The paddler in the picture is Mrs Rainsley. I quite like her, so I married her. She will be joining me for much of the paddling this year and helping with photography, proof-reading, etc. She also knows all manner of really useful things about ecology, geology and botany…no doubt she’ll be jotting down some contributions for the book on this theme.
The photo shows Mrs R paddling in the Isles of Scilly, back in 2003. This is a group of tiny low lying islands, located 28 miles off the western tip of Cornwall. Being plonked firmly out in the Gulf Stream, the Isles have a very mild climate and all manner of semi-tropical plants flourish there. The white sandy beaches are almost Caribbean in appearance, yet the islands are surrounded by serrated rocks and reefs which are much more in tune with the north Atlantic environment.
During our holiday in 2003, we paddled to all of the main islands and took detailed notes and numerous photos. As a result, we have no real need to go back there at all for the purposes of the book. Despite this, we have scheduled a week-long return trip to the Isles of Scilly for May/June this year. This is the only paddling that we have pre-planned out of our entire year’s itinerary.
Q. Why are we going back to the Isles of Scilly, when we don’t actually need to?
A. Because we are very dedicated and conscientious.
Mark, I hope you’ll be mentioning the local ‘Ales of Scillies’ brews - Scuppered & HeadSplitter - and warning sea kayakers of the impact these have on your ability to sea kayak next morning.
I’m not familiar with this stuff, so will be sure to investigate it thoroughly.