The Roof of Britain 2018 - Part 3

Sea Kayaking Anglesey | Wales - The Roof of Britain (RoB) 2018

Johana approaching The Old Man of Stoer.

Part three of the last three years picks up on the start of one BIG Adventure, with Around Wales in 2010 through to the 2018 Roof of Britain expedition and the preparation involved.

In the Beginning

It was back in 2010 when Roger first thought of a big commercial expedition. He was keen to share a significant experience, an adventure with others. The reality is sometimes our friends are not interested in making a BIG trip, and he wondered if there would be enough interest.  Roger was also hoping that the experience could be a springboard towards greater independence.

Around Wales in 2011, with Di, Sue, Paul and Sonja in van support for the canal section. Di named the expedition and wrote in two parts an article "Eat, Sleep Paddle -part 1"  and part 2. It certainly got Roger thinking about the future potential with something more remote and the Roof of Britain seemed to tick the boxes!

To catch up you can read about the two previous RoB expeditions on a blog for the 2015 and 2017. The 2015 blog was written by the group.

The Roof of Britain 2018

The third Roof of Britain was with two very focused Swedish paddlers - Johanna and Anders.  We had a few super windy days, and down to the in-depth preparation from both Johanna and Anders, we managed a few huge days.  This which meant we stayed ahead of the storms. 

We had some fantastic weather at times and the last couple of days down the Great Glen were outstanding. The short film below catches a few of the highlights.

Preparation

With each of the BIG expeditions, preparation has been a critical component, with time on the water, putting the miles down in training, checking kit and equipment is up for the job and considering food. What tastes good, provides the calories and also agrees with me. With around Wales, Roger got a great deal on energy bars. But, they all tasted the same - variety, for me, is the key!

Cross-training becomes super useful from getting out on that bike or a run and putting down the distance to yoga and core work in a class, gym, your own or online practice. It's about getting the body and mind in the right place. They are both linked after all. Roger has found that if he knows he can paddle 50km in a Beaufort force (Bf) 4/5 tailwind before atrip, his confidence is in a realistic and robust place. This, for example, allows him to manage a (Bf) f5/6, 30km downwind paddle. He thinks of the time spent in 2mt waves playing in that tide race, responding to hits and the dynamic rough water. It comes back to physical and mental capacity, which Roger mentioned in the previous blog.   

In my next blog, I'll look at my Stand up Paddleboard (SUP) around Anglesey, the third person in total and the first person solo. What motivated me, and why? 

The Last Three Years - Part One

Sea kayaking North Wales, Anglesey - wind against tide on the Menai Straits.

A lot has gone on since my last blog, three years ago about Stand Up Paddleboarding (SUP) around Menorca.  What's happened since then and what's new? Over the next few weeks, I'll aim to update and share some information about what's been going on. Then I'll move to one blog once a month.

What I can tell you now is, 2017 was a pretty fantastic year!  

Kayak and Climb - NW Greenland Expedition and the area we paddled into 

Kayak and Climb - NW Greenland

Back in March 2017, I first mentioned my opportunity to go to NW Greenland. Good friend Olly Sanders had been many times before to Greenland, while for me it was to be my first time. The plan was to spend 20 days self-contained, locate new rock climbs and climb them! 

Once afloat, I found the first few days trying. I was used to having a goal with either a linear journey with a defined finish or a circumnavigation, which meant getting back to the start. We were looking for suitable, stable and firm rock to climb and ideally, bigger and more prominent rock faces so that multi-pitch routes could be created and climbed. Some days we paddled less than 10km, and we may have landed 4-5 times to walk into possible climbing venues. If we found something, we then looked for a campsite. The exploration I started to enjoy, it was a different approach, it had less pressure, and I began to relax.

What did we do for food? We shipped out to Greenland a 220lt barrel, with our crampons, ice ace, climbing racks, rope and 20 days of 2 person packs of food. The food packs included breakfast, lunch, snacks and dinner and were double bagged and tightly bound in gaffer tape to reduce their size. A fun element at the end of the day, was when we pulled out the next day's rations as neither of us knew what was in a pack. The variety was the key!

Roger Chandler - 'Looking on Greenland kayak and climb expedition ' -photo by Olly Sanders

We both were shocked by the amount of plastic we found on beaches and on one beach that we stayed for a few nights, we filled 7 IKEA bags of plastic. We burnt some of this, and more robust plastic we buried at the top of the beach. Sadly our feeling was that this had mostly come from local villages, where the waste tends to be burnt or not as the case may be. We also discovered, due to the location of the waste disposal facility rubbish can easily fall into the sea.

Seeing icebergs close up, from a sea kayak is pretty unique ( it was on my list of 50 things to do in my 50's) and the rock structures in the area are truly stunning. During the 20 days, we saw no whales but spotted a couple of hesitant and distant seals, many sea birds and of course the wonderful Arctic fox on our last nights camp was exceptional.

In total, we climbed three single pitch and three multi-pitch rock climbs (Olly did the leading), with two further summits achieved and my connection to the Arctic was born! 

I want to thank again the support we received from the Arctic Club and Olly for asking me, in the first place. You can see a further account by Olly regarding our expedition here.

It took me another two years to create a short film from my footage!

My next blog will look at the classic, sea kayak surf and tide race training courses, based on Anglesey, Wales. The opening photo above is of Anita over from Switzerland, enjoying the waves. We will consider what goes into a session and why the courses have become such a success. 

Roof of Britain (RoB) 2017 - Fort William to Inverness, the 'Salty' Version!

The plan had always been to do the complete loop, linking up the West and East coast with the Great Glen.  A journey of 800km.  Yet time was running out for us and at Thurso on the North coast and informal decision, or was it a thought, that was made to get to Inverness. This way we had a clear start and finish and a salty version of the RoB.  This felt right and

as long as bodies held out and the weather played ball it was possible.  

The start at Corpack with Ben Nevis in snow!!

My Facebook feed from the 16th April 2017, has the daily action here.   I'm going to keep this Blog to the bare bones, with a summary, facts and my favourite ten photos.

looking up the Sound of Mull

• From GPS our total distance was 727km
• 27 days in total with 8 days off, with 6 storm days and 2 days were we arrived earlier and decided to use the benefit of a public camp or caravan sight, to wait out the storm.  In both cases this really paid off, so good sleep was had and we could each refuel.

Tobermory, Isle of Mull, with Don, Craig, Alan, Gerry and Roger

Sunrise, just North of Tobermorry (Mull) and our first early start

• Longest day was day 25, with 67km and this was Wick on the East coast to 8km South of Helmsdale.  6 hours on a flood Spring tide and then paddling close in along a spectacular coastline with thousands of sea birds. A 13 hour day.

Gairloch, after a snow storm

• Shortest distance was day 1, after leaving a car to Inverness and packing the boats at Corpack (N of Fort William) to the Corran Narrows - 16km

• Our most efficient distance was our last day.  Day 27 Cromarty to Inverness, 45km in under 5 hours!
• 11 wild camps,   7 public camps, 1 at a hostel, 4 in a caravan, 2 accommodation connected to a pub and 1 night on a floor (brother in law of Alan's).

Arrival at the stunning Sandwood Bay NW Scotland

Sandwood Bay was totally magic!

• On 17 beaches we did a 2 minute Nurdle hunt and we found none.  This came as a surprise, but is great!  We also only found 2 cotton ear buds and details have been sent to FEDRA and the Great Nurdle Hunt

Duncansby Head and we're on the East coast!

• We saw many sea ducks, red and black throated divers as well as great northern, 2 white tailed sea eagles, 7-9 otters, 4 pods of dolphins (common, risso and 2 bottlenosed), submarine motoring along 1-2km North Rona, 2 artic skua's, puffins from around the Gairlock area and my first time hearing puffins calling was at Thurso.  Many other sea birds with the most prolific on the east coast south of Wick.
• We camped/bivied at Sandwood bay (last sandy beach before Cape Wrath and landed for a break at Kervaig (first sandy beach on the North coast).  Both are in amazing locations and two places I thought it would take along time to get the right weather, to be able to visit!!

Bringing the journey to an end at Inverness ...

As with most big trips, there's is always those that help to keep things moving forwards and after so many snapped tent poles with Gerrys F10 tent, Kate Duffus and a chance meeting helped with similar diameter poles.  The hostel at Lochinver was ace in receiving a new set of poles.  Sue (Alan's friend), was a great help and took both Gerry and Alan across to collect while we were off the water in the Summer Isles.  Alan's brother in law did us proudly when we arrived in Cromarty at 20:00 at his front door, having never received a text and the pub had stopped serving food!  Thanks for the many super messages on social media of information, support and encouragement.

Below is a short film I had edited and created. 

Big thanks to Sonja for managing the bookings while I was away and doing a super job.

Dates for the Roof of Britain and One Big Adventure 2018 (1BG) will be out soon, so if your interested and want more information, have a look here or email me at roger@coastalspirit.com 

Thanks, 

Roger