ThePADDLER 84
Chatting with
JORDAN
DAWN WYLIE
&
ALDRED
Two years ago , we followed the incredible adventures of Hunted and Celebrity Hunted ’ s very own Jordan Wylie on his attempt to circumnavigate Great Britain by SUP . Having paddled for 149 days , 7 hours , and 36 minutes covering 2,377.29 km , his efforts were halted just shy of John O ’ Groats when the Scottish Government deemed it unsafe for Jordan and his crew to continue due to the Covid pandemic . We were never in doubt that this reasonably new ‘ non-paddler ’ would have succeeded in his quest and covered his story in a thrilling three-part diary here in the Paddler .
Following Jordan ’ s recent year-long hiatus from social media platforms , we were lucky enough to catch up with him in an online interview where we spoke not only about the good , the bad , and the ugly of social media but his forthcoming trip to Djibouti . For those unaware of Jordan ’ s promise and mission , his paddling efforts were to raise money to build a school in the Horn of Africa , which has been his driver for a good few years . Let ’ s catch up with Jordan ’ s news :
Jordan – welcome home ! Can you first let us know what happened after you were pulled off the water in John O ’ Groats and , over the next few weeks , to finish raising money for the school in Djibouti ? As most of the world knows , we were pulled off the water a day before Christmas Eve in 2020 after Scotland went into its highest level of lockdown during the pandemic . Unfortunately , this was a situation that was out of our hands . Even though we could have paddled one more day and set a new world record and world first ( Lands ’ End to John O ’ Groats via the ocean route ), we made a collective decision as a team that it was the right thing to do to stop at that moment for several reasons : 1 . We had the world ’ s eyes watching , so we felt it was essential to lead by example and do the right thing . 2 . It would help us maximise the fundraising opportunity post-expedition .
3 . It also meant that all team members could head home to our families for Christmas , which was my favourite part of finishing abruptly !
Can you tell us about your book , The Power of the Paddle , written after The Great British Paddle ? The Power of the Paddle is a book that tells the story of the reason I went on this epic paddle journey . Although I am a bit biased , of course , I think it ’ s the best book I have written mainly because of the purpose of this adventure . I hope the book shows people how a big dream , passion , and purpose combined with an adventure and great people can make life-changing things happen . The book has been very well received , and I was blown away by it making the Sunday Times Top 10 list in its first week of publication . I love writing and expressing my thoughts and experiences through my books , and this one is special to me .