Morley Competes Paddle Around Britain

Rob / 30.09.2004

Paddler, and occasional adventure racer, Sean Morley has completed his 6 month, 4,500 paddle around the seaward side of every inhabited island in the UK and Ireland.

The 39 year old policeman set off from Cornwall on April 3rd and arrived back last weekend at Falmouth. On his record breaking journey he paddled up the west coast of Ireland, and round the Isles of Scilly, St. Kilda and the Orkneys, survived Force 8 gales and had encounters with whales and sharks. The furthest point north on the trip was Muckle Flugga, in the North of the Shetland Isles, and his lowest ebb was when he sustained a back injury ... reaching for a cup of tea!

Morley, who has raced the One.Tel Hebridean Challenge and Eco-Challenge in the past, was escorted into Falmouth by the RNLI Lifeboat and a group of local canoeists. He was greeted by a Cornish Male Voice choir and a crowd of well wishers who sang “Home from the Sea”.

He said that he was glad to be back in Cornwall, but had mixed feelings about completing his challenge, “It has been an amazing six months that I will never forget but I know that I will miss being out on the water.”

Pete Goss MBE, the renowned sailor who lives nearby and has supported Morley’s charity challenge commented. “I know from experience that it is quite a challenge to sail round Britain. The weather and tidal conditions make it difficult for even the most experienced seafarer in a well-found yacht. To think of Sean achieving this alone in a kayak around some of the remotest parts of the country is quite amazing. The combination of physical, mental and emotional strain he has put himself through over the last six months is incredible.”

Morley has used the trip to raise money for the RNLI and Marine Conservation Society, and his website www.expeditionkayak.com is still taking donations, and carries all his diary reports from his astonishing trip. He also plans to publish a book on the trip, called ‘Keep the Land on the Right’.