South West Sea Kayaking

THANKING THE DARTMOOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM ASHBURTON

The photo above shows my home village, Corfe Castle. I live near the foot of  the castle, and several times a week since last November, I have run up the hill behind. In an obscure private joke, I call this route ‘The Two Towers’.

My runs always begin with a 300 foot climb to the first telecommunications tower on the hill; this is just visible if you follow the snowy path visible behind the castle with your eyes. I then run along the length of the ridge, climbing another 300 foot to the second tower which overlooks Swanage and the sea. Depending upon how far I’m supposed to be running, I then either double back along the ridge to Corfe, or I drop down to the left into Rempstone Forest towards  the shores of Poole Harbour, or I drop down to the right onto Swanage beach before the long climb up onto the parallel ridge which leads back to Corfe via the coast around Worth Matravers. I have run the ‘Two Towers’ at dawn, at dusk, at night, in rain, snow, sunshine and fog. I have fallen on my arse in slippy ice, and I’ve struggled through deep mud. I’ve even collided in the dark with a camoflagued military outpost up there. None of this has been masochistic though, I have genuinely loved every moment.

On 21st November last year, my very good friend Chris Wheeler died in an accident on the River Dart on flood, after becoming pinned in trees. Usually, when something goes wrong in white water kayaking, it is because someone is somewhere that is inappropriate to their experience and ability, or because paddling conditions have changed unexpectedly. On this day, we were exactly where we were supposed to be and wanted to be, in exactly the conditions that we had sought out. Chris was an expert paddler, comfortably enjoying expert conditions with which he was very familiar, on his favourite section of river. His death was a shocking and brutal reminder that sometimes, accidents just happen. We battled to save Chris, however we were not successful. There is no real positive side to this accident, however I personally am glad that I was with my friend at the end.

After we had retrieved our friend from the river, two of the group went for help before night fell, whilst the remaining two of us stayed with Chris to wait for the emergency services. A helicopter from RAF Chivenor located us after a few hours, turning night into day with its searchlights. Due to the dense trees and steep valley sides, it could not however land. It was nearly six hours after the accident when three parties from Dartmoor Rescue Group (Dartmoor’s Mountain Rescue service) converged on us from different directions. We two paddlers were soon walking out of the valley and – after a short helicopter lift – were quickly reunited with our wives. The volunteers of the DRG however stayed at the location of the accident and spent most of the night retrieving Chris from the valley.

I had entered the North Dorset Village Marathon a month before Chris’s death; a marathon is simply something I’ve always wanted to try. When I told him about my entry, Chris laughed at my obvious mid-life crisis; it’s no coincidence that the race is a few weeks before my 40th birthday! However, the endless running done in training for the marathon has taken on an unforeseen significance for me; the running has given me a much needed outlet to privately think through losing Chris, to enjoy memories of my friend and to begin to grieve.

I am primarily attempting the marathon for my own enjoyment, and my only objective on the day is personal survival(!), however I am also keen to take every opportunity to thank the Dartmoor Rescue Group, especially the DSRT Ashburton, for their selfless and professional help on the night of 21st/22nd November 2009. Hence, I would be very grateful if you would consider donating to them via this link;

THANKING THE DARTMOOR SEARCH AND RESCUE TEAM ASHBURTON

 Thanks for considering this,

Mark Rainsley.