SUPM issue 11 Oct 2016 digital.qxp_Layout 1 11/10/2016 21:22 Page 37
One by one, they belly flopped into the
water and began chasing us, tails
splashing, snorting and swimming pretty
fast towards us
Some of our best days involved the local
wildlife. We saw tens of sunfish, dolphins
and porpoises, and lots of seals. Perhaps
one of the scariest, and, looking back,
more hilarious, moments was rounding
Land’s End, revelling in our achievement
as I had been having nightmares for weeks
about six-foot standing waves, whirlpools
and tidal races dragging me out to sea,
and coming across a colony of seals, which
in comparison seemed like a delightful
alternative! Until, one by one, they belly
flopped into the water and began chasing
us, tails splashing, snorting and swimming
pretty fast towards us. Turns out it was
mating season making them angry, so I
dread to think what was on their minds
when they were chasing us!
small hole appeared in the bag, which got
bigger and bigger and could have resulted
in quite a spectacle, given the mission we
were on. Fortunately the bag held, and I
did not accidentally re-distribute those
carefully retrieved bottles back into the
ocean amongst professional surfers and
hundreds of spectators.
I am really touched by the amount of
people who have come onboard with the
expedition and the campaign. So many
individuals have offered help and support
by buying reusable bottles and offering
words of comfort and encouragement as
we dragged our battered bodies, bleeding
feet and exhausted minds up the beach
with our heavy kit and small prospect of
tasty tea.
Another favourite moment was
accidentally paddling through an
international surf contest at Fistral beach
to get into Boardmasters Festival, on a 12foot SUP with a bright orange survival bag
full of plastic bottles lashed to the front.
As I was paddling in through the swell, a
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