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"Pain is temporary, it may last a minute,
or an hour, or a day, if I quit; however, it lasts forever." Lance
Armstrong
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13th July 2008 Trials and Errors
Was June on the 2008 calendar? I think that the
appalling weather has merged June and July together into one long grey day!
The past two months have been full of end of
term madness, trials, errors and stresses, which we are still trying to
unpick and solve.
The beginning of June saw Dave and I empty the
doctors surgery of all their inoculations. Needless to say our local nurse
was duly startled and wide-eyed as we listed all the countries that we
would be travelling through and they continued to grow steadily bigger as
we reeled off that: yes - we would be camping, yes - there would be times
when we would also stay in adobe houses, yes - we would be drinking local
water (although we would be filtering it).
After the jabs, neither of us could raise our arms above our heads
for a few days, let alone entertain the idea of going out for a paddle. So
we are now in the round of monthly injections of Hep B, Yellow Fever,
Rabies to name a few until our departure.
We thought that our bikes were finished at the
end of May. However, after riding to and from work each day, I have been
constantly tweaking my bike and I think that finally, my beast of burden is
ready for a proper test ride with all the kit.
Kelly’s bike
Dave announced last week that, after meticulously
building up his bike and trialing it,
that his frame is much too big for him, so another smaller steel
framed Rockhopper has been purchased on the auction site. Last week, Dave
was locked away in the garage, transferring all the parts over to his 18 inch
frame steel bike. We have also bought new Tubus front and back pannier
racks which look sturdier and more reliable than the ones we bought a few
years ago. Our new pannier racks, coupled with the newly built up wheels
(with DT Swiss spokes) and Sun Rhyno Lite rims
will hopefully withstand the weight that we will be carrying on our
adventure.
Dave and his bike
Dilemmas have also arisen over our tent. We
currently have a Vango Equinox 250 but after using it a couple of times, we
have come to the conclusion that although it kept us extremely warm and dry
on the two most wettest weekends of
camping, it is just too big and a bit too heavy for what we are looking
for. Although we love the added space of the porch, we are now on the hunt
for one that is smaller, lighter and one which will be more inconspicuous
for wild camping. I was quite frustrated as I really liked the tent but it
is just too large a footprint for wild camping. So the research continues…
Whilst
Dave has been tinkering away and assembling the bikes in the garage I have
been amusing the neighbors with both my culinary and DIY skills. As most of
my family know, I take after my mum in that I am able to burn a whole loaf
of bread attempting to make toast, so I have made the decision to learn how
to cook fun and delicious camp food. Once accomplished, I will then show
off my new culinary skills as I am considering adding a camp recipes page
onto the website. (I am particularly looking forward to making bread in our
new Liard firebox!)
With
great confidence and enthusiasm, I decided to attempt the tried and tested
BBQ’d chocolate bananas at a friend’s party. I didn’t clock the concerned
look on my friend’s face as I peeled the bananas from their skins and
applied ample helpings of chocolate sauce before duly wrapping them in foil
and placing them on the BBQ. As I had looked so confident, she didn’t voice
her concerns that they would disintegrate without their skins on.
Thankfully her daughter held back the tears and tried not to show her
disappointment as I wistfully took a peek at my dessert. All I can say is
that we had strawberries and cream instead. I had failed at my first and
rather easy recipe and took a final look at the charred and caramelized
remains of bananas that had fused themselves to the foil, before I disposed
of them in the dustbin. However, as people say, “if at first you don’t
succeed…” So watch this space for my next culinary attempt!
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My DIY skills turned out marginally better. I
wanted to look at recycling products and was very excited to find that
lanterns could be made simply from tin cans. It sounded too easy to pass
up the opportunity.
1. Take label off and empty tin can.
2.
Fill with water and put in the freezer.
3. Take out when frozen and then with a nail
and hammer, bang a pattern into the can.
4. Attach a handle using an old wire coat
hanger or similar.
5. Drop in a tea light.
I was very proud of my first attempt and
placed it in the corner of the room where the light reflected off the
walls and table. I might even take it kayaking with me! Although I am
still trying to work out whether Dave was smiling at my art work in
amazement or out of a sense of pity!
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Why not decorate your garden with the recycled lanterns?
A fun way to recycle your tin cans!
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On
a high after my first DIY success, I brought the neighbors out smiling
and nodding sympathetically at Dave again when they heard that I was
making my own camp stove. I had
met a kayaking buddy down the beach and he showed me his newly built
“Penny Stove” to which I was instantly drawn to, in its simplicity of
design and seemingly easy to assemble structure. In truth it is a simple,
home made Tranga but the Blue Peter girl in me just had to make one. I
could even pack it in my survival kayaking grab bag for our pending trip.
Great for whipping out and putting on a can of soup or cuppa.
I
haven’t over the years acquired and established the nickname “Clumsy
Jordan” for nothing, so when I announced confidently that I was off to
the garage to make my Penny Stove and needed a Stanley knife, drill and meths, Dave
decided it would be wise for him to come down and “supervise.” I was
quick off the mark to get the Stanley
knife and began to hack at the drinks cans. Dave worriedly said he didn’t
want to apply first aid and somehow managed to claw the knife and drill
away from me. Dave kindly offered to let me direct him carrying out the
hard labour whilst I stood and supervised.
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I was quite pleased with our first attempt at
the Penny Stove, it lit and began to burn through the jet holes but lacks
power. So I am now planning my next Penny Stove version 2.
Fancy making your own? Try the following
links:
Hannah Stove
Penny Stove
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Dave
and I have also attended our first few awareness raising events –although a
few were affected by the rain, we were really pleased with the interest and
response and well wishers we have had to our adventure. We are going to
start our “fundraising and awareness raising campaign” in September and
October in the local schools as we don’t want the children and parents to
forget us over the summer holidays. We are hoping to go into all the local
schools and organisations in our area and give assemblies, talks and
lessons about our journey and its aims. We are already booked in for the RNLI
summer conference which we are looking forward to. If you would like us to
come into your organization then drop us an email.
Setting up at our school fayre
I
have finally finished school and gearing up for the summer holidays. We
have been watching the weather avidly as we are meant to be having a
relaxing kayaking trip from Weston-Super-Mare to Fowey in Cornwall as of Tuesday.
Dave
is currently trying to register our SPOT satellite personal tracker and
figure out how to use it, so if we can get it up and running and onto the
website then you will be able to track our kayaking progress. We are hoping
that once we are on the road on our cycling adventure we will be able to
use it so that people will be able to keep real time tracks on us via
Google maps.
In
the meantime, both our fingers and toes are crossed for sunshine and flat
waters!
31st July 2008 Aborted Kayak Trip
(Count down: 90 days until we
fly)
Dave and I are now back in Poole after an
aborted and emotional (for me) attempt to kayak around the South West coast. Click here to view our photos of the
trip. Looking back on the photos, the sea state and weather looks
awesome, however I was too scared to take pictures on the surf, in the
tidal races and wind – which is not shown!
So what happened? The first day showed great
promise as we drove out of Dorchester with
blue skies, but as we neared Minehead, a grey blanket enveloped and draped
itself over both the water and the sky. The previous evening, we had taken
a group decision to start from Minehead rather than Weston-Super-Mare, this
was based on a lot of kayaking advice from friends who wondered why on
earth we wanted to kayak through the soupy muddy waters of Weston-Super-Mare looking for donkeys on the shore.
So instead we changed our passage plan, hoped for the best and got dropped
off in Minehead.
After an hour or so sorting out our kit and
wondering how we were going to fit all our equipment into our hatches, we
boldly set off with butterflies in our stomach about the up and coming
adventure. The wind stayed low and we enjoyed the feeling of finally being
on the water and marvelled at the tree lined coast.
Barbara and her daughter Sally hadn’t failed to
ensure that our energy levels were topped up with their delicious chocolate
muffins, homemade caramel shortbread, treacle cake and flap jacks which we
began to devour at our first rest stop at Porlock Weir.
We carried on for a few more hours, but having
not kayaked since May (when we circumnavigated the Isle of Wight), I struggled against the increasing
winds and turning tide, becoming somewhat stressed and tired to say the
least! Eventually we fought our way
onto the nearest beach available, which turned out to be Wringcliff Bay.
We decided to pitch camp at Wringcliff Bay
for the night and were pleased to discover that we had our own running
stream and wished we had brought our Katadyn pump to try out. Dave wasted
no time in whipping out the Liard Firebox to test it. The firebox is a
flat-packed, steel structure that can be assembled and used to burn small
sticks and can be cooked on. It proved very useful as we couldn’t find much
wood on the beach and it belted out enough heat to keep us warm without
scarring the environment. We just wished we had brought a few sausages to
throw on it! However, we think that it will prove to be very useful on our
cycling trip as an alternative to using the gas stove.
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Lighting the Firebox
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After eating meatball stew, we settled down to
watch the incoming tide and hoped that it wouldn’t reach the tent. We had
already scouted out the last tidal mark and it was worryingly close to
where we had pitched our tent and tethered out boats. Ian and I began to
get even twitchier when we were informed by Barbara that we were on spring
tides! Barbara entertained us by digging a moat in front of her tent to
deter the incoming tide, whilst I decided to have a bit of a nap on a rock
further up the beach and wait for the tide to turn before I ventured to
sleep in the tent! The tide did eventually wash into the moat but turned
before it reached the tents!
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Digging a moat to stop the
incoming tide!
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Setting off on Day 2
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The
second day we were pleased to find that nothing had been washed away in the
night and woke up to a glorious day. The views of the coast were
spectacular with high cliff tops covered in vegetation and we were treated
to the sight of beautiful waterfalls cascading down the side of the cliffs.
Ian even spotted a seal spying on us from the corner of a cave. Spirits
were high, bouncing off the amazing scenery, calm waters and a substantial
breakfast at Combe Martin.
Turning
into one headland we braced ourselves to ride through the tidal race – this
is a point that I find is always filled with tension and dread, but once
through, the adrenaline rush is incredible. These feelings were especially
heightened as, after having a breaking wave crash over my deck, I heard
Dave shout. He had been keeping a careful eye on the group and was
frantically shouting and pointing. The shouts were followed by lots of
pointing and we were blessed with the sight of two dolphins riding the
waves about 3 metres from Dave’s boat. This is a sight that I had been
waiting to see since taking up kayaking and it was indeed a very special
moment.
By
about 3pm, we had experienced a number of changing weather and sea
conditions, and so, not too far from Ilfracombe, we decided to call it a
day. We set up camp on Lee beach rather than fight the turning tide and we
were then able to enjoy the rest of the sunshine, out of the wind. A swim,
searching the rock pools, skimming rocks, a curry and a few beers finished
the day off nicely, before we again kept an eye on the rising tide.
It
wasn’t the tide that kept a few of us awake through the night. About 4am
the wind was rattling through our tent so I decided to get up and shut the
outer fly sheet. I was startled to find Barbara sleeping outside on the
beach, apparently unable to sleep for fear of falling stones onto the tent.
Not only did she sleep under the stars, but both of us were rewarded with a
gorgeous sunrise.
Sunrise on Lee Beach
The
following morning we thankfully had a pretty uneventful kayaking experience
around Bull Point, Rockham
Bay and Morte Point,
which we were very pleased about as we had heard these could be very tricky
headlands to pass. It wasn’t until our planned lunch stop that things
started to heat up.
At
it was such a sunny day, Croyde
Bay was particularly
busy and we thought we could spy a lot of surf onto the beach. Being a
little nervous of surf, we decided to sneak into a small narrow cove,
protected by high rocks. Dave decided to land first but out of nowhere a
swell began to build up. In a confusion of communication, Barbara and I
misunderstood and landed on the beach riding on the swell. Apparently Dave
had tried to ward us off landing due to the rising force of the swell. The
wave sets didn’t seem to ease up and with the receding tide, huge boulders
became visible, where the waves were breaking with vigor. As Ian approached
for his landing, we held our breath as he was nearly thrown into the cliff
walls. Thankfully by his third attempt he had managed to stay dry, upright
and uninjured. Hand signals have subsequently been sorted out! We thought
we were in for an uncomfortable rest stop amongst flies, smelly seaweed and
plastic debris. That was, until Barbara scaled the cliff and announced that
there was a café within 50m of our landing site, advertising coffee,
breakfast and the most amazing view over Croyde bay. Perhaps the botched
landing was worth it after all! We even got the best seats to watch the
coastguard helicopter make a spectacular beach landing.
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Trying to get into the cove
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Enjoying a slap up breakfast
near Croyde
Beach
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Relaxed
and content with another great lunch we were optimistic for our crossing of
Croyde Bay
and Bideford Bay. A gentle breeze began to pick
up and as we turned into Saunton Sands we were faced with 34 miles per hour
winds gusting from inshore. There was absolutely no way we were going to be
able to kayak across Bideford
Bay and so began a
battle to get into Saunton Sands. We took shelter in the sand dunes and
decided to try and wait out the winds.
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Waiting for the wind to die
down
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Transporting the kayaks back
into the water
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Battling against the wind!
Eventually
by about 4pm we convinced ourselves that the winds had dropped and we
should have another bash at crossing Bideford Bay.
We got out through the surf, but as soon as we did the wind picked up again
and we only managed to get about a mile further, before deciding enough was
enough. By then, the surf had grown louder and larger and the sea looked
nasty up ahead, so we turned to the shore once again and carried out some
spectacular surfing (why does the surf never look that big in photos?).
Then began the process of lugging all the boats about half a mile up the
beach at Braunton Burrows, to the safety and protection of the sand dunes.
Naturally, as soon as we had unpacked the tents, the wind died down and we
were treated to a spectacular sunset. Our luxury items of whisky and
chocolates was definitely needed and helped to soothe those aching muscles
as we relaxed in excellent company next to the warmth of a fire.
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Braunton Burrows after our surf
landings
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Not a bad place to camp!
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That
night I tossed and turned wondering whether to continue on the trip as I wasn’t
enjoying it as much as I should have been or as much as I had enjoyed our
other recent expeditions. I think I hadn’t mentally prepared for the trip
as much as I had done previously and found that my head was all over the
place with huge highs and lows. I suppose that I had looked on the kayaking
naively as a holiday – a way to wind down and relax after the summer term
of teaching, but instead, I found myself tense and very emotional. So I
decided to see what the following day would bring.
Rewarded with a beautiful sunset
Morning
brought more carrying of boats down to the shore and then we had to push
our way out through the surf. I think that I have developed a few fears
kayaking, surfing is one of them, due to lack of experience and open
passages is another. I was first off to punch my way through the surf and
noticed that I was shaking with fear and fighting back the tears. The surf
looked enormous sitting in the kayak and eventually I made it through and
waited for the others to join me. The first part of the morning passed on a
high as we had tide with us and little wind as we made the 12km open
crossing from Braunton Sands towards Clovelly. However as we passed the
green Starboard buoys I began to struggle as we seemed to be making little
head way, as we battled against the tide going into the Estuary – my whole
body ached and by then felt exhausted.
The
monotony of the crossing from Babbacombe to Clovelly was broken up when I
saw what looked like a cormorant diving just off the left of the bow of my
boat. Dave saw it too but was a little ahead of me. All I heard him shout
was, “Shark! Fin! Shark!” At that point I immediately made out the black
outline of a fin which was going around and around in circles, very close
to my boat. I couldn’t believe my luck, not only had we seen seals and
dolphins but now a basking shark! Dave concentrated on the dark shape of
the body lurking under the water, whilst I was fixated on the size of its
mouth! It was spectacular to see its black and white spotted body moving
just under the surface of the water.
I
was still in awe of the shark but further on couldn’t shake the feeling of
exhaustion. Enough was enough for me and I decided that I was going to bail
on the kayaking as soon as we arrived in Clovelly and let the others
continue without a moody and emotional 4th person! I tried to
persuade Dave to continue without me whilst I made my way back to Poole, but being the gentleman and kind, considerate
person that he is, he decided to come back with me. I am really pleased
that Ian and Barbara decided to carry on and attempted to make it around
Hartland Point whilst they had the weather and tides still in their favour.
As
luck would have it, we managed to store our boats with an RNLI crew member.
A kindly couple called Syb and Ross took pity on us and drove us to Barnstable train station where we were able to make
our way back to Gillingham. Thankfully my
mum was staying in Poole for the weekend
and picked us up from the station! I still can’t believe how quickly we managed
to get home!
Setting up camp
The kayaking has made
me think very hard about our up and coming cycling adventure and what I can
learn and take from this experience. How is my perception of kayaking
different from cycling? I know that with cycling, on those long open
roads/open crossings that if need be I can get off my bike and have a 5
minute respite, whereas with kayaking, that can be impossible against the
tide. With cycling I know that
although we will have to get up and down the hills and challenging terrain
I won’t have the fear of surf or capsizing. With cycling I have taken a
hands-on role in the creation and direction of the trip and therefore I am
passionate and dedicated to the cause. Plus, we will have also sold all our
belongings and won’t have a flight ticket home!! I think I will also be
repeating Lance Armstrong’s quote which I have just discovered, "Pain is
temporary, it may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, if I quit; however,
it lasts forever."
So what have we been doing in the mean time? Relaxing! We have
spent a few lovely days with family, sunbathing, swimming in the sea and
having nice meals and I can now say that I have finally begun to unwind.
Dave
and I have been on the hunt for a new tent and a few other bits and pieces.
We have also taken the bikes out on a 70km bike ride around the quaint
little Dorset villages and they handled
beautifully! Yesterday, our front room looked like a bomb site as we began
to gather all of our equipment together, make lists of what we are taking
and began to check whether we have enough room for it all in the panniers.
It is quite hard to squash everything down to four panniers and no doubt we
are already taking far too many things with us! For me I am trying to work
out how many books I will be able to fit in my panniers!
We
have also heard from the TES newspaper who are going to do a photo shoot of
us in their “Picture Perfect” section, so hopefully that will kick start
the beginning of our press campaign to advertise our trip.
In
the meantime, plans are going well for our leaving do – invitations will be
in the post!
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