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Sean's Diary
Wed, March 1, 2006 - Iceland is Off! |
Hello Folks,
I have some disappointing news; despite my best efforts I have been unable to raise anything like the sponsorship I needed to allow my expedition to Iceland to go ahead. I have had to make the difficult decision to cancel my plans to attempt the first solo circumnavigation of this incredible island.
Whilst I have continued to have superb support from paddling gear supplier YAK and my new boat sponsor Valley Sea Kayaks, I really needed some hard cash to cover the shortfall in my income from taking yet more unpaid leave and to cover the costs of an expedition to one of the most expensive countries in the world. Unfortunately it seems that the success of my 2004 expedition around the UK and Ireland was not enough to convince potential sponsors that I am worth investing in. It is frustrating when you see the amount of money being thrown at professional sports but there is no point getting downhearted – there is plenty more to do in life!
One of the most disappointing aspects is that I will not be able to raise the money I had hoped for ShelterBox. Please take the time to visit their website (www.shelterbox.org.uk) and considering sending a donation anyway. You can rest assured that when the next major disaster occurs, wherever in the world, ShelterBox will be delivering lifesaving equipment to the people that need it. Families made homeless by the East Asia earthquake are living in tents supplied by ShelterBox in the snowfields of Northern Pakistan that would almost certainly have died without them.
As one door closes another door opens and I am fortunate enough to be going to the Santa Cruz Kayak Surf Festival in March, thanks to the support of Valley Sea Kayaks who have helped to pay for my flight. I will be using their new ‘Rush’ surf kayak in the competition held at the renowned big wave reef break at Steamer Lane. It will be my first surf competition for nearly sixteen years so I am very excited about it and a little nervous but having helped Valley design the ‘Rush’ and been totally stoked by the way it performs in big surf it is time to put it and myself to the test against the world’s best.
In April I hope to go to the European Championships being held at Mundaka in Spain which will be the venue of the World Champs in 2007.
Easter means DW and this year I have the privilege of taking part in the 125 mile Devizes to Westminster Canoe Race with my wife Linda in mixed K2. We have been training hard through these last bitterly cold weeks and we just hope it pays off when it comes to the race which could be a slow one again unless we have a significant amount of rain to raise water levels in the Thames.
I plan to use the summer to attempt a couple of records in the super fast Rapier 20 manufactured by Valley Sea Kayaks including the fastest crossing of the North Sea and a non stop circumnavigation of the Channel Islands and in August Linda and I will be taking on one the most difficult and exciting sea kayak races in the world; the 141km Madeira em Canoa (Round Madeira Race).
You may recall that we have plans for the Expeditionkayak website and these are progressing, albeit rather slowly due to the Icetea web design team being incredibly busy with stuff that pays real money but please be patient and before too long you should see a whole new look to the site which will feature kayak expeditions by all sorts of different folk around the world. If you have an expedition you would like us to feature on the site then please do get in touch (sean@expeditionkayak.com).
Finally I would just like to thank everyone who had offered their support for the Iceland expedition including several kayakers from Iceland who have given me valuable advice during my planning phase. I understand American Chris Duff may be planning a solo circumnavigation this year and I wish him luck both in getting there and completing the circle. If not I am sure it will not be long before one of the many talented Icelandic sea kayakers takes on the challenge which remains one of the most difficult sea kayak expeditions in the world.
Sean Morley
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| » Sun, October 9, 2005 - Expeditionkayak update - October 2005 |
| » Fri, March 4, 2005 - South Georgia next... |
| » Tue, December 14, 2004 - Charity fund reaches ?7,000! |
| » Tue, December 14, 2004 - A tough 24 hours! |
| » Thu, September 23, 2004 - A home-coming to Fowey |
| » Tue, September 21, 2004 - Cornwall at last! |
| » Sun, September 19, 2004 - Brixham to Salcombe |
| » Sat, September 18, 2004 - Brixham Seawatch |
| » Fri, September 17, 2004 - Moving again, but for how long? |
| » Tue, September 14, 2004 - Laid up at Lyme Regis |
| » Sat, September 11, 2004 - The journey continues... |
| » Thu, September 9, 2004 - A brave decision? You be the judge... |
| » Wed, September 8, 2004 - Helming ?2million of lifeboat... |
| » Tue, September 7, 2004 - Waiting at Weymouth... |
| » Sun, September 5, 2004 - Cruising the South Coast |
| » Tue, August 31, 2004 - Beachy Head and bare bottoms! |
| » Mon, August 30, 2004 - A trial of endurance, and that's just the diary! |
| » Thu, August 19, 2004 - The start of the long haul south... |
| » Mon, August 16, 2004 - Mainland Scotland, Castles and Harbours and the dreaded Haar |
| » Tue, August 10, 2004 - Shetland to Fair Isle |
| » Fri, August 6, 2004 - Heading South |
| » Wed, August 4, 2004 - Farthest North |
| » Sun, August 1, 2004 - Arriving in Shetland |
| » Thu, July 22, 2004 - Cape Wrath to Orkney |
| » Mon, July 12, 2004 - Back across the Minch |
| » Mon, July 12, 2004 - Seatrek to St Kilda |
| » Sat, July 3, 2004 - Watching otters, waiting for the weather... |
| » Sat, July 3, 2004 - Racing up the Uists |
| » Thu, July 1, 2004 - Approaching Halfway!! |
| » Thu, July 1, 2004 - Island Hopping through the Inner Hebrides |
| » Sat, June 19, 2004 - Goodbye Ireland, it?s been great? |
| » Thu, June 17, 2004 - Weatherbound at Portrush |
| » Wed, June 16, 2004 - It?s good to be back! |
| » Tue, June 15, 2004 - Waiting for a bus... |
| » Fri, June 11, 2004 - Slowly but surely... |
| » Sun, June 6, 2004 - Down time in Donegal |
| » Thu, June 3, 2004 - Surfing Dolphins |
| » Wed, May 26, 2004 - Connemara Dreamtime |
| » Tue, May 25, 2004 - To the Aran Islands |
| » Sat, May 22, 2004 - Farthest West |
| » Fri, May 21, 2004 - Baltimore - my favourite place on the planet |
| » Sat, May 15, 2004 - From the Irish to the Celtic Sea |
| » Sat, May 15, 2004 - Across Dublin Bay |
| » Mon, May 10, 2004 - Wednesday 5th May |
| » Fri, May 7, 2004 - New Month, New Country! |
| » Thu, April 29, 2004 - Waitig for the Weather |
| » Tue, April 27, 2004 - Glassy Days on Liverpool Bay |
| » Fri, April 23, 2004 - Stacks and Tide Races - Friday 23/04/04 |
| » Fri, April 23, 2004 - Blasted up the North Wales coast by the wind |
| » Sun, April 18, 2004 - Puffins Galore! |
| » Thu, April 15, 2004 - Lundy to Wales |
| » Tue, April 13, 2004 - Diary 13/04/04 |
| » Tue, April 13, 2004 - Diary 12/04/04 |
| » Tue, April 13, 2004 - Diary 11/04/04 |
| » Sun, April 11, 2004 - A perfect day! |
| » Sat, April 10, 2004 - Diary entry 090404 |
| » Tue, April 6, 2004 - Land's End or bust! |
| » Mon, April 5, 2004 - Tall Ship in Mount's Bay |
| » Sun, April 4, 2004 - A tough 24 hours! |
| » Tue, March 30, 2004 - Less than a week to go! |
| » Wed, March 10, 2004 - LESS THAN FOUR WEEKS TO GO! |
| » Sat, January 24, 2004 - London Boat Show |
| » Sat, November 1, 2003 - My Challenge! |
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