a chat with Jeff Allen

Posted by derrick on February 29, 2008

As I mentioned yesterday adventure writer, sea kayaker & coach,  (jack of all sea kayaking trades. . . ) Jeff Allen of Cornwall, UK is off to Scandinavia. He will be joined by  Mark Schoon of Maine. Jeff of course has had some amazing trips already in his back pocket  including circumnavigating the 4 main isles of  Japan with Hadas Feldman of Israel, and as a member of the 2005 British team that circumnavigated South Georgia Island in record time.  Jeff is also a prolific writer who has recently been contributing articles on such things as; survival for sea kayaking, rough water paddling & incident management for Ocean Paddler Magazine in the UK.

I actually came to know Jeff through Simon Osborn.  These days Simon and Jeff are running Sea Kayaking Cornwall which is located in Falmouth, Cornwall.  So obviously one question I had to ask Jeff was if he really felt brave enough to leave Simon in charge??  Alright, enough of that!  Let’s talk to Jeff. . .

derrick - Ok, pretend I don’t know where you’re going. . So . . Where ya goin? Can you share just a basic overview ?

Jeff - Yeah the idea is to try and circumnavigate as much of Scandinavia as possible, so we are leaving from Escape Kajak Centre in Gothenburg on the 4 March and heading North, trying to get as far North as we can by early May, then calling a halt to proceedings before picking up the Gauntlet later on in the year. We would ideally like to get beyond North Cape, but that’s in the hands of Neptune and Mother Nature!

derrick - It’s interesting that you’re going to do this trip spread over a number of years. Does that make it any harder to keep focused on the goal? I can’t imagine planning 3 years ahead.

Jeff - Yes it does, but also it takes out a lot of the pressure of having to meet a predetermined deadline, one of the most frustrating parts of both Japan and South Georgia was having to pass places you really wanted to just hang fire on and explore.

derrick - You say an expedition does not really start until you’ve been gone a couple weeks and you’ve had the opportunity to shake off the cobwebs left by the world. You also say on your website that the ideal trip for you is one where you are going to be away for at least a couple months. Can you expand on that?

Jeff - Yes I can, I don’t know about you guys out there, but for me I don’t really get into the groove until I’ve been away from society en-masse for several weeks, then you begin to focus on what’s really important to your survival, weather-environment-food-water-choice of campsite, you start to feel what’s going on around you rather than having it reported to you, you listen to your body, aspects to your life are rearranged, simplified, priorities change, it takes at least a couple of weeks to feel these things transfer over.

derrick - On the other hand, when you get home again you have to slide back into those cobwebs. I think we talk a lot about the trip but could you tell us a bit about re-adjusting when you return?

Jeff - That’s the hardest part, I used to scoff at the ’sensory overload’ comments you hear people comment on, it so true though, when I look back to the Japan trip, we finished with only hours to spare before we had to leave the country, one day we were struggling in fog as thick as pea soup and swells which rolled and crashed upon the shores of Chiba, next day we were stepping onto the tarmac of Heathrow airport, I was in a state of shock without knowing it for weeks! It’s been the downfall of many aspects to what you might consider a normal life.

derrick - Regarding the Scandinavia trip I read that this was something you had wanted to do for some time. Did the stars just align recently?

Jeff - Yes I suppose they did, I delivered a yacht to Larvik several years ago and thought then, what a fascinating country, my family have Scandinavian ancestry and I wanted to research that aspect too, as well as the environment, the mountains, especially around the Lofoten area look as if they are straight out of a Tolkien story.

derrick - How’d you and Mark Schoon come together on this one?

Jeff - I met Mark in Georgia a couple of years ago, we were both guest instructors and I invited him across to Cornwall paddling, he reciprocated and I visited him in Maine. He’s such a laid back guy, I know we are going to get along just fine.

derrick - Scandinavia, South Georgia. I have to ask, what’s the attraction to cold?

Jeff - I’m not averse to the heat, its more chance than choice, I’ve got to say I prefer to paddle cold than hot, and love to breathe the cold crisp air you seem to get in the polar regions.

derrick - This trip you will be using the expedition to raise awareness for two charities in the UK, the Ovarian Cancer Action charity and the Children’s Hospice South west. How did you come to choose these charities?

Jeff - A friend of mine recently lost her Mother to Ovarian Cancer and I said I would try to raise awareness on what’s often termed as ‘the silent killer’ and the CHSW because I found out that in my region of the South West we have almost 1000 children who are terminally ill, and yet have no hospice to support them or their families, I want to help change this and feel I can use this expedition to help do so.

derrick - So, maybe you can help me with some homework. I’m doing a presentation at Canoecopia here in a week on planning your first expedition. I think a lot of paddlers imagine doing these sorts of trips but just feel its never in the cards as it were. Any thoughts on bridging that gap from imagination to reality?

Jeff - For me it came about quite traumatically, I’d been struggling for years to fit into a marriage that didn’t work, a lifestyle that wasn’t me, I had to let go of lots before I could go and do something as big as Japan. It needn’t be so, there’s nothing to stop you taking it step by step, increasing your horizons gradually, matching skill to environment and expanding our comfort zones. I know when I got to a point where I was at an all time low I just returned to the dreams I had cherished as a child and started to live them out.

derrick - Last question. You’re going to leave SKC in the hands of Simon while you’re gone. . .Really?. . . no. . Really?

Jeff - Haha I know, should I really? No I have every confidence in Simon, he’s a fantastic coach, cherishes it as much as I do and will do well while I’m away…..no really. .

Thanks Jeff!  Enjoy, have fun!  Jeff will be posting his insights along the way on their trip blog so be sure to check that out as well. Below are some links where you can find out more about the Scandinavian Adventure and world according to Jeff.

• Trip Homepage
• BBC Radio Interview - Day 1
• Ovarian Cancer Action - Donate
• Children’s Hospice South west - Donate
• Jeff’s New Website
• Visit Mark & Mel at Carpe Diem
• Sea Kayaking Cornwall