I grew up by the sea, as a family we enjoyed many adventures sailing our boat around the south of England, France, Channel Islands and the Isles of Scilly. In 1994 I started work in outdoor education and discovered sea kayaking, I loved it and that year experienced my first sea kayak expedition to the Hebrides and I was hooked.
I have tried all areas of the sport, completing the devices to Westminster canoe race twice, a gold medal in my category in the British National marathon championships, raced at national level for Sprint races, wild water racing, surf kayaking, dragon boating and expedition canoeing. My main focus in my own time is on Sea paddling I enjoy spending time coaching as well as expeditions, whilst at work I coach canoe adventures for staff and students on the lakes and rivers of the Lake District.
On the personal paddling side I have done many expeditions both in the UK as well as various places around the world, these have included a circumnavigation of Great Britain and Ireland, paddling the South West Coast of Australia, circumnavigating the Hong Kong Territories, The Falkland Islands, Israel coast and areas of Sri Lanka and Vancouver Island.
I have lead groups and coached at Symposiums on the coasts of Northern and Southern Spain, Gibraltar straits, East and West coast of North America and Alaska. The challenge and enjoyment I get is endless, I am constantly full of thoughts of places I would like to paddle only time will tell if I am able to do them.
My main choice of boat has been an Explorer, it’s a great all round work boat, whilst maintaining speed it works well in surf, tidal races and on expeditions.
On my Great Britain and Ireland trip I paddled a Greenlander Race, this was a great boat with good waterline length for speed, it had great storage capacity and was incredibly stable and steady when loaded with expedition kit.
My preferred play boat is a Romany Surf, it is stable, manoeuvrable in waves and good fun.
Paddling resume includes
- Level 5 sea A5
- Aspirant Level 5 coach Open Canoe A3
- Level 3 coach Inland A3
- Level 3 coach Surf and 5 star trained
- Level 2 coach Placid Water A1.
