There was so much that Toby loved about kayaking that it ’ s difficult , to sum up here . Some things were the closeness to nature , connection to other kayakers , solitude , space for reflection and the challenge of some tougher conditions .
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“ set of limitations ( in his case , these were health and work-related , in mine , they are to do with being a rubbish kayaker , living in another country and have two young kids ) but we can all ask , “ What ’ s possible from here ?”
The challenge Toby set himself back in 2017 was to have kayaked in all areas of the shipping forecast . For him , that translated into expeditions over months , paddling large distances ( sometimes the entire coastlines of the sea area ) and dealing with challenging seas . He pushed the boundaries of what he thought was possible and inspired even the most seasoned sea kayakers . I don ’ t expect to do any of that . I learnt many years ago that trying to compete with Toby on anything was a bad idea .
To complete the challenge , my aim is to do one or more day paddles in each of the remaining sea areas , accompanied by a seasoned paddler or a group of paddlers . My trip won ’ t win awards or be recorded in the great tomes of sea kayaking achievements , yet it will be an adventure and an accomplishment for me . And maybe , it will show that we can all find adventures that fit us ( even with kids and responsibilities in tow ).
So you will paddle the remaining sea areas ; what ’ s your plan ? There are ten sea areas with land that Toby didn ’ t visit as part of the project or marked as partially completed : Lundy , Irish Sea , Fastnet , Shannon , Rockall , Malin , Hebrides , Tyne , Cromarty , Forth and Fair Isle . Then there are four that have no land ( Viking , Forties , Dogger and Bailey ), which I will not be attempting . Toby was discussing oil rigs and helicopters to get out in these , but I think the challenge is big enough for me as it is .
If you know your shipping forecast , you ’ ll see that Toby has left me the wild west : all the Irish , Scottish and Welsh areas plus a bit of northeast England , and I have divided these over the next year and a bit . This year I will paddle in Wales , Ireland and part of Scotland . Next , I will see me launching the kayak in northeast England and east Scotland and finishing in the Shetland Isles just before or after the symposium ( in case anyone wants to join me ).
Toby loved how the shared interest in kayaking connected him with others , and ( aside from the fact that it ’ s dangerous for me to paddle alone ) the idea behind the challenge has always been to get more people involved . I hope these paddles can be a way for Toby ’ s friends and acquaintances to remember him while doing something he loved .
So where and when will you be paddling ? I picked Toby ’ s kayak up from Cornwall at the end of February . My challenge started in Lundy in early March with a paddle in the Bristol Channel from Clevedon to Portishead and back led by Katie Wiltshier of the Avon Outdoor Activities Club and accompanied by other members of the club and some of Toby ’ s closest friends , Owen and Sarah ( mentioned above ).
Then in mid-May I paddled in Pembrokeshire , Wales with Dave Elkington and Mike Mayberry , respectively , before going to Anglesey to meet Al Randall , Lindsey Harris and others from Toby ’ s ex-club in London , Tower Hamlets Canoe Club .
In June / July , I will spend three weeks in Ireland with my boys , squeezing in seven or eight paddles which I ’ m still in the process of defining . I ’ m the newest Irish Sea Kayaking Association member and hope to attend a meet they are organising in Schull and connect with kayakers there to help me put the trips together .
Finally , this year , I ’ ll be kayaking in the Hebrides for a week at the end of August with my aunt , Nicky Mansell , of Jersey Canoe Club . I hope to coincide with Nick Ray ’ s return home after a year paddling around Scotland which he dedicated to Toby . As for the rest , I ’ ll be planning that later . I might even be a better kayaker by then ; who knows !
You ’ re new to kayaking - do you not feel intimidated by the challenge ? In general , I don ’ t find myself intimidated by it . Firstly , I feel like I ’ ve faced harder things : researching and writing the book , watching my brothers die of cancer or sorting out Toby ’ s house after he died , for example . Secondly , I ’ m quite realistic about what I can and can ’ t do and the risks involved . I don ’ t feel like I have anything to prove , so I won ’ t go out if it ’ s too windy or rough . Having said this , I ’ ve never been that good at asking for help and hate being dependent , so I ’ m uncomfortably overcoming these while also learning to kayak .
I already wake up in the middle of the night worrying about certain aspects of kayak moving and storing logistics , but I feel like despite the many problems to solve , I can find a way to overcome them .
Who is coaching and teaching you ? I ’ m lucky to be learning to kayak in the clear waters of the Costa Brava north of Barcelona . There ’ s a great
WHAT WAS IT THAT TOBY LOVED ABOUT KAYAKING ?
There was so much that Toby loved about kayaking that it ’ s difficult , to sum up here . Some things were the closeness to nature , connection to other kayakers , solitude , space for reflection and the challenge of some tougher conditions .
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