Best friends, bold crossings, and bombs around Britain with Barry Shaw

WEBVTT

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Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the

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Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking.

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I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started paddling the blue.

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Welcome to today's episode of Paddling the Blue.

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I'm joined today by Barry Shaw, and we cover a lot of ground in this episode,

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starting with his first crossing a mere four nautical miles,

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growing to bold crossings to Ireland and St.

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Kilda, leading up to a trip with great friends around Britain, and more.

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But before we get to today's conversation with Barry, James and Simon at OnlineSeaKayaking.com

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continue to produce great content to help you evolve as a paddler and as a coach.

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surfing, coaching, documentaries, expedition skills, incident management, and more.

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And if you're looking to improve your role or find your role,

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Enjoy today's episode with Barry Shaw.

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Hi, Barry. Welcome to Paddling the Blue.

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Hi, John. Thanks for having me on. Glad to be able to get together.

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Yeah, likewise. Likewise, yeah. So tell us a little bit, how'd you get your start as a paddler?

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Oh, I'd never been in the kayak, actually, until I was 38, which was, that was the year 2000.

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And I did an introduction to, I was actually at an outdoor center and I saw

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all these sea kayaks on a trailer and they just looked amazing.

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I thought, oh, I wouldn't mind having to go in one of them.

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And it was Plasmeni in North Wales.

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And I booked onto an introduction to sea kayaking, a five-day intro.

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And day one, we went up to the north coast of Anglesey. We went out to the Scaries,

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which now I hadn't been, I hadn't really been that truthful about my experience.

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It was supposed to be, I was a beginner and I didn't actually admit that,

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you know, and we ended up and I hadn't actually realized that the Scaries usually,

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it's quite an advanced paddle or it can be depending on the conditions.

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But fortunately it was it was flat as

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a pancake and i just on the

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way out to the scaries i was just thinking this is absolutely brilliant it was

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just amazing i was just i was hooked really from day one and then obviously

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there were another four days to go in the second day we went to round it's one

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of the classic trips in anglesey it's the stacks north stack and south stack and.

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I think my lack of experience showed on that day when I was swimming about next to my kayak.

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But it was just amazing. I just loved it.

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And after those five days, I went out and bought myself a brand new Romani.

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And I didn't have any gear, any kit or anything. I borrowed an old paddle from a friend's son.

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And I'd go out kayaking. No spray deck, no buoyancy aid, nothing.

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And then um and then i just gradually bit by bit started to pick up bits of equipment,

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i'd see all the sea kayakers just about to launch

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or they just landed or something and i'd wait till they'd

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gone because i was always feeling slightly intimidated because

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i knew i was under equipped and i'd say the first year of my kayaking i was

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probably quite lucky to to have not got into any difficulty yeah yeah i think

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all of us were probably in that situation at some point where we we didn't know

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what we didn't know and did dumb things to start.

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Yeah yeah i'm sure yeah i certainly did um

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so that first five days that's quite an

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introduction for your first five days oh it

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was it was wonderful it was it was a guy there's a guy did the

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first two days with a guy who's no longer with us

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and i thought at the time when i

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met him i thought i'm not sure this guy knows what he's doing and he

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seemed quite eccentric but uh he definitely knew what

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he was doing he was just he just had a wonderful approach very relaxed and casual

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approach but i really like that i'm not really one for the sort of regimental

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type of approach when it comes to leading groups so the first two days was this guy drew delaney,

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like i say he's no longer with us and i never got to know him after that you

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know which i i thought would have been nice you know to to paddle with him afterwards

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you know when i became more experienced but that never happened,

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and then there was a young girl from the centre and she took us out on an overnight trip.

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Which we just borrowed all the kit from the center. And that gave me a taste

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for camping out of my kayak as well.

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You know, so there's so much happened in that first five days of my paddling.

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Yeah. And it just really inspired me to crack on.

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And I did. I just became obsessed with it really for several years.

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You know, it changed my life. All for the better.

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Yeah. So starting at 38, that's pretty unique. Most of my guests seem to get

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their start in scouts or something like that at a really young age,

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but it's pretty unique to be able to start at the age of 38.

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Yeah, well, I thought at the time, you know, I was thinking,

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I'm a late starter to this. I look back now and I think, wow, I was young.

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But, yeah, it was a lot later.

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Although I do see a lot more these days.

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To see a lot of people coming to it later in life

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yeah some maybe have already had

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a bit of a background in some other discipline of kayaking but

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a lot yeah i am starting to notice more people

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coming to it later yeah it's nice to see definitely so you grew from that from

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that first five days to then the coaching and everything else so tell me about

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the progression that you went through to to get to where you are now so i lived

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on the world which is not too far from liverpool and And we have an estuary there,

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or had an estuary there called the D-Estuary.

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And I do a lot of paddling on the D-Estuary. I was always on my own and didn't

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know any other paddlers until I met a guy on the D-Estuary,

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who became a regular paddling partner we'd

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got two or three times a week we both had strange

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shifts work shifts and we'd go out two or

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three times a week if the tides were right and a guy called ed rowlands who

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he's i probably you could probably call him a totally unknown sea kayaker and

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we just had an absolute blast we had so much fun and we you know we were actually

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you know we were able to rescue each other.

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And I think we both, it gave us a lot more confidence. He was a solo paddler as well.

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And we started to become a bit more daring, go out in a bit more challenging conditions.

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And then I started heading out to Anglesey on my own a lot from there.

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And I'd meet up with, you know, I'd just meet other people on the water and

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then I'd meet up with the odd coach here and there. And Olly Sanders,

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I bumped into him and met him several times.

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And then he just asked me to help him out with the group at one point.

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And then it became another group and another group. And then I was working for him.

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And then I started, it was mainly just leading trips.

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And then I started working for some of the other providers.

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So over the years, I've always been freelance. I've never started my own business,

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but I've worked for the likes of James, James Stevenson and Phil Clegg and Nick at Cunlifer.

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Just here and there, picking up days or weekends or the odd week.

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And bit by bit, I would start doing little bits of coaching.

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I didn't really know I was coaching at the time.

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I thought coaching was this, I don't know. I don't know what I thought it was,

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but then I realized I was actually just coaching, helping people without too much difficulty.

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I just like helping people, you know, with struggling with certain things,

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just finding ways to improve.

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Yeah, it doesn't have to be hard. It's just if you've had a knack for it and enjoy it.

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Yeah well yeah I've definitely enjoyed it

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especially when I was progressing with my

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own personal skills I would like to get out with people

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in the more challenging conditions but I think that was from a

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selfish point of view because I like the challenging conditions but I started

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to develop a real liking for working with people who sometimes beginners but

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also people who they're not beginners but they have maybe confidence issues

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or they're struggling to

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pick up certain aspects of paddling.

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Yeah, I do have a liking for that. Trying to build people's confidence,

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that gives me a bit of a buzz. Sure. Yeah.

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You help people experience things that they wouldn't be able to experience otherwise.

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Yeah. And so that's grown to some pretty big things.

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So crossing things and going around things has been a pretty big deal with you for several years.

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So what got you started in that kind of paddling?

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Well the crossings i think the crossings get

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so i grew up on the wirral which i've already

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said it's just near liverpool it's on the other side of the river mersey

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to liverpool now on the other side of the river d is north wales so all my all

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my sort of growing up years spent looking across to north wales and i had this

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yearning to paddle across it looked like such a long way to go in a kayak.

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I thought that was real commitment. It was four nautical miles.

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Okay. At the time, I thought, wow, that would be great. I think I've got the guts to do that.

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So I did it, you know, it's four miles, four miles back. And then a little bit

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further along the coast, there's a turn in the coast of North Wales.

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And that's the point of air.

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And there's a lighthouse on the end there. And I'd never actually been to the

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lighthouse by sea or by road.

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So that was about seven or eight nautical miles.

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So I decided to do a bigger crossing and that was straight to there and back.

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I did that one with my mate Ed, Ed Rowland. And then I just started to gradually

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try to increase the distances.

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And in, what was it, 2003, I met Harry Whelan down in Pembroke.

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And we seemed to hit it off together. And he asked me if I wanted to paddle to Ireland.

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And I just said yes. I didn't even think about it.

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This is from North Wales to Ireland. So, yeah, we decided we would do that the following year.

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And I went down to London and paddled on the Thames with him.

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And then he'd come up to Anglesey and we'd paddle together. We'd get out in the tide races and,

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And then, yeah, and then it was, I can't even remember what month it was, but it was, what was it?

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It was 2004 we decided. In fact, no, it wasn't.

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It was later on in 2003, September 2003. That's right. I do remember.

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I was a bit nervous about it. And I know Harry was a lot more experienced sea kayaker than me.

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So just craftily, I thought, I know, I'll try and paddle around Anglesey to

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see if I can do the distance.

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Because if i can't i can always jump off so

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i did it so i went around anglesey and although it's

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tidal assisted a lot of it or much well

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right and then not as much of it if you get it

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totally wrong but i did okay and i got around it i was

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absolutely wiped out and the first thing i did was phone harry

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and said i just paddle around anglesey i think

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it was two weeks after that he came up to

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angle seat and we set off

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we we we decided against it actually

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in the morning we got up early it was about five in

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the morning and we went down to the beach the conditions the

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forecast wasn't it wasn't a good we wanted just a very still forecast you know

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not much wind not much swell and it was it was a force five from it was sort

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of on the we were heading west so we decided against it and And then we were

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sitting talking about it, saying, oh, we should have gone.

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It would have been great and all this. And then I think it was about three hours

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later, we went down to the beach, drove back down to the beach.

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And a friend of ours was with us, and he saw us off. And we went.

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We were about halfway across. We were about 30 miles across to 60 miles.

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Well, 54 nautical miles, so 60 land miles.

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And about 30 miles into it, I started feeling sick.

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And I didn't say anything. I thought if I say something, it's just two of us

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that are concerned rather than just me.

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So we carried on going and I was getting slower and slower. I think he must

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have figured it out that I wasn't feeling brilliant.

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So he dropped back a bit and then...

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I didn't say anything still. And then we were probably about 20 miles from Ireland.

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And I just knew I was going to bring up my banana, my banana and my sandwich.

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And I just shouted. I said, I need your kayak.

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I landed on the back deck of his kayak and I was sick all over it.

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And then the next wave came and just washed it all off.

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And then I felt okay. And we carried on. All right.

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About another 10 miles. I felt rough. and um

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anyway we we we got there we got there

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about 11 o'clock at night and it was in the days of last orders in all the pubs

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and we missed last orders by about 10 minutes didn't bother me because i wasn't

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a drinker but harry was a drinker and he loved a kinnis so yeah he wasn't very happy with,

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and he still hasn't forgiven me.

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Yeah so that was that was the first big you know what i would consider to be a major crossing,

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and then in the end they just sort of went on from there there was was it the following year

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i don't know if you've interviewed fiona whitehead she she

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she used to do a lot of sea kayaking back then and

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she was doing a trip around britain and ireland and

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and her as part of that trip she was crossing from

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the south of wales to the south of ireland and

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she was reluctant to do that on her own so harry and i agreed to go down and

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join her so we paddled across we did that one and i think once we'd done two

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different crossings of the irish sea then there's the temptation then to start

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looking at other options and,

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which is something, yeah, something I did. I drove up to Scotland and did that, the North Channel.

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And, yeah, it just happened like that, really. Just ended up doing a few others.

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The likes of Anglesey to the Isle of Man, which myself, Harry and Phil Clegg did in 2004.

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And then we had a day off and looked around the island. And the following day,

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we got back in our car and car back to Anglesey.

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Yeah and then we did that one again

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as part of our round britain trip in 2005 yeah

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your name shows up quite a few times actually with harry and phil but you know

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your name specifically and a lot of a lot of crossings and circumnavigations

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and all on the performance ckayak.co.uk right okay a lot of listings there oh yes.

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So now out of curiosity so you went from that from your

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four nautical miles to then going to the

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lighthouse to eight nautical miles and then was

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your next biggest crossing the 98 kilometer from

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anglesey to irish or to dublin no

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i did i did some smaller ones

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but what might not be considered crossings in most people's

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eyes i suppose so i'd go from across

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to there's an island off anglesey called puffin island but you

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can get there from the coast of of

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wales place called clandidno if i'm saying it

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correctly and that's probably another eight

00:16:52.839 --> 00:16:55.639
mile there and eight mile back one so i

00:16:55.639 --> 00:16:58.879
did that one several times that was just to i suppose

00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.859
it was just to get the feeling of being out there sure

00:17:01.859 --> 00:17:06.079
it's not it's not a huge distance but so maybe

00:17:06.079 --> 00:17:09.179
actually yeah you're right then yeah that probably was the net the next

00:17:09.179 --> 00:17:12.059
the next crossing the next so what's

00:17:12.059 --> 00:17:15.039
been your your biggest crossing ever i think

00:17:15.039 --> 00:17:17.999
that was it okay yeah i i think

00:17:17.999 --> 00:17:23.059
that was it i myself and nick for quite nick couldn't live for quite some time

00:17:23.059 --> 00:17:28.299
a few years we we were we were interested in doing some crossings up in scotland

00:17:28.299 --> 00:17:35.299
the likes of i actually forget the name of the islands now i I think it's North Rona is one.

00:17:35.579 --> 00:17:40.019
There are several islands that you could link if you had the conditions and

00:17:40.019 --> 00:17:44.619
you were fit enough, I suppose you could link, do a few together.

00:17:44.899 --> 00:17:48.559
But we never actually got around to, it was something that never happened.

00:17:48.719 --> 00:17:55.619
We did a crossing to St Kilda, which I have to say that was my favorite crossing

00:17:55.619 --> 00:17:57.819
out of any of them that I've done.

00:17:59.311 --> 00:18:04.671
We had very glassy conditions, and we did it at nighttime. But it was just,

00:18:04.851 --> 00:18:06.111
there was something about it.

00:18:06.951 --> 00:18:13.311
We had a terrible forecast for around a week, maybe more, while we were up in Scotland.

00:18:14.091 --> 00:18:18.031
And we decided it wasn't going to happen. And then there was a sudden change.

00:18:18.131 --> 00:18:19.811
There was a sudden change in the forecast.

00:18:20.091 --> 00:18:22.091
And we had this window of opportunity.

00:18:22.651 --> 00:18:28.611
We camped out on a beach in the dunes, just waiting for the wind to drop.

00:18:28.611 --> 00:18:36.031
And for it to settle and it did settle and we got on and i think we thought

00:18:36.031 --> 00:18:41.651
it was going to change at any minute and we were so focused i think that's the

00:18:41.651 --> 00:18:43.551
most focus i've been on any crossing,

00:18:44.431 --> 00:18:47.991
even though the conditions were perfect i had

00:18:47.991 --> 00:18:50.771
a little on my map case i mean

00:18:50.771 --> 00:18:53.571
i remember i had a bag of boiled sweets i tipped them

00:18:53.571 --> 00:18:56.831
out into my map case on my cockpit i'd just see how long

00:18:56.831 --> 00:18:59.651
one could last as i was paddling and it

00:18:59.651 --> 00:19:02.771
was kill the time and we'd but

00:19:02.771 --> 00:19:06.551
we'd both do this and we hardly spoke for

00:19:06.551 --> 00:19:14.571
the it's 40 i think it was 45 was it 45 nautical miles i think it was something

00:19:14.571 --> 00:19:20.171
like that okay and we got there nick had had a gps so we could time up so we

00:19:20.171 --> 00:19:24.291
could you know tuck we could sort of put our route in and see how long it took and.

00:19:25.191 --> 00:19:29.571
Just check every now and then we didn't go by the gps but we switched it on at the beginning,

00:19:30.191 --> 00:19:34.371
and then the plan was to look at it at the end when we got there but the gps

00:19:34.371 --> 00:19:40.431
died the battery died but my watch said i think we did it in nine hours seven

00:19:40.431 --> 00:19:45.811
minutes that seemed you just in fairly standard yeah good sea kayaks but they

00:19:45.811 --> 00:19:50.031
weren't you know sort of fast kayaks with rudders they We were North Shore Atlantics,

00:19:50.171 --> 00:19:54.791
and it just seemed like we'd done really well, really. Yeah.

00:19:55.951 --> 00:20:00.731
That distance in that time, you know, and we, yeah, like I say, we hardly spoke.

00:20:01.311 --> 00:20:06.311
And we got to the island, and we stopped on the beach, and then we just put our arms on each other.

00:20:06.471 --> 00:20:10.351
And then we, and that was it. And then we went and put our tents up.

00:20:11.111 --> 00:20:13.111
And it was just absolutely fantastic.

00:20:14.011 --> 00:20:18.071
I love, I get into the zone. and if i'm paddling a distance i like to get into

00:20:18.071 --> 00:20:22.831
the zone in my head and i love it with no talking don't get me wrong i do like

00:20:22.831 --> 00:20:26.391
i love a bit of banter and i like a laugh and joke on the water but,

00:20:26.891 --> 00:20:31.311
there's when i'm in the zone and there's no talking and i'm just focusing on

00:20:31.311 --> 00:20:35.171
each stroke ah it's just there's just something really special about that for

00:20:35.171 --> 00:20:39.271
me yeah sounds like a pretty magical time you know like you mentioned silent

00:20:39.271 --> 00:20:44.471
night time glassy conditions yeah we got But when we arrived,

00:20:44.691 --> 00:20:47.831
I think I was expecting it to be completely deserted.

00:20:49.112 --> 00:20:53.772
And I suppose it was in some respects, but there were three fairly large boats.

00:20:53.932 --> 00:20:56.592
There were one fishing boat. I think the others were two sailing boats.

00:20:56.832 --> 00:20:57.932
One of them certainly was.

00:20:58.692 --> 00:21:03.292
And it turned out that they were commercial kayak trips. They'd taken a group

00:21:03.292 --> 00:21:04.412
of paddlers on each boat.

00:21:04.672 --> 00:21:09.152
And they were paddling around the island during day trips.

00:21:09.452 --> 00:21:14.112
I think we went for a stroll at one point and got back to our kayaks.

00:21:14.212 --> 00:21:18.652
And there was a package wrapped up in tinfoil. And it was fudge.

00:21:19.112 --> 00:21:21.972
Or I think in Scotland they call it, they call it tablet.

00:21:23.352 --> 00:21:28.632
And I got a Facebook message. Someone had sent me a message via Facebook sometime

00:21:28.632 --> 00:21:30.292
after saying, did you get the tablet?

00:21:30.472 --> 00:21:35.232
And it was one of these other kayakers from, I think it was Lothian Kayak Club.

00:21:35.812 --> 00:21:42.052
And yeah, they'd left us this tablet or pack of fudge because they knew we'd

00:21:42.052 --> 00:21:43.992
just done this long journey.

00:21:44.512 --> 00:21:46.152
That sounds like it made it even better.

00:21:46.772 --> 00:21:51.232
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So if that was your favorite crossing ever,

00:21:51.252 --> 00:21:54.172
what's been your favorite trip ever?

00:21:54.612 --> 00:21:57.352
Oh, gosh, John, that's a tough one.

00:21:58.112 --> 00:22:04.992
That's a tough one because there's different reasons for different trips.

00:22:06.452 --> 00:22:13.552
The most significant trip for me was the Round Britain trip,

00:22:13.712 --> 00:22:18.472
I think, because that was my first real big trip.

00:22:18.472 --> 00:22:21.612
And it was such an adventure.

00:22:21.872 --> 00:22:24.572
It was a bit of an unknown, you know, what it was going to be like.

00:22:24.872 --> 00:22:31.532
It was hard. It was. It was hard physically, which I don't mind. I can deal with that.

00:22:32.072 --> 00:22:33.672
Most times I can deal with that.

00:22:34.032 --> 00:22:40.392
I love a bit of torture when it comes to paddling. Adversity is good.

00:22:40.692 --> 00:22:45.392
But I find it hard mentally, psychologically.

00:22:45.392 --> 00:22:48.732
And i think when you're when

00:22:48.732 --> 00:22:52.032
you got three good friends who go out paddling and

00:22:52.032 --> 00:22:55.472
get on really well on the water together i don't

00:22:55.472 --> 00:22:58.932
think you're prepared for spending so

00:22:58.932 --> 00:23:05.552
80 days with each other constantly it was a real learning experience for me

00:23:05.552 --> 00:23:10.732
not just for kayaking but just about being in people's company long term you

00:23:10.732 --> 00:23:15.672
know for long periods of time and how to how to be yourself as well you know obviously.

00:23:17.407 --> 00:23:21.227
We were good friends before the trip. We were good friends after the trip.

00:23:21.567 --> 00:23:23.967
But at the time, it does become niggles.

00:23:24.547 --> 00:23:29.727
It taught me a lot about, I think I hadn't realized that.

00:23:30.047 --> 00:23:33.647
Yeah, I think it's easy to think, that other fellow's a right pain.

00:23:34.027 --> 00:23:37.747
But then you start, as you look back on it, you think, well,

00:23:37.787 --> 00:23:40.447
actually, I think I was quite irritating then.

00:23:42.067 --> 00:23:45.227
Maybe it was me. Yeah, yeah.

00:23:45.227 --> 00:23:54.227
But it was, we had, although it's on our own home shores and we were never too

00:23:54.227 --> 00:23:59.107
far away from civilization, it was such an adventure.

00:23:59.347 --> 00:24:04.387
It really was an adventure. It was an adventure that I've never known the likes

00:24:04.387 --> 00:24:08.487
of before and probably not since.

00:24:08.487 --> 00:24:16.107
Although I've had adventures on trips, that was my really big introduction to an adventure like that.

00:24:16.267 --> 00:24:22.307
So it was an eye-opener, and I have such fun memories of that trip.

00:24:23.027 --> 00:24:27.527
And it's sort of, like I said, I think I might have mentioned it earlier.

00:24:27.747 --> 00:24:33.227
So Harry, he's a good friend, and we're constantly in touch,

00:24:33.267 --> 00:24:34.727
but we don't see each other much.

00:24:35.147 --> 00:24:39.067
And it's the same with Phil, really, these days. I lived close to him for quite

00:24:39.067 --> 00:24:43.447
a long time, but for the last few years, I haven't lived close by.

00:24:43.587 --> 00:24:47.287
But yeah, I think there becomes a bond when you do a trip like that.

00:24:48.311 --> 00:24:51.491
It's quite, yeah, quite a special bond, really.

00:24:52.451 --> 00:24:59.211
And when you can spend 80 days with two other people nonstop and still be really

00:24:59.211 --> 00:25:02.671
good friends at the end and for years afterwards, that's a win.

00:25:03.191 --> 00:25:06.171
Yeah. I think we had a couple of weeks break after the trip.

00:25:09.771 --> 00:25:12.191
So what were some of those favorite memories from that trip?

00:25:13.311 --> 00:25:18.991
Some of the memories weren't brilliant memories, actually. But looking back,

00:25:19.211 --> 00:25:22.331
good experiences, but not brilliance at the time.

00:25:22.491 --> 00:25:26.811
So, I mean, Harry had a really bad accident on the trip on the north coast of

00:25:26.811 --> 00:25:29.231
Scotland. We don't talk about a huge amount.

00:25:29.651 --> 00:25:32.971
It was just very unfortunate that it was a pretty rough day.

00:25:33.811 --> 00:25:39.631
And we'd been stormbound for four days on that north coast.

00:25:39.751 --> 00:25:43.451
Now, I was used to going out paddling in rough conditions,

00:25:43.451 --> 00:25:48.371
but my paddling was always in the Irish Sea, which is although it's tide races

00:25:48.371 --> 00:25:53.251
a lot of the time it's tide races with quite big chunky waves my experience

00:25:53.251 --> 00:25:58.891
in surf was very very limited we we didn't don't get a huge amount of,

00:25:59.531 --> 00:26:06.631
um swell driven surf in north wales and on the north coast of scotland we we decided that,

00:26:07.211 --> 00:26:09.951
thing we were all getting quite cold and we've

00:26:09.951 --> 00:26:12.831
been going for about 25 miles and this

00:26:12.831 --> 00:26:16.331
is the day after four days off the

00:26:16.331 --> 00:26:20.651
off the water because of strong winds

00:26:20.651 --> 00:26:24.331
and my appreciation of swell just

00:26:24.331 --> 00:26:27.671
wasn't there really and we decided

00:26:27.671 --> 00:26:30.631
we'd got on the water we did about 25

00:26:30.631 --> 00:26:33.571
miles and then we decided we're going to have to go in inland

00:26:33.571 --> 00:26:36.751
and the only place was that

00:26:36.751 --> 00:26:40.671
we had available was it a long surf beach

00:26:40.671 --> 00:26:46.231
and we couldn't go to go any further we had to go around a big headland and

00:26:46.231 --> 00:26:53.851
we decided against and i think i remember phil as we were going in phil's suggestion

00:26:53.851 --> 00:26:59.891
was we'll go in one at a time every man for himself and we'll pick up the bits on the beach.

00:27:02.011 --> 00:27:05.831
Which i thought yeah great that'll be exciting and

00:27:05.831 --> 00:27:10.071
then i really hadn't appreciated the what

00:27:10.071 --> 00:27:16.791
how that swell that was that was five years into my kayaking and I hadn't appreciated

00:27:16.791 --> 00:27:24.811
how big swell could impact on the beach and it as we were going in and Harry

00:27:24.811 --> 00:27:29.571
warned me that there was a big set coming in and I I just made a sprint for it.

00:27:30.865 --> 00:27:34.705
And I was fortunate that I got ahead of the breaking wave.

00:27:34.845 --> 00:27:38.945
And I remember turning around and I saw the wave break.

00:27:39.185 --> 00:27:42.365
And I'd never been in waters like that.

00:27:42.725 --> 00:27:47.485
I thought I'd been in big waves, but that was something totally different to

00:27:47.485 --> 00:27:49.405
what I was used to. And then I landed.

00:27:49.605 --> 00:27:55.525
I did capsize on the way in, but I came up. It was just all the white, frothy, broken water.

00:27:55.525 --> 00:27:59.225
So the power had gone for me in the wave.

00:27:59.225 --> 00:28:02.465
And i landed and phil was on the beach and we

00:28:02.465 --> 00:28:10.705
waited and we waited and after some time we i took a sprint up up to the up

00:28:10.705 --> 00:28:15.825
a bank and along the headland and it was quite a i think we'd been looking for

00:28:15.825 --> 00:28:22.405
about 20 minutes and what we hadn't realized was harry had been hit by a big wave Now,

00:28:23.005 --> 00:28:29.085
he went bow first, you know, down, and he completely pitch-polled.

00:28:29.405 --> 00:28:33.585
And unfortunately, that's something that wouldn't be new to Harry.

00:28:33.705 --> 00:28:36.965
You know, he used to look plain and that kind of stuff. But unfortunately,

00:28:37.045 --> 00:28:42.585
he came down with a fully loaded boat on a brace of some sort.

00:28:42.725 --> 00:28:46.725
He completely, you know, pulled his shoulder out of the socket.

00:28:47.465 --> 00:28:52.385
And so he was in the water, just hanging onto his boat on a toggle.

00:28:52.425 --> 00:28:54.305
And it took us a long time to find him.

00:28:55.955 --> 00:28:59.295
So, yeah, so that wasn't, we got him out and that was all sorted.

00:28:59.455 --> 00:29:02.255
And so that was the unpleasant bit.

00:29:03.675 --> 00:29:07.295
And Phil and I, Harry went to hospital. They sorted him out.

00:29:07.495 --> 00:29:12.335
He came back and he was, he was the strongest out of the three of us by a long, a long way.

00:29:13.155 --> 00:29:16.155
So I wasn't, I was, I wasn't expecting that.

00:29:16.535 --> 00:29:24.935
And he came back from hospital and we, and Phil and I said, yeah,

00:29:24.935 --> 00:29:27.795
we just thought this there's no way you can paddle after that,

00:29:28.135 --> 00:29:31.315
you know, and, you know, he was, he was all for carrying on.

00:29:31.415 --> 00:29:35.515
And we said, well, tell you what, how about we, we go on for a few days and

00:29:35.515 --> 00:29:38.855
then if you feel you can paddle, we'll wait for you.

00:29:40.015 --> 00:29:45.655
I think it was four days down the coast. We got a phone call saying I've just done 40 miles.

00:29:48.775 --> 00:29:52.515
We were just blown away, you know? And yeah. So we said, right,

00:29:52.595 --> 00:29:57.915
okay, we'll wait here i think it was another i think it was only a couple of days and he caught us up,

00:29:58.735 --> 00:30:01.915
so that was that and he continued and

00:30:01.915 --> 00:30:09.595
he didn't have i don't think he had another day off on that trip until weeks

00:30:09.595 --> 00:30:14.955
and weeks later okay because we always always wanted to do something even if

00:30:14.955 --> 00:30:19.015
we probably wasn't the best philosophy looking back on it but we always wanted

00:30:19.015 --> 00:30:21.735
to do something even if it was only a few miles,

00:30:22.315 --> 00:30:25.675
which my philosophy has changed on that in more recent years.

00:30:25.875 --> 00:30:28.695
I prefer to save my energy and get a big day.

00:30:30.435 --> 00:30:35.635
Yeah. But we had some good laughs as well.

00:30:36.915 --> 00:30:40.935
Sometimes you're camping in places where you're not supposed to be camping.

00:30:42.575 --> 00:30:46.075
For instance, there's an island in the Bristol Channel called Lundy Island.

00:30:47.155 --> 00:30:50.895
It's off the North Devon coast. and we paddled to it from Cornwall.

00:30:51.575 --> 00:30:56.095
And it's owned by, I think it's a private organization. I think they call it

00:30:56.095 --> 00:30:58.295
the Landmark Trust. That's what it used to be anyway.

00:30:59.135 --> 00:31:05.295
And they have ranges. And it's when you land on a little beach next to a quayside,

00:31:05.295 --> 00:31:09.395
there's a huge steep path going right up to a campsite.

00:31:10.055 --> 00:31:12.755
And we just thought, there's no way. There's no way we're going.

00:31:12.935 --> 00:31:17.335
We're not going up there and camping on the campsite and paying to camp as well.

00:31:17.335 --> 00:31:21.015
So we'll sit down here we'll camp on the beach and um

00:31:21.015 --> 00:31:24.435
so we started cooking our dinner and then

00:31:24.435 --> 00:31:27.615
a ranger came down in a land rover and he

00:31:27.615 --> 00:31:32.375
asked us what we were doing and i was designated we took it in turns if we were

00:31:32.375 --> 00:31:39.195
confronted by anyone and it was my turn i i said well are we yeah we just kiked

00:31:39.195 --> 00:31:43.495
across and we're just gonna yeah he said are you going up to the campsite and

00:31:43.495 --> 00:31:46.175
i said no, we're going to camp here on the beach.

00:31:46.935 --> 00:31:50.195
And he said, oh, I'm sorry, but there's no camping. You're not allowed to camp

00:31:50.195 --> 00:31:54.335
on the beach. And I said, oh, okay. All right. I just thought for a.

00:31:56.117 --> 00:31:59.637
Won't get our tents out we'll just sleep on the beach and he

00:31:59.637 --> 00:32:02.337
said oh sorry no you're not allowed to sleep on the

00:32:02.337 --> 00:32:05.057
beach and i said all right

00:32:05.057 --> 00:32:08.577
okay and uh and i thought for a second and

00:32:08.577 --> 00:32:11.837
the lads were looking at me and i said tell you

00:32:11.837 --> 00:32:14.937
what we'll stay awake and uh

00:32:14.937 --> 00:32:17.817
and he just he looked he was stumped he

00:32:17.817 --> 00:32:21.457
didn't know what to say and uh anyway he

00:32:21.457 --> 00:32:24.417
just said if anyone anyone says anything

00:32:24.417 --> 00:32:29.797
to you i haven't seen you and drove off so he

00:32:29.797 --> 00:32:32.577
wasn't ready for that answer no no no he

00:32:32.577 --> 00:32:35.557
didn't know no so yeah there's

00:32:35.557 --> 00:32:39.437
that but there were there were several there were several quite funny

00:32:39.437 --> 00:32:42.457
things we got we crossed the humber estuary and

00:32:42.457 --> 00:32:45.777
we went straight into a a military

00:32:45.777 --> 00:32:49.237
drop zone which we didn't know we were i

00:32:49.237 --> 00:32:52.037
was still learning about nautical charts and i had a chart on

00:32:52.037 --> 00:32:55.577
my deck and i didn't know what dz was and

00:32:55.577 --> 00:32:58.957
it was drop zone and there was a yeah

00:32:58.957 --> 00:33:01.677
it was actually harry's pretty good

00:33:01.677 --> 00:33:04.877
on planes and it was an american plane came around it did

00:33:04.877 --> 00:33:07.777
came along and it was coming over and getting closer and closer

00:33:07.777 --> 00:33:10.477
then it turned on one side and he

00:33:10.477 --> 00:33:13.437
fired this missile he obviously hadn't seen us he fired

00:33:13.437 --> 00:33:16.817
this missile and it landed like

00:33:16.817 --> 00:33:20.597
i don't know about 100 meters away from us which wow might

00:33:20.597 --> 00:33:23.217
sound a long way but when you're when you're on

00:33:23.217 --> 00:33:25.937
the sea and there's a missile lands that close to you no it.

00:33:25.937 --> 00:33:29.297
Was no it was it.

00:33:29.297 --> 00:33:32.357
Was it was pretty scary yeah and then yeah so

00:33:32.357 --> 00:33:35.777
we just put a spurt on and he did.

00:33:35.777 --> 00:33:38.457
This big circle and he came around and he

00:33:38.457 --> 00:33:42.097
was i thought oh my god here he comes again and he was coming around he's coming

00:33:42.097 --> 00:33:46.317
around and he he turned onto one side and i thought oh my god there he goes

00:33:46.317 --> 00:33:50.437
he's gonna fire and i was actually obviously i'm not going to swear on here

00:33:50.437 --> 00:33:55.317
but i was screaming you're obviously not going to hear me but i was just screaming

00:33:55.317 --> 00:33:57.957
swearing at him telling him what i wanted him to do and.

00:33:59.475 --> 00:34:05.375
He veered off and he didn't drop his missile until he got, he dropped it on,

00:34:05.435 --> 00:34:06.615
he fired it onto the beach.

00:34:07.735 --> 00:34:12.255
So I'm guessing, I don't, I don't know what the ins and outs are of planes and

00:34:12.255 --> 00:34:14.635
missiles and stuff, but he was obviously going to let it go.

00:34:14.755 --> 00:34:17.715
And he, but I think he must've, he must've seen us.

00:34:18.575 --> 00:34:23.035
And then we just carried on paddling like stink, trying to get away from the area. Yeah.

00:34:23.715 --> 00:34:27.015
We switched our radios off in case the Coast

00:34:27.015 --> 00:34:29.795
Guard called us and told us to turn back because there was only one way

00:34:29.795 --> 00:34:33.295
we were going and yeah and

00:34:33.295 --> 00:34:36.835
it wasn't going to be anti-clockwise well i guess i'm going to have to look

00:34:36.835 --> 00:34:42.955
out for drop zones i wasn't familiar with that yeah well yeah i'm very familiar

00:34:42.955 --> 00:34:48.435
with it now wow so how about the people any people experiences that you remember

00:34:48.435 --> 00:34:51.755
from that one other than the persons in planes absolutely,

00:34:53.055 --> 00:34:56.075
Yeah, I've noticed it's a bit of a theme, really, on trips.

00:34:56.355 --> 00:35:00.135
I've heard some people say that people in certain countries are so friendly,

00:35:00.355 --> 00:35:02.835
and in this country they're friendly, and in that country they're friendly.

00:35:04.195 --> 00:35:09.935
But we, I think we noticed it all the way around Britain.

00:35:09.955 --> 00:35:13.115
We noticed it, and I've noticed it since.

00:35:13.115 --> 00:35:18.315
I think when you're coming into a place from the sea, I don't know what it is,

00:35:18.315 --> 00:35:22.435
but people just seem to be, seem to open their arms up to you,

00:35:22.435 --> 00:35:27.335
you know, and be very, very friendly and welcoming and hospitable.

00:35:27.895 --> 00:35:31.635
And we, yeah, we were, we were very lucky and fortunate.

00:35:31.915 --> 00:35:35.915
You know, we were invited into, you know, we were offered floor space in sailing

00:35:35.915 --> 00:35:41.455
clubs and yacht clubs and beds in people's houses and people offered to put,

00:35:41.675 --> 00:35:44.755
let's put our tent up in the gardens and things like that.

00:35:45.095 --> 00:35:48.315
Yeah. Yeah, it was amazing really.

00:35:49.275 --> 00:35:52.195
I don't know what it is about coming in from the sea.

00:35:52.435 --> 00:35:56.335
Yeah, there's something special about that that really captures people's imagination

00:35:56.335 --> 00:35:59.055
and their attention. Yeah, absolutely.

00:35:59.695 --> 00:36:03.695
Yeah. And they all seem to want to know a bit about your trip.

00:36:05.395 --> 00:36:10.355
Yeah, it's probably quite an unusual way to travel for most people.

00:36:10.735 --> 00:36:13.135
So they seem to take an interest in it.

00:36:13.675 --> 00:36:16.815
So did you find a lot of areas that really felt remote

00:36:16.815 --> 00:36:19.695
i mean it's a it's a fairly populated area for

00:36:19.695 --> 00:36:22.815
the most part it is and we

00:36:22.815 --> 00:36:25.635
i think there are a lot of remote areas and

00:36:25.635 --> 00:36:29.875
we certainly found some the likes of on the north coast of scotland well up

00:36:29.875 --> 00:36:33.715
the west coast of scotland as well actually but there was there was often the

00:36:33.715 --> 00:36:40.955
temptation to land a little bit closer just within walking distance of a town

00:36:40.955 --> 00:36:44.735
or a village and there's something nice about, I mean I'm.

00:36:46.449 --> 00:36:49.449
I wasn't a drinker. I've never been a big drinker, but I would,

00:36:49.589 --> 00:36:53.429
there's something nice about in an evening time, just sitting down in a warm

00:36:53.429 --> 00:36:59.309
pub after you've been working hard, maybe having a, having fish and chips and a,

00:36:59.929 --> 00:37:03.269
and a, and a drink in a, in a warm pub. That, that is very nice.

00:37:03.429 --> 00:37:09.529
So Harry and Phil were specially drawn to, to pubs.

00:37:09.929 --> 00:37:13.309
I actually, I actually worked out how much they'd drunk over the whole,

00:37:13.529 --> 00:37:14.749
over the course of the trip.

00:37:15.549 --> 00:37:22.369
I did an estimation. I calculated, really. It was quite a mind-boggling amount of Guinness.

00:37:23.449 --> 00:37:29.129
It kept them going. It certainly did. Part of the experience. It did, yeah.

00:37:30.089 --> 00:37:33.609
I definitely think it gave them plenty of energy. Favorite place?

00:37:33.609 --> 00:37:37.489
If you could paddle only one place along the coast of the UK, where would that be?

00:37:38.609 --> 00:37:39.869
You're testing me out here.

00:37:41.309 --> 00:37:47.909
Well, I think Scotland is always pretty special for sea kayakers in the UK.

00:37:49.169 --> 00:37:52.209
You know, it's a go-to place for a lot of paddlers. Yeah.

00:37:52.649 --> 00:37:57.809
Because of the remoteness, the wildness, the different options,

00:37:58.109 --> 00:38:03.449
you can almost always find shelter, even if the conditions are bad.

00:38:05.948 --> 00:38:13.408
I was actually quite taken by a section of the UK coast that I never used to

00:38:13.408 --> 00:38:17.328
hear people talking about, and that is the east coast of Scotland.

00:38:18.428 --> 00:38:21.848
I think there's some fantastic paddling down the east coast,

00:38:21.868 --> 00:38:29.388
and it would have been nice to spend more time, but when you're on a circumnavigation,

00:38:30.308 --> 00:38:35.648
I think a lot of people who do circumnavigations become quite focused,

00:38:35.648 --> 00:38:41.168
And it isn't about spending time in different places, but it is about traveling

00:38:41.168 --> 00:38:43.488
and keep going and getting the distance in.

00:38:44.548 --> 00:38:49.988
However, I have known, I've read some of Chris Duff's books,

00:38:49.988 --> 00:38:55.388
and he definitely was into the exploring side of things.

00:38:55.588 --> 00:39:03.288
And he'd spent a long time on a trip, and he definitely saw the places for what

00:39:03.288 --> 00:39:05.608
they were and experienced them.

00:39:05.648 --> 00:39:10.248
Rather than just paddling past and thinking, oh, it'd be nice to come here one day. Yeah.

00:39:10.948 --> 00:39:13.548
Yeah. So the East Coast of Scotland is pretty good.

00:39:14.588 --> 00:39:19.908
Interesting. That's another area. I just spoke with Kiva Connor just recently,

00:39:19.908 --> 00:39:22.528
and she actually referred you to the show here.

00:39:23.128 --> 00:39:27.468
And we were talking a lot about the East Coast of Ireland and how it's that

00:39:27.468 --> 00:39:30.608
area that just doesn't get as much press.

00:39:31.268 --> 00:39:36.808
And here we are now talking East Side of Scotland and doesn't get as much love.

00:39:37.128 --> 00:39:40.848
Yeah, East Coast, they're a bit neglected, I think. Yeah.

00:39:41.728 --> 00:39:45.228
Yeah, no, East Coast of Ireland as well. Yeah, definitely. She's right there.

00:39:45.448 --> 00:39:46.768
There's some great paddling there.

00:39:48.743 --> 00:39:53.823
So what is it about the east coast of Scotland? It was certainly very cliffy.

00:39:54.103 --> 00:39:56.163
A lot of cliffs around there.

00:39:57.143 --> 00:40:03.763
I'm not very good when it comes to geology.

00:40:05.303 --> 00:40:08.443
So someone else could tell you all about the cliffs there. I can't,

00:40:08.503 --> 00:40:10.823
but they certainly look very impressive.

00:40:10.983 --> 00:40:14.223
Yeah, I'm not going to ask you the type of rock, but if they're beautiful, that's great.

00:40:14.823 --> 00:40:17.663
Yeah, yeah. and and yeah and up

00:40:17.663 --> 00:40:20.603
by the very top very top right

00:40:20.603 --> 00:40:25.423
corner my duncan's behead around there that's stunning and and there was a little

00:40:25.423 --> 00:40:29.963
section of that actually that that on the round britain trip filled that filled

00:40:29.963 --> 00:40:34.543
it twice because he dropped his keg and he didn't realize and he had to go back

00:40:34.543 --> 00:40:39.363
for and it was floating on the it's floating on the on the surface wow you know so.

00:40:41.443 --> 00:40:44.043
Yeah yeah so it's interesting that you

00:40:44.043 --> 00:40:46.743
mentioned duncan's behead too is that i recently spoke with

00:40:46.743 --> 00:40:49.543
roger chandler and asked him his favorite place and

00:40:49.543 --> 00:40:52.463
duncan's behead was his all right okay

00:40:52.463 --> 00:40:55.163
great what i was right

00:40:55.163 --> 00:40:58.463
then let's shift

00:40:58.463 --> 00:41:01.703
just a little bit here and i'm going to ask another

00:41:01.703 --> 00:41:04.523
question kind of a close to the area but since we're talking

00:41:04.523 --> 00:41:07.943
about you know the uk trip i want to just ask

00:41:07.943 --> 00:41:10.643
a kind of a parallel question what do you find is a

00:41:10.643 --> 00:41:13.943
big differences between paddling in the uk or around

00:41:13.943 --> 00:41:16.823
the uk versus paddling around ireland which you've done also

00:41:16.823 --> 00:41:19.763
all right okay they're definitely

00:41:19.763 --> 00:41:23.023
different yeah they are different obviously

00:41:23.023 --> 00:41:27.923
there's some so similarity in sort of you know when you paddle somewhere and

00:41:27.923 --> 00:41:32.523
the language is different well that makes a difference but ireland it's ireland

00:41:32.523 --> 00:41:34.063
is a lot more remote there's a lot

00:41:34.063 --> 00:41:41.683
more a remote coastline in Ireland than there is in the UK and Britain.

00:41:41.923 --> 00:41:46.183
Okay. Obviously part of Ireland, like the Northern Ireland is part of the UK.

00:41:46.763 --> 00:41:53.803
And that has some stunning coastline, especially on the North Coast around Rathlin.

00:41:53.943 --> 00:41:55.323
Rathlin is an amazing place.

00:41:55.623 --> 00:41:58.763
But Ireland in general, the whole of Ireland, the island of Ireland,

00:41:59.103 --> 00:42:04.743
it's stunning that Some of the coastline is just amazing.

00:42:06.525 --> 00:42:09.765
You're not a million miles from things, even though it feels like it.

00:42:10.745 --> 00:42:14.465
There's plenty of villages dotted around up the coast.

00:42:14.645 --> 00:42:20.985
And I know I've said that people around Britain were friendly, welcoming,

00:42:22.005 --> 00:42:25.365
but Ireland, I don't know what it is about Ireland in general,

00:42:25.505 --> 00:42:32.025
that it is full of people who are just very, very friendly.

00:42:32.045 --> 00:42:35.125
I don't think that's just the coast you know

00:42:35.125 --> 00:42:39.205
i mentioned about coming in from somewhere from the sea people

00:42:39.205 --> 00:42:42.145
are you know welcoming but island in general is very

00:42:42.145 --> 00:42:47.105
friendly place i think i think they've always been known to be friendly obviously

00:42:47.105 --> 00:42:52.365
it's had its problems but that's doesn't take away that people are incredibly

00:42:52.365 --> 00:43:00.465
friendly yeah yeah island is an amazing place to paddle especially for a circumnavigation,

00:43:01.325 --> 00:43:07.465
So Britain is a rough, I can't remember how long, but rough guess.

00:43:07.705 --> 00:43:15.425
It's roughly 2,000 miles around, whereas Ireland is, I think it was about, I think I measured it.

00:43:16.365 --> 00:43:21.745
Our trip around Ireland was about 870 to 900, something like that.

00:43:23.269 --> 00:43:31.389
So I think it's more doable because of the time factor.

00:43:32.069 --> 00:43:36.269
Sometimes someone might be able to get four weeks out of work or six weeks out

00:43:36.269 --> 00:43:39.509
of work. But if you're going to do something that's 2,000 miles,

00:43:39.609 --> 00:43:44.129
well, you've probably got to give yourself at least three months to be on the safe side.

00:43:45.009 --> 00:43:49.289
And that's not that easy for a lot of people to get time out of work.

00:43:50.349 --> 00:43:57.049
So island is yeah it's more doable for it's doable for more people i think but

00:43:57.049 --> 00:44:04.389
it is i i don't know when i so i i did it in 2013 and as soon as i finished

00:44:04.389 --> 00:44:07.889
that trip i i said i'd do that again,

00:44:08.509 --> 00:44:14.109
and i i did it again with my so my my partner claire she'd always wanted to

00:44:14.109 --> 00:44:16.749
go around island And she, you know, it's her home ground, you know,

00:44:16.769 --> 00:44:18.309
she wanted to paddle around home turf.

00:44:19.129 --> 00:44:22.929
And when we got together, she said, oh, you won't want to do that.

00:44:23.009 --> 00:44:25.649
You've done that. And I said, I blooming well will.

00:44:27.789 --> 00:44:32.849
So the second time, it was Claire's trip, you know, it was Claire's trip,

00:44:33.009 --> 00:44:35.569
really. She arranged it all, really.

00:44:36.229 --> 00:44:40.629
And so we just did it together. And I finished that trip.

00:44:40.789 --> 00:44:46.789
We finished that trip. and i said again i said i'd do that again i know and

00:44:46.789 --> 00:44:51.949
i would i'd do it a third time it's i just loved it both times absolutely loved

00:44:51.949 --> 00:44:56.529
it good and harry wheelan he's done it twice as well,

00:44:57.809 --> 00:45:04.069
and yeah it hasn't i think he'd do it again now did you go the the same way around both times Yeah,

00:45:04.589 --> 00:45:07.669
yes, yeah, clockwise, both times. Okay.

00:45:08.329 --> 00:45:14.089
I think I've only done one trip anticlockwise. In fact, no, I haven't. I've done...

00:45:16.338 --> 00:45:19.978
No, I've done more than one trip anticlockwise, so I apologize about that.

00:45:21.098 --> 00:45:24.258
Yeah, but clockwise, both times clockwise, yeah. Okay.

00:45:24.458 --> 00:45:28.298
It seems to be the thing to do. Yeah. And I'm sure if you ask someone who knows

00:45:28.298 --> 00:45:31.278
what they're talking about, they give you a good reason. I don't.

00:45:32.118 --> 00:45:35.058
I think it's probably obsessive compulsive disorder with me.

00:45:36.218 --> 00:45:40.478
It just doesn't seem right going anticlockwise. It doesn't. It's bad. No.

00:45:42.138 --> 00:45:46.978
Exactly. I think I did ask somebody about that once, and I think it has to do

00:45:46.978 --> 00:45:51.758
with the currents and the prevailing winds and just kind of easier to push you up that West Coast.

00:45:52.478 --> 00:45:57.298
Right. Okay. Yeah. Fair enough. Yeah. We'll go with that. Sure, right.

00:46:00.018 --> 00:46:03.558
So now you found yourself now on the other side of the world.

00:46:04.278 --> 00:46:08.498
Yes. Yeah. I'm in New Zealand at the moment. Yeah, in Christchurch.

00:46:09.118 --> 00:46:12.798
Yeah, I've been here for a week now. Super. Yeah, yeah.

00:46:13.278 --> 00:46:16.938
So it's, yeah, I'm looking forward to getting out paddling here.

00:46:17.258 --> 00:46:21.378
Yeah. And this isn't your first time there. So you've also paddled around the South Island.

00:46:21.738 --> 00:46:23.818
I have. Yes, I have.

00:46:24.738 --> 00:46:29.998
That was actually something I wanted to do before going around Britain.

00:46:30.238 --> 00:46:34.238
I thought, oh, paddle around the South Island in New Zealand. That'd be great.

00:46:34.838 --> 00:46:37.858
An old school friend moved over here a long time ago.

00:46:38.318 --> 00:46:44.558
And when I got into kayaking, I read Blazing Paddles, a book by Brian Wilson.

00:46:45.298 --> 00:46:50.398
And I thought, oh, that's great. That's really good. I want to get on some trips.

00:46:52.058 --> 00:46:57.678
And I thought, I know. If I could get over to New Zealand, I could go and visit my old schoolmate.

00:46:58.158 --> 00:47:00.098
And I could paddle around it while I'm there.

00:47:00.738 --> 00:47:06.258
And then I picked up a copy of, what was it called?

00:47:06.258 --> 00:47:11.938
Chris duff sudden sudden exposure yeah chris duff wrote a book about his circumnavigation,

00:47:12.598 --> 00:47:17.258
and and i read it and i was gripped when i was reading it and i'm a terrible

00:47:17.258 --> 00:47:21.018
reader i'm very slow and i don't stick to it but i was gripped by this book

00:47:21.018 --> 00:47:27.178
and i i read right through it and by the end of it i thought my god that's way

00:47:27.178 --> 00:47:29.338
beyond me i'm never going to be able to paddle.

00:47:30.898 --> 00:47:35.398
And I thought I need to, I need to brush it upon my skills and I need to,

00:47:35.878 --> 00:47:38.838
you know, I just need to become a better, stronger paddler.

00:47:38.978 --> 00:47:43.698
And it sounded scary, you know, just reading the book and, you know,

00:47:44.731 --> 00:47:48.351
So it sort of went on the back burner, really. And then, obviously,

00:47:48.511 --> 00:47:52.111
I paddled around Britain. And that was 2005.

00:47:53.431 --> 00:47:56.831
So 2006, I thought, right, I know.

00:47:57.211 --> 00:48:02.851
I'll do a trip around Ireland, but I'll start in the wintertime.

00:48:03.191 --> 00:48:06.991
And that'll get me prepared. There's loads of surf over there.

00:48:07.091 --> 00:48:11.691
That'll get me prepared for the South Island. And I was left with a bit of a

00:48:11.691 --> 00:48:16.431
fear of surf after the north coast of Scotland with Harry. Sure.

00:48:17.071 --> 00:48:21.891
Yeah, that left me. Yeah. And I was very apprehensive about surf after that.

00:48:23.331 --> 00:48:27.131
And so I set off in 2006 to go around Ireland.

00:48:27.531 --> 00:48:35.271
And unfortunately, I only got two days into the trip and my wrist swelled up and I had tendinitis.

00:48:37.091 --> 00:48:41.891
And I rested it for a week and then tried to carry on but it was no good so

00:48:41.891 --> 00:48:47.391
I came home but anyway come 2007,

00:48:48.251 --> 00:48:51.671
I still had the South Island of New Zealand in the system,

00:48:52.231 --> 00:48:55.851
and I felt that my paddling was coming on and I was getting closer to the point

00:48:55.851 --> 00:49:04.871
I felt I was ready for that trip and I decided I was going to do it and I started looking into it,

00:49:05.891 --> 00:49:12.651
And I was out paddling with just Inca Genvin in 2000. That was 2007.

00:49:13.371 --> 00:49:17.131
And she asked me, she said, what, what, what trip would you want to do?

00:49:17.311 --> 00:49:20.291
You know, what would be at the top of your list? And I said, the South Island.

00:49:21.431 --> 00:49:26.051
And she said, oh, yeah, that's, yeah, that, that, that's a trip I wouldn't mind

00:49:26.051 --> 00:49:29.011
doing as well. And she said, would you, would you do it together?

00:49:30.971 --> 00:49:34.071
So we, yeah, so we both thought that'd be a great idea.

00:49:34.071 --> 00:49:36.831
And we started planning and in the meantime we became a

00:49:36.831 --> 00:49:40.351
couple and then so

00:49:40.351 --> 00:49:43.751
yeah come the beginning of 2008 we went out went out

00:49:43.751 --> 00:49:46.631
there or came out here and yeah we

00:49:46.631 --> 00:49:49.651
set off and it was

00:49:49.651 --> 00:49:52.611
it's funny it feels completely different

00:49:52.611 --> 00:49:58.451
when just things like the color of the water or different temperature of the

00:49:58.451 --> 00:50:04.911
air and just gives you a different feeling about a place and we set off from

00:50:04.911 --> 00:50:09.411
an estuary called a place called Sumner we set off from this estuary it's just

00:50:09.411 --> 00:50:11.271
on the outskirts of Christchurch,

00:50:12.611 --> 00:50:16.591
and we were just paddling out of this the tide was taking us out of the estuary

00:50:16.591 --> 00:50:22.011
and I took out my camera to take a photograph well the first photograph of the

00:50:22.011 --> 00:50:26.251
trip actually on the water and there's a bar.

00:50:27.915 --> 00:50:31.895
Bar that the tidal bar and wave broke

00:50:31.895 --> 00:50:34.595
and honestly 17 minutes into the trip

00:50:34.595 --> 00:50:41.935
I was upside down holding my kayak and fortunately I rolled up and it was it'd

00:50:41.935 --> 00:50:47.295
been a while since I'd rolled with a fully loaded kayak and I have to say it

00:50:47.295 --> 00:50:53.295
wasn't my best roll and yeah I thought oh my god,

00:50:53.815 --> 00:50:56.915
how did i get up that was a terrible roll and then

00:50:56.915 --> 00:50:59.935
i realized i looked at my watch i realized we were 17 minutes

00:50:59.935 --> 00:51:03.155
in and thought i've already capsized

00:51:03.155 --> 00:51:06.215
and i think justine

00:51:06.215 --> 00:51:11.075
must have thought who the hell am i paddling with but anyway

00:51:11.075 --> 00:51:13.915
that was that was that was fine you know soon

00:51:13.915 --> 00:51:19.575
settled into it and then yeah that was the beginning of the trip and it was

00:51:19.575 --> 00:51:28.355
it was an amazing trip I was gripped most days I was gripped on the trip because

00:51:28.355 --> 00:51:33.015
it was a totally different experience to going around Britain.

00:51:34.055 --> 00:51:36.455
As much as the coastline.

00:51:37.095 --> 00:51:40.575
There's a lot of surf around the South Island of New Zealand.

00:51:41.235 --> 00:51:49.715
And I think generally the East Coast is steep dumping surf onto steep gravel

00:51:49.715 --> 00:51:51.435
beaches or steep sandy beaches.

00:51:51.635 --> 00:51:59.695
And then on the West Coast, there's more open beach surf, which I think I would

00:51:59.695 --> 00:52:06.035
probably land in dumping stuff and launch through open beach surf.

00:52:06.275 --> 00:52:12.175
Beach surf, I find it an absolute nightmare for different reasons.

00:52:12.175 --> 00:52:18.335
Obviously, the timing has got to be spot on. But then once you're on,

00:52:18.495 --> 00:52:22.615
if it's a gravel beach, you've just got this skeg full of stones.

00:52:22.875 --> 00:52:27.255
And then there's a job for both of you then to get your knife out and start

00:52:27.255 --> 00:52:29.255
emptying each other's skegs out. Right.

00:52:29.995 --> 00:52:36.115
Yeah. But I found the South Island of New Zealand to be extremely challenging.

00:52:36.655 --> 00:52:42.775
Some days, we'd look at the map before we launched, and we'd know that because

00:52:42.775 --> 00:52:46.655
of the shape of the land, the shape of the coastline, we'd know that the next

00:52:46.655 --> 00:52:51.535
safe landing could be as much as 50 miles away, you know, 80 kilometers.

00:52:52.075 --> 00:52:55.955
So there's also very changeable weather conditions here,

00:52:56.075 --> 00:53:00.275
you know, weather patterns, and you could get on the water knowing that the

00:53:00.275 --> 00:53:05.995
next safe landing is like 50 miles away, but you get this feeling in your stomach,

00:53:06.095 --> 00:53:11.075
this pit in your stomach, because you know that the conditions could change any minute.

00:53:11.235 --> 00:53:15.575
And if it changes and becomes a headwind and that's that's a big problem.

00:53:16.807 --> 00:53:22.487
You've got such a long distance to paddle so i think both of us found it quite challenging,

00:53:23.367 --> 00:53:26.187
when it comes to the the mental side of

00:53:26.187 --> 00:53:29.247
it so it could be quite stressful you

00:53:29.247 --> 00:53:34.227
know certain days you know but but we did it and there was i think we had three

00:53:34.227 --> 00:53:39.227
capsizes each throughout the whole trip yeah and we certainly had our share

00:53:39.227 --> 00:53:45.327
of surf landings yeah which wasn't always fun yeah you You got one of them out

00:53:45.327 --> 00:53:48.127
of the way 17 minutes in. I did. Yeah.

00:53:49.587 --> 00:53:53.607
So how do you plan a trip like that when you're on the other side of the world

00:53:53.607 --> 00:53:58.567
and you don't know the terrain and you're thinking about when your next landing

00:53:58.567 --> 00:54:01.407
might be 50 miles away? How do you even come up with that information?

00:54:02.227 --> 00:54:05.547
Back then. So I was I was fairly late to the Internet.

00:54:06.047 --> 00:54:11.547
Yeah, I had started by then a little bit, but I I I managed to get a disc from somewhere.

00:54:11.687 --> 00:54:16.867
I can't remember where it came from. and it was maps of the South Island of

00:54:16.867 --> 00:54:19.567
New Zealand or a map of the South Island of New Zealand on a disk.

00:54:19.707 --> 00:54:25.987
And I loaded that into a computer, I think. I can't remember if I went to Google

00:54:25.987 --> 00:54:30.467
Earth or not, but off those maps, I went.

00:54:30.647 --> 00:54:36.607
My mum had a printer, and I went up to my mum's, and I printed off all these maps.

00:54:36.887 --> 00:54:45.947
I printed them on A4 size, And I think that we must have had about 60 or 70 A4 sheets of maps.

00:54:47.235 --> 00:54:57.535
And we used those for the basic coastline and the names of places and all that. We could see shapes.

00:54:58.035 --> 00:55:02.195
So you get an idea of what was going to be safe to get in behind and all that.

00:55:02.415 --> 00:55:06.935
But there wasn't a huge amount of detail. I think I went on to Google Earth

00:55:06.935 --> 00:55:17.175
and I started zooming in and marking things off onto the maps so that we had,

00:55:17.335 --> 00:55:21.615
there's a lot of likes of, so field land, you get a lot of dock huts,

00:55:22.095 --> 00:55:24.355
which are Department of Conservation huts.

00:55:24.355 --> 00:55:30.915
And they're for hikers really, trampers, and it'll be a bunk house.

00:55:30.915 --> 00:55:35.195
It's just a big shed with lots of bunks and a wood-burning stove,

00:55:35.235 --> 00:55:38.435
and that's it, and there'll be a tank of water outside.

00:55:38.935 --> 00:55:43.495
So if you get to one of those, you've got great shelter. You've got warmth.

00:55:43.935 --> 00:55:47.175
You've got shelter, you've got warmth, you can cook on the wood-burning stoves,

00:55:47.335 --> 00:55:51.395
and you've got a bed for the night, so you're laughing really.

00:55:52.875 --> 00:55:57.315
We use those quite a few times even quite a few of those those huts and then

00:55:57.315 --> 00:56:02.755
you can mark off little little rocky outcrops that might give you a little bit

00:56:02.755 --> 00:56:04.815
of shelter from from some surf,

00:56:05.475 --> 00:56:10.095
and obviously there's bar mouths there's a lot of rivers coming out the on the

00:56:10.095 --> 00:56:16.595
south island of new zealand and they create a bar now depending on the tide

00:56:16.595 --> 00:56:19.715
the state of the tide the time and the tidal system,

00:56:20.215 --> 00:56:22.795
you know, they can be okay or they can be a nightmare.

00:56:24.369 --> 00:56:28.829
If you go in and you're at the height of the tide, well, then you've probably

00:56:28.829 --> 00:56:31.669
got more chance of getting in there without getting trashed.

00:56:32.289 --> 00:56:37.289
Whereas if the river's flying out into the sea there over a bar,

00:56:37.489 --> 00:56:41.749
well, then the swell going across that, we tended to avoid that.

00:56:43.029 --> 00:56:48.449
We'd been in touch with Paul Caffin, who he's a local.

00:56:49.189 --> 00:56:53.509
He's actually an Aussie, but he's a Kiwi these days. He's lived most of his

00:56:53.509 --> 00:56:54.589
life, I think, in New Zealand.

00:56:54.969 --> 00:57:00.869
And he's the big name in kayaking in New Zealand, really.

00:57:01.109 --> 00:57:04.249
Oh, worldwide, certainly. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah.

00:57:05.329 --> 00:57:09.369
So he's very familiar with all the different places around the coast.

00:57:09.469 --> 00:57:14.089
And he gave us some hints and tips on places that were good to land,

00:57:14.469 --> 00:57:16.449
places that weren't, places to avoid.

00:57:17.129 --> 00:57:22.149
And also, something else he did, he contacted other kayakers around the coast.

00:57:22.669 --> 00:57:27.929
And we were sometimes met by other kayakers when we landed and it was, it was just amazing.

00:57:28.209 --> 00:57:33.549
People would pile all our stuff into their trucks and they'd take us off home and spoil us.

00:57:33.829 --> 00:57:37.469
And that was, that was absolutely brilliant. It really was.

00:57:38.649 --> 00:57:42.629
Yeah, that was great. Good to have friends. Absolutely. Yeah,

00:57:42.949 --> 00:57:45.129
definitely. So that sounds like a fantastic trip.

00:57:45.629 --> 00:57:49.529
I'd love to hear more about that one, but we'll have to leave that one to a

00:57:49.529 --> 00:57:52.929
future episode to maybe dig into that even more.

00:57:53.029 --> 00:57:57.409
But this has been fantastic being able to hear from you and hear about your

00:57:57.409 --> 00:57:58.989
favorite trips, favorite places.

00:57:59.209 --> 00:58:05.109
And that UK trip does sound pretty incredible, as does South Island and the others.

00:58:05.569 --> 00:58:09.129
So appreciate your time. Thank you. Thank you. You're welcome,

00:58:09.229 --> 00:58:11.769
John. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. Yeah.

00:58:12.049 --> 00:58:15.129
So a couple of a couple of other questions just as we as we wrap up here.

00:58:15.249 --> 00:58:16.469
How can listeners reach you?

00:58:18.004 --> 00:58:24.484
Well, I'm not exactly, I'm not someone who does a lot on social media,

00:58:24.484 --> 00:58:30.544
but I do have a Facebook page and yeah, so obviously it's Barry Shore.

00:58:30.724 --> 00:58:32.184
You can probably find me on Facebook.

00:58:32.744 --> 00:58:37.724
Other than that, I don't, I think I keep a fairly low profile.

00:58:38.944 --> 00:58:42.084
Nothing wrong with that. But if someone wanted to,

00:58:42.164 --> 00:58:44.844
if someone wanted to ask me something and they wanted to send

00:58:44.844 --> 00:58:48.224
me an email they would happily send them my email address and they

00:58:48.224 --> 00:58:51.044
can email away and i'll do

00:58:51.044 --> 00:58:54.024
my best to answer anything that they might

00:58:54.024 --> 00:58:56.764
want to know i don't know if i can all right give it a go

00:58:56.764 --> 00:58:59.824
well you have maybe you may have a small digital

00:58:59.824 --> 00:59:02.844
footprint but in the kayaking world you've had a big footprint

00:59:02.844 --> 00:59:05.644
and it's been a pretty impressive run and we'll certainly

00:59:05.644 --> 00:59:09.784
look forward to following future adventures as well so one

00:59:09.784 --> 00:59:12.424
other question that i have for you and that is who else would you like to

00:59:12.424 --> 00:59:16.184
hear as a future guest on paddling the blue i i

00:59:16.184 --> 00:59:18.884
would like to hear someone who's he's a good friend of

00:59:18.884 --> 00:59:21.784
mine but i think so i know

00:59:21.784 --> 00:59:26.984
i know most of the things he has to say but i think it'd be really interesting

00:59:26.984 --> 00:59:32.864
for people who haven't met him to to hear him and he's he's a guy from from

00:59:32.864 --> 00:59:40.444
ireland who's lived in london for a long long long long time now it's harry wheelan all right Yeah,

00:59:40.544 --> 00:59:43.844
you mentioned Harry's name a few times here and a long-time partner of yours

00:59:43.844 --> 00:59:45.684
on many paddling adventures.

00:59:46.304 --> 00:59:50.284
Yeah, yeah. I've not met Harry. He's taught me a lot. Yeah.

00:59:51.889 --> 00:59:54.609
I've not met Harry and we've not had a chance to talk before,

00:59:54.709 --> 00:59:58.969
but the, the one, I guess the exposure that I've had to him is I remember watching

00:59:58.969 --> 01:00:06.129
a, this is the sea video from many years ago of Harry surfing behind a, a ferry on the Thames.

01:00:07.369 --> 01:00:11.209
Yeah. That's his, that's his favorite pastime when he's, when he's not working.

01:00:11.469 --> 01:00:15.009
Yeah. Yeah. He loves to do that and he's very, very good at it.

01:00:16.069 --> 01:00:20.169
Yeah. Right. Well, great. Barry, thank you very much for the opportunity.

01:00:20.169 --> 01:00:23.069
I look forward to maybe, maybe having a chance to paddle together in

01:00:23.069 --> 01:00:25.869
the future that would be great john yeah that'd be

01:00:25.869 --> 01:00:28.589
great if i'm still in new zealand when you get over here at some

01:00:28.589 --> 01:00:34.289
point yeah let's get out there sounds good thank you barry okay all right john

01:00:34.289 --> 01:00:39.129
thank you if you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler power to the

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01:00:42.709 --> 01:00:47.489
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01:01:21.509 --> 01:01:27.509
When you can paddle for 80 days with two friends and come back even better friends, that is a win.

01:01:27.689 --> 01:01:30.189
It was a pleasure to share a few laughs with Barry.

01:01:30.389 --> 01:01:33.549
He's got some great stories of adventures in great places, and we could have

01:01:33.549 --> 01:01:35.409
talked for hours on all the places.

01:01:35.709 --> 01:01:40.029
And now that he's made the move to New Zealand, I'm certain there will be more fun times to come.

01:01:40.549 --> 01:01:44.729
Thanks again to our partners at OnlineSeaKyaking.com for extending that special offer to you.

01:01:45.169 --> 01:01:50.109
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01:01:52.949 --> 01:01:56.669
Until next time, thanks as always for listening, and I look forward to bringing

01:01:56.669 --> 01:01:58.989
you the next episode of Paddling the Blue.

01:02:04.409 --> 01:02:07.949
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01:02:13.449 --> 01:02:16.389
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01:02:16.569 --> 01:02:18.229
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01:02:18.429 --> 01:02:21.669
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01:02:21.989 --> 01:02:27.429
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01:02:27.609 --> 01:02:30.729
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01:02:32.560 --> 01:02:36.920
Music.