I love being outside, and for most of my life I have been doing hectic sports -showjumping, eventing, skiing, 4×4 winch challenges, scuba diving, caving, cave-diving…… They all tick a box for me, real physical effort, technical challenge and being outside where I can appreciate the world around me. None of them has been easy, they all demand intense technical learning, the right motor skills and constant work to stay fit and sufficiently ahead of my game to stay safe.
Years ago I started kayaking to try and overcome my fear of water. I will never forget being the only one in the class who, when asked to swim two lengths of the swimming pool climbed down the steps instead of diving in confidently. OK, so it took me longer, and style was non-existent, but I swam my two lengths and the instructor then made me guinea-pig for the class and sat me in the B.A.T first. “Tip it over”, he said… I thought he was mad, I was more than terrified, but I did it and by the end of the session was pretty good at getting out of it… Who wouldn’t be?
The battle to overcome my fear of water continued when I met my husband and learned to dive. When I started I couldn’t even do a duck dive and to complete a ‘ditch and retrieve’ of kit in 4m (yes, it was no ordinary swimming pool where I learned, it was where the Special Boat Squadron train), took most of the Winter. But I did it and went on to become a ‘technical diver’, mix my own gases, dive deep and dive in caves.
I’ve learned that fear doesn’t go away, we simply learn to manage it and so even now I’m not confident in (or on!) water. You will see through my blogs that I will gradually find ways to deal with new mental and physical challenges that come with canoe touring. Now, for many of you, this might seem minor stuff, but we all have some thing which we believe could be our nemesis, though it probably won’t be.
So, why go paddling? What really drives me is the amazing perspective we can get from seeing Britain from the river, seeing our wildlife, experiencing the change of the seasons, the fabulous views and the people that we meet. I hope you will join me on my journey; we have some great plans for this year and have already made some trips (which you might like to read about).
AC Canoe Adventures 