With the onslaught of all the wet weather we have been having over the last few weeks, paddling on the river Severn has been near impossible. So we found alternative water ways to train on.

Some opted for Whitewater up in mid Wales,

and some the Gloucester Sharpness canal. Although with driving rain and gusts on non moving water, it was slower paddling that we are expecting on the river. Training in this kind of weather has given us plenty to think about regarding kit, and we are also picking up small techniques  to aid paddling. One of these is aiming for flat water out of the choppy areas and looking for cover out of direct wind.

Plans are coming along nicely with the end section of our trip around the tidal stretch. We recently met with Severn Area Rescue Association (SARA) who gave us plenty of great advice, and have also offered to escort us on our last day. We will hopefully finish at the SARA station in Sharpness! It also gave us a chance to check out the boats that SARA use.

Finally, something for you to watch if you get a few minutes, yes it's the Christmas video we made:



More updates to come from all the Source2Sea2013 team, Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas! 

A few updates for you:

I recently visited Sever Area Rescue Association (SARA) to discuss where and how we would be ending our trip if all goes well. Simple you might think, but in fact the stretch of river from Gloucester to Sharpness is actually very dangerous! Mud banks, channels, whirlpools, strong currents and the Severn Bore, means the advice we were given has changed plans slightly. Safety is a priority for us, and SARA have kindly offered to help us navigate the very last sections with a support boat, and we get to end our adventure at the lifeboat station at Sharpness! 

We will soon have our charity page online if you have any spare pennies to send us. All four charities will be announced as soon as its online.

The Christmas period is time for us to get some paddling in, so stay tuned for some winter shots.

Finally we took some time to take on the Severn Bore on the weekend, dressed in a santa outfit! The picture above shows why we will be respecting the tides we will be facing in April!

Thank you to all for your support so far, we really appreciate it!

Merry Christmas! 

So why are we confident about using inflatable boards from the Red paddle Co on such a tricky journey? Well as the video above shows, they have already been tested for toughness in the ultimate set of tests! Knowing the boards are capable of taking so much abuse gives us confidence, especially as we may encounter, submerged trees, rocks and each other!