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The 142 page April issue 7 of ThePaddler ezine Fantastic features include Peru WW (Florian Fischer), Beas Gorge WW (Steve Brooks), Canadian Trans Territorial open canoe expedition (Peter Marshall), Irish Surfski (Marty McCann), Delaware River kayak (Scott Edwards), sea kayaking Bay of Fundy (Werner Ostermann), Tao Berman (interview), Suzie Cooney (SUP essentials), South Carolina SUP (Leslie Kolovich), European SUP scene (Jason Pereira), Simon Everett (kayak fishing), Phil Carr (review), Terry Wright (review) and maybe a surprise or two… Share on Facebook

england to finland

England to Finland:
A sea kayaking challenge

Three students from Warwick University, Alice Lawson (22), Erin Dunn (22) and Mark Waddoups (20), have set out to kayak around 1,600 miles from Dover to Helsinki, hoping to raise £10,000 for charity. As far as they aware the entirety of this route has never been completed by anyone in a sea kayak before.

Alice is from Bromley, where she studied at Bullers Wood School, Erin originates from Leeds where she studied at Notre Dame catholic sixth form college and Mark is from Taunton, where he studied at Taunton School. Through their time at Warwick University they have all become involved with the canoe club and as two of them leave and Erin enters her final year, they gained a type of university funding the ‘Lord Rootes Fund’ to allow them to make this epic trip.

This fund will help with their training and to cover the costs of a safety boat, which is a requirement for the channel crossing. The group who all belong to Warwick Canoe Club are at this moment (16th July) in Belgium. They will then follow up the European Coast, along the side of the North Sea, before taking the Kiel Canal through Germany. The route will taken them along the coast of Denmark and Sweden, before finally arriving in Finland in early September!

Erin Dunn, Alice Lawson and Mark Waddoups have each chosen a charity to fund raise for, Erin, Cystic Fibrosis Trust, Mark, Alzheimer’s Research UK and Alice, Macmillan Cancer Support. Moreover, they could not be doing this trip without sponsorship from supporting companies; they are being loaned kayaks from P&H, paddles from Mitchell Blades, dry bags from Overboard, discounted kayaking gear from Surflines, camping gear from AMG Group, cameras from BulletHD and VHF radios from Standard Horizon.

Alice said:
"I knew that at university I wanted to try something different that I had never done before, so I joined Warwick Canoe Club. I really enjoyed the white water kayaking trips that I went on with the club. I also went on a fantastic sea kayaking expedition to Sweden with a group of friends in the summer of my second year. I knew I wanted to do something big at the end of my time university, like going travelling. Someone suggested that a sea kayaking expedition could be fun, and gradually the plan of kayaking to Finland hatched from there. I asked around and found other people who may be interested, and my good friend Mark came on board, followed later by another friend Erin deciding to join us. We gradually gained some university funding and sponsorship from various companies and our trip went from being a plan to a reality! We also decided early on that it would be great to raise money for charity, as the trip will undoubtedly be an adventure, but will also be a massive challenge for us, with us needing to kayak over 1,600 miles to get to Finland! I choose Macmillan Cancer Support as my charity as I think it is a really worthy cause."

Erin said:
"I've been white-water kayaking with the Warwick Canoe Club over the past three years, whilst studying engineering. Other than a bit of kayak surfing, I had never done any sea kayaking before this year. Since the first time we went out sea kayaking in Anglesey with our coach Roger, I have really enjoyed it. This summer is going to be a brilliant challenge; I'm excited to see so many different places along the way. I'm also raising money for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, which is a really worthwhile cause. We're hoping to raise over £3,000 for each charity, meeting a target of £10,000 which would really be amazing."

Mark said:
"I’ve always had a great interest in outdoor pursuits, enjoying outdoor expeditions from a young age. I got into kayaking, as it’s a real adrenaline rush, and a great way to keep up fitness and see parts of the world you might never see otherwise, from perspectives viewed by very few people. As a student graduating in mathematics, I know this could be one of the last chances I have to see the world and really take time to do something extraordinary - when Alice proposed kayaking to Finland, I couldn’t say no. The training and preparation has since dominated my last year, but there is never a dull moment and I can’t wait to get going. I’ve also used it as an opportunity to raise money for Alzheimer’s Research UK, a charity close to my heart as my grandmother recently passed away as a result of the disease. I really want to promote adventure to the student population - this is the last chance for many people to do something spectacular before entering the ‘real world’, and even the skills I’ve gained so far have been worth it!"

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