Fancy kayaking around the Cornish coast to raise money for the Marine Conservation Society?

That’s a basking shark’s fin, by the way – they grow up to 26ft long, but eat plankton rather than humans. The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the UK’s leading marine charity, is behind a fantastic opportunity to see one of the most spectacular parts of the UK’s coastline from a kayak, as part of an expedition led by seasoned paddlers.

For a fourth year, MCS is organising a kayak challenge to help raise funds for its vital conservation work, and after two events around the Isles of Scilly, the five day paddle-fest returns to Cornwall, where it began in 2014.

The challenge

Sea kayaking is an amazing way to travel: imagine a 17 foot long, sleek and beautiful boat that allows you to carve through the water at 4 knots crossing bays and rounding headlands to then ‘nose’ into caves, gullies and archways like no other craft can do. With no engine the effect on the environment is minimal; sea birds glide past within inches, seals gather feet away hoping to play and the paddler feels totally ‘at one’ with their breathtaking surroundings.

Moving from the sheltered waters of the reservoir where we will do our initial training we will head to the Carrick Roads estuary by Falmouth.  This will allow us to paddle west, exploring the relatively sheltered and beautiful coastline towards Rosmullion Head and then eastwards past the delightful Towan Beach to have lunch at Portscatho and on to the austere cliffs of Nare Head.  Equipped with new found paddling skills we can now head for the challenging North Coast, visiting the breathtaking smugglers cove of ‘Ralph’s Cupboard’, the beautifully named Samphire Island and the ominously named ‘Deadman’s Cove’.  With favourable weather conditions we will finally head out into the more serious Atlantic swell off the western coast of the Lizard Peninsula, leaving the security of the wonderfully sheltered Mullion Cove, our ears ringing with the screech of seabirds as we head down towards the infamous ‘Lizard Point’ – a fitting end to five days of adventure on the ocean.

Funding your challenge

Participants can fund their trip in one of two ways;

either by paying an initial deposit of £95 and pledging to raise a further £600 for the Marine Conservation Society

or pay for their trip in full at a cost of £695.

Your guides

Nick and Philippa Arding, sea kayaked the length of Britain in 2013 for MCS, raising thousands of pounds for us. Philippa was our Fundraiser of the Year in the same year.

Nick Arding OBE, spent 23 years as an officer in the Royal Marines and led a Royal Navy expedition to climb the North Ridge of Mount Everest. Nick is a highly experienced rock climber and mountaineer, having climbed and ski toured in many areas across the world during the past 30 years. Nick is a trainer and coach in Remote First Aid and a BCU 5 star leader and Level 2 coach and ISKGA guide.

Phillippa Arding is an experienced expedition leader and a management and team building trainer. She was a successful amateur jump jockey for 17 years and her expedition experience includes leading young people and professional clients trekking in Kenya (Mt. Kenya), Pakistan, Poland, Peru, Tibet (Everest base camp), Ecuador and Morocco.

A previous kayaker said of their trip “it was a fantastic experience. My highlights were seeing the seals and being so close to the environment with such a good group of people.”

How you can help

Sponsorship raised from the Kayak Cornwall Challenge will help MCS continue to be the voice for the UK seas and work to ensure our beaches and seas are cleaner and our precious marine wildlife and habitats are protected from damaging activities. With your help we can make sure that future generations can kayak in our seas spotting turtles, basking sharks other species that are currently under threat. Thank you for supporting MCS’ vital work to protect our seas.

Details

Date: Saturday 6th May – Wednesday 10th May 2017

Location: Based from Port Mylor, Nr Falmouth

Group size: 6 – 18 people plus guides

Accommodation: Camping

Register your interest by e-mailing [email protected] or calling 01989 566017 and we will send you an application form and all the details.

Marine Conservation Society

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is the UK charity dedicated to protecting our seas, shores and wildlife. MCS campaigns for clean seas and beaches, sustainable fisheries, and protection of marine life. Through education, community involvement and collaboration, MCS raises awareness of the many threats that face our seas and promotes individual, industry and government action to protect the marine environment. MCS produces the annual Good Beach Guide, the Good Fish Guide on sustainable seafood, as well as involving thousands of volunteers in projects and surveys such as MCS Beachwatch and the Big Beach Clean-up. www.mcsuk.org.