PADDLER 42
Toby and Michal with Nico in Point de Raz , Brittany .
Sadly , challenging and inspiring the next generation of architects was a position he held for too short a time .
PADDLER 42
Toby was hooked and was asking about
further opportunities for kayaking . Sometimes things are just meant to be . Two weeks earlier , Tower Hamlets Canoe Club had visited Jersey , with Natalie leaving her paddling helmet in our care . Not on purpose ! The helmet needed to be returned to its rightful owner , and fortunately , Toby lived nearby . Natalie and Michal Maderova became lifelong friends and introduced him to the Tower Hamlets Canoe Club .
His rise through the ranks of paddlers was meteoric , and within three years , he was responsible for organizing Jersey Canoe Club ’ s annual weekend on the Thames . In 2014 he planned for us to paddle from Shadwell Basin upstream to Richmond Canoe Club , where we spent the night before hitching a ride on the morning ebb tide back through the centre of London . On the way to Richmond , as night fell and we were still on the water , he put a polite request into the conversation . Could he join us on our trip to Disko Bay , on the west coast of Greenland , the following summer ? Perhaps he thought that the darkness would hide his unease .
Toby and Michal with Nico in Point de Raz , Brittany .
By this time , he had become a regular fixture with the Jersey Canoe Club , I stayed out of the conversation , but the other group members had no hesitation in offering him a place . He was welcomed with open arms . He joined us in Jersey for a couple of training weekends before the day arrived , and we met in Terminal 5 at Heathrow for our flight to Copenhagen .
The Jersey-based paddlers checked in one by one , and when it was Toby ’ s turn , he asked me what his booking reference was . I told him mine but could not help him with his , as it wasn ’ t my responsibility . His face dropped as he realised that he had failed to complete the one task that he had to do . All British Airways flights were full for the rest of the day , and if he couldn ’ t get to Copenhagen that night , he would miss his Greenland flight .
Remember those angelic looks from the wedding 33 years earlier ? They came into play again . He looked at his uncle ( me ) as if butter wouldn ’ t melt in his mouth whilst asking if I had a credit card with enough credit to ease his predicament . He was soon in a pre-paid taxi to Gatwick , with a ticket on the last flight to Copenhagen . Fortunately , that was his only issue during the three-week trip .
GREENLAND
Greenland was Toby ’ s first reasonable-length trip , and he quickly adapted to the nomadic sea kayaking lifestyle . He was acquiring skills which would serve him well on his journey around the Shipping Forecast areas . Images of him walking around with antlers on his head or jumping off glacial scoured rocks into the water , wearing only his swimming shorts , will remain etched in my memory for years . He returned to Greenland a few years later , guiding a mixture of paddlers from Tower Hamlets Canoe Club and Germany .
Although most know Toby as a sea kayaker , he was a highly respected architect . Those of us who were aware of his health issues as a young person were in awe of his academic achievements . I remember fondly his paddling tour of the architecture of the Thames downstream of Tower Bridge . He was leaping in and out of his kayak , standing in River Thames mud with his visual aids in his hand . Toby brought architecture alive to a group of amazed paddlers .
This passion for architecture resulted in Toby becoming a lecturer at the University in Falmouth . Sadly , challenging and inspiring the next generation of architects was a position he held for too short a time . It did allow him to escape from London at an opportune time ; he was living in Cornwall during the pandemic . Even as his health failed , it allowed him to maintain his connection with the sea in a way that living in Hackney wouldn ’ t have .
BBC RADIO 4 SHIPPING FORECAST
Anybody from a family interested in boats and the sea is probably aware from a relatively young age of the importance of the BBC Radio 4 Shipping Forecast . The content is almost irrelevant ; it is the comfort provided by the familiarity . It is a British institution , listened to by people living in the heart of England who have little interest in the sea . Something to fall asleep to or wake up with , depending on whether you are a night owl or an early bird . Do sailors need it in the digital age ? Probably not ; do we as a nation still require it ? Probably yes .
Challenged by his brother ’ s death , Toby applied for a Winston Churchill Fellowship with the aim of visiting and kayaking in all the Shipping Forecast areas . The Shipping Forecast covers 9 European countries , stretching from Iceland in the north to Portugal in the south . Plus , those countries which constitute the British Isles . Not a small undertaking .
Toby joined us again for Christmas 2017 ; the images of the Christmas Day swim , and a paddle from Belcroute Bay indicate an active life . He was thrilled about the upcoming interview for the Winston Churchill Fellowship in early January 2018 . His enthusiasm for the Shipping Forecast project was
Sadly , challenging and inspiring the next generation of architects was a position he held for too short a time .