a familiar route for us towards the Queen Elizabeth dock and the mouth of the River Itchen. The crossing of the shipping lane was plain sailing and we soon settled into an easy paddling rhythm with the breeze at our backs as we passed the docks and the entrance to the Ocean Village marina.

After paddling under the Itchen Bridge, a very cheerful conversation about suicide was interrupted when Jon spotted the hovercraft at the Griffon Hoverwork slipway and we moved in closer for a better look. It was here that we first realised that the wind was picking up and that the gentle breeze that had been pushing us up the river felt quite a bit stronger when you faced downstream!   Initially we decided to push  further on up the river but with second thoughts (and what we like to think of as increasingly good judgement) we voted to turn around and give ourselves plenty of time for the return journey.

This decision turned out to be even better than we first thought.  The water felt more and more like treacle as we headed back down the river and the head wind became a greater nuisance by the minute. Even trying to use the slip-stream of a huge passing aggregates ship didn't help and as we neared the mouth of the river once more we knew we were in for a struggle to get back across Southampton Water.  

 Rounding the corner at Q.E dock the shipping lane had become a washing machine.  This is the point where the two bodies of water meet, creating swirling currents. Add into the mix a strong wind holding up the choppy waves and what was an enjoyable, easy -going paddle only forty minutes previously had suddenly become the biggest challenge we had faced this winter.  It was slow progress and we were getting wetter from the cold spray by the second. At one point Charlie and I didn't make any forward progress for what seemed  like an age despite paddling like mad!  Then, just to rub salt into our wounds, a series of huge rolling waves decided to make their way up Southampton Water making staying on our kayaks a challenge in itself.  With heads down and paddles going ten to the dozen we made slow progress across the shipping lane. Eventually we were able to ease up and laugh at ourselves as we approached Hythe marina slipway,  thoughts of dry clothes,  warm cars and a beer in the' Salt Bar' making reaching land all the better.  Cold, soaking wet and knackered........we couldn't wipe the smiles off our faces.

Paddle to the Island

On Saturday 28th of January, I arranged to meet Charlie and Stu for a paddle on Sunday the 29th for a 13:00 high tide.

The plan would be to paddle across from Ashlett creek and up the Hamble as we had done before.

Stu had text me on Saturday to tell me how calm the Solent was and that he couldn't wait to get out there paddling.

Unfortunately on Sunday morning I received a text from Charlie to say that he wouldn't be able to make the paddle, so I rang Stu and we decided that we would change our plans in favour of Lepe with the aim of paddling towards Lymington.

We arrived at Lepe at approx 13:30 and looked out to what can only be described as "wait for it" A MILL POND "whoop, there it is!", I mean, it really was incredibly flat and probably the best chance with regards to the tide and conditions that we have had for an Isle of Wight crossing attempt.

We got ourselves ready and in to the water and before long were paddling towards Calshot, passing a yellow marker buoy then aiming for Cowes, we knew we had about an hour of slack water before the tide would turn.

I then decided for some strange reason that now was the perfect time to chuck in a line and see if there were any fish in the Solent by dragging a lure behind me.

We continued to paddled across in the flat calm not quite believing how little traffic there was, after thirty minutes we noticed that what had started as a very easy paddle was starting to get just a fraction harder with every paddle stroke feeling a little more like custard than water, we also noticed that the original target of Cowes was not appearing to get any closer and this could only mean that the tide had turned and was on its way out, with this in mind we decided that the best option would be to head straight for the beach at Gurnard which is a little seafront village between Cowes and Newport creek, at least I think that's where it was, as we aimed towards the beach we noticed another kayak coming from the direction of Cowes WITH the tide "nobody likes a smart arse!", giving him the nod as you do and exchanging some words of disbelief on the amazing conditions we paddled on to our goal, eventually reaching the beach 47 minutes after leaving Lepe "Hooray!".

A fine figure of a man!

After congratulating each other for while on our Great Triumph and pulling a few Brucie moves, we decided to send Charlie a picture message to rub his nose in it "it was all Stu's idea".

Eventually we pulled ourselves together, got up off the shingle and decided that it was probably a good idea to make a move back as it would probably be getting dark early and the tidal currents would be getting much stronger in a short while, it was at this point that Stu saw fit to tell me that he had had a conversation with his wife about how he would not try to make a crossing to the island today as we had only a few hours of daylight to paddle in "again, it was all Stu's idea Becky!".

We left Gurnard beach setting a course for Calshot chimney knowing that when we got to deeper water the current would be much stronger, just as we thought it was going to be incredibly easy and were about to change our course for Lepe, the current hit us, but not with the force that I had been expecting and indeed experienced with Charlie on our previous and failed crossing, but never the less, we had to paddle quite a bit harder to try and maintain our course.

You can always tell when things are getting slightly harder because there is a sudden silence as you all start to feel a little uncomfortable and have to dig deeper, its that feeling that I think sometimes brings out some incredible qualities in people, the feeling of not letting the side down that makes some people stand out from the crowd and able to achieve some amazing things.

Anyway maintaining our course for Calshot chimney was our objective and maintain our course we did, we had rightly predicted that if we tried to keep to our target that the tide would play its part in pushing us around towards Lepe, which is exactly what had happened and we arrived back at Lepe 33 minutes after leaving Gurnard, a little cold and with no fish, but very happy with ourselves never the less.

Not the longest of paddles at 4.5 miles, but a good psychological battle won!

,

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!