I had half a mind to show the picture the Noel Webb standing out on the streets rattling his tin cup. . . taking money from children. . . But of course we wanted to get off to the right start. You see Noel Web from Brewdley, Worcestershire in the UK, is preparing to take on the amazing adventure of paddling around Great Britain. This is a serious challenge covering around 4,200km in some regularly "lumpy" seas. According to his blog he’s been getting a bit of advice from Simon Osborn, Nigel Dennis and others who know a thing or two about getting it done. Certainly the trip around GB has been done before, but this is one of those routes that is not for the feint of heart. More often than not "firsts" are not all that important in sea kayaking. The adventure and challenge are the thing. This will certainly be that in spades! Besides I’m pretty sure he’s the First Noel! (sorry couldn’t help it. . .)

We’ve talked a lot here about reasons for doing a trip. Raising money, sponsorships, personal goals and all the rest. Noel has decided to use his adventure to awareness and cash for the UK’s Cystic Fibrosis Trust, thus the "tin cup". Of course to do this and do it well adds a whole other dimension to your trip. You can’t just be out on you’re own little adventure, when you are trying to raise cash. You suddenly have to take on another "off water" responsibility which can have quite and effect on your trip. Often meaning that after a day on the water you may not get to just go crawl into a tent like you’d wish. One thing that Simon Osborn did and it looks like Noel will do as well is go into towns, set up his kayak and talk about what he’s doing and why. It’s a great way to get some attention. Otherwise you’re just paddling around out there where no one would even know you were there. Not a good idea if the goal is to raise cash. So on his first go round standing on the street, he raised about £250 in 5 hrs. Great! And no, he was NOT taking money from children. . . candy maybe. . .

Noel will begin is adventure from the river Orwell in the town of Shortley Point. From there of course he has worked out a clockwise route to take advantage of the majority of prevailing winds and currents around the Uk. He expects the expedition will run from May to September and we can watch his website & blog for details and updates along the way.

This challenge of course is supported by among others, the Sea Kayaking "Dream Team" of Nigel Dennis Kayaks, Lendal Paddles, Reed Chillcheater & Kari-Tech. Without these guys of course many of these trips would never happen.

Good luck Noel, we’re pullin for ya!

Stay tuned to Kayak Quxitica where tomorrow you may hear Derrick comment about. . .
"Paddling Under the Confluence". . . .Whaaaaaaaaa??

Thanks to Noel Web for the picture. Used by permission.