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Sean\'s Tour of Britain

Rob / 01.04.2004

Sean Morley has done some adventurous trips in his life, including paddling 500km round Scotland and the last Eco-Challenge in Fiji, but his latest challenge is on a truly epic scale. Starting on April 3rd from Falmouth he plans to paddle around the UK and Ireland, which is something that has never been done solo before.

Just to make it more interesting his idea of the UK includes all the inhabited off-shore islands, and there are a lot of them! The Shetlands, the Western Isles, the Aran Isles off the West Coast of Ireland ... it’s a huge list. “The longest sea crossing is 65 miles to The Channel Isles,� Sean said, “and it’s 44 miles out into the North Atlantic to get to St. Kilda. It’s debateable if that is permanently inhabited, but I’m going anyway if the weather allows. “

“Most worrying though is the start on Saturday which is a 28 mile crossing to the Isles of Scilly. It’s very early in the season and the forecast is not too good. I just hope I don’t have to wait around for a weather window.� He knows the weather will play a huge part in his success or failure and has set himself the target of completing the 5000 mile route in 6 months. If he finds he can’t do all the islands in that time he’ll concentrate on the circumnavigation of the mainland.

To achieve his aim he’ll have to paddle around 25 miles a day in his purpose built Kevlar C-trek Kirton kayak. It’s 18 feet 7 inches long with a shell weight of just 20kg. Kirton are just one of the companies who are supporting him in a variety of ways. His main sponsors, Yak Paddling, have provided most of his equipment and he says he can fit it all in with some room to spare, so he can take a trolley to help get the boat ashore at the end of each day. His biggest equipment problems have been on the IT side, protecting the laptop he’s taking, and figuring out how to charge batteries with solar panels. (A plan he gave up on!)

He’s using the trip to raise money for the RNLI and the Marine Conservation Society, and hopes those who follow his progress will sponsor his efforts. On the way round he’s hoping to stop at as many RNLI stations as he can and this will give any friends and family opportunities to meet up with him. (He can plug in his laptop too!) “One thing I’m not looking forward to,� he said, “is the loneliness. I may get fed up of my own company.� His wife, Linda, is a School Head, so she will be able to join him in the holidays. “I should be near Shetland by then,� he said, “so she has an epic drive from Cornwall to come and find me!�

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