I have been looking for a paddleboarding challenge in the UK and have been thinking about the UK channel crossing to France for a while. It is a tough challenge, requiring to paddle, mostly non-stop for approx 6-7 hours on the sea. The difficultly too is getting the right conditions for it. It can often be a case of being rung up and given a short window of a few days; so whilst we can plan for a date, the chances are fairly slim that we would be able to go then, so we would need to try to find a period of at least a few weeks where we could be ready to go! Neap tides offer the calmest conditions so that would determine when we would aim for.. (for e.g 1st to 8th June, 14th to 21st June, 30th June to 8th July)
I am looking for 2 (possibly 3) others to join me on this. You dont need to be an expert paddleboarder but just to have the commitment to put enough training in and commit to being fit and ready for next summer. I am based in London, but you can be from wherever - it would be good to be able to meet up/train and keep each other motivated. I have my own inflatable board (but may look at something else for the crossing). Ideally you will too. We would need a support boat, which costs about £1000 which we would split between us.
My background:
Im a 35 year old Visual Effects Artist living in London. I (like most of us on here), need to get outdoors as much as possible so I am often away on the weekends somewhere in the UK, or out of a mid-week campout. I have only been paddleboarding for less than a year but have fallen for it in a big way. last July I paddleboarded from Bristol to London with 3 other brilliant teammates from EC connect.
You can reach me at willphillips@gmail.com
Look forward to hearing from you!
(This is a non-commercial adventure)