We have met up with the Chris, Rich and Tim, the party of 3 we have been sharing logistics with to get to and from the Falklands as well as sharing local information. Thier blog site is seakayakingfalklands2009.blogspot.com
It feels like Tom and I are in the departure lounge on Tracey Island our Flight number is 'Romeo Romeo 3210' with an hour and five mins till take off. Tom is on good form he has already been lynched by security for taking photos of sensitive places. Next stop Acension Island sometime early in the morning.
Saturday, December 27, 2008
I am now on my way back to the UK to meet with Tom, after leaving my lovely dog Jet with my parents in France. Tom and I will be meeting up in the morning before travelling to the airport in the after noon.
We have come across a couple of websites one which gives a good insight as to what we can expect to see in the Islands once we get there. The other is a site which gives a 6 day forecast which will give and insight into what summer conditions are like in the Falklands.
www.weather-forecast.com/locations/PortStanley1/forecasts/latest
Fiona Whitehead
Friday, December 26, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Sponsors
Expedition supporters: The Outward Bound Trust, Nigel Dennis Kayaking, Lendal paddles, Extrasport, Eureka, Johnson Outdoors and Tiderace Sea Kayaks.
Donations
The potential cost of flight and Course fee for a three week Outward Bound Classic course is £3400, This cost has already been reduced by The Outward Bound Trust who have offered to support each student with a 50% bursary towards each course fee.
To give money to support the Young People of The Falkland Islands attending an Outward Bound Classic Course please send to:
Global Kayak Expeditions
c/o The Outward Bound Trust,
Ullswater Centre,
Watermillock,
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 0JL
(Cheques payable to: Global Kayak Expeditions)
To give money to support the Young People of The Falkland Islands attending an Outward Bound Classic Course please send to:
Global Kayak Expeditions
c/o The Outward Bound Trust,
Ullswater Centre,
Watermillock,
Penrith
Cumbria
CA11 0JL
(Cheques payable to: Global Kayak Expeditions)
Profile: Tom Parrick
I first started messing about in small boats when I was 11 years old, with friends on the river Thames at Benson in Oxfordshire. Our local (1st Benson) scout group fostered the activity and from then on I knew that all I wanted to do was paddle.
I studied Adventure Tourism Management at Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies where residential courses to Anglesey Sea & Surf Centre introduced me to sea kayaking and I developed a more serious interest; playing in the tidal races, rock hopping around the coast and surfing on the beaches and Stanley Embankment.
Paddling with Inspirational People/Coaches
First expedition (with University team) undertook paddling and white water rafting in Nepal. A self funded four-week trip, on the Trisuli, Seti and Kali Gandaki rivers, making improvised camps on the riverbank.
Four vacation summers were spent working with Maine Island Kayak Company. Coaching and Guiding parties of all ages on trips up to one week around the islands and spectacular coastline in Casco Bay. Surfing was good, fresh off the boat lobster even better!
Second expedition; On leave from MIKCo with two colleagues. A four-day sea kayaking trip from Petite Manan, Maine northward across the Canadian border to Lubec. Seals played along with us. We watched ‘The Old Sow’ – a famous large whirlpool (but didn’t go in).
Based in Aberdovey, Wales, I now work for The Outward Bound Trust and am reacquainted with white water paddling although a mini expedition to circumnavigate the Isle of Anglesey was impossible to resist! OB has also allowed a three-month secondment kayak coaching to OB Hong Kong.
Third expedition: Joined Fiona Whitehead’s circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland from Baltimore in SW Ireland to Tarbetness on the East coast of Scotland. A two-month trip and a very steep learning curve! Then paddled solo from Tartbetness down to Inverness along the Caledonian Canal to Fort William on the west coast.
And now the Falklands…
Expeditioning & Exploring new and different places is a recurring affliction; one great beauty about sea kayaks is the perspective gained from sitting at water level highlighting the massive spectacle of the coastline coupled with the ability to take a much closer look.
The Falkland Islands is geologically wide-ranging with a great diversity of wildlife, flora and fauna. The findings from our expedition will have much value to the local community. The coastline and tidal activity promises to be a truly exciting challenge.
Initially we look forward to the trip but equally we shall be eager to share our experiences with other enthusiasts on our return.
I studied Adventure Tourism Management at Birmingham College of Food, Tourism & Creative Studies where residential courses to Anglesey Sea & Surf Centre introduced me to sea kayaking and I developed a more serious interest; playing in the tidal races, rock hopping around the coast and surfing on the beaches and Stanley Embankment.
Paddling with Inspirational People/Coaches
First expedition (with University team) undertook paddling and white water rafting in Nepal. A self funded four-week trip, on the Trisuli, Seti and Kali Gandaki rivers, making improvised camps on the riverbank.
Four vacation summers were spent working with Maine Island Kayak Company. Coaching and Guiding parties of all ages on trips up to one week around the islands and spectacular coastline in Casco Bay. Surfing was good, fresh off the boat lobster even better!
Second expedition; On leave from MIKCo with two colleagues. A four-day sea kayaking trip from Petite Manan, Maine northward across the Canadian border to Lubec. Seals played along with us. We watched ‘The Old Sow’ – a famous large whirlpool (but didn’t go in).
Based in Aberdovey, Wales, I now work for The Outward Bound Trust and am reacquainted with white water paddling although a mini expedition to circumnavigate the Isle of Anglesey was impossible to resist! OB has also allowed a three-month secondment kayak coaching to OB Hong Kong.
Third expedition: Joined Fiona Whitehead’s circumnavigation of the UK and Ireland from Baltimore in SW Ireland to Tarbetness on the East coast of Scotland. A two-month trip and a very steep learning curve! Then paddled solo from Tartbetness down to Inverness along the Caledonian Canal to Fort William on the west coast.
And now the Falklands…
Expeditioning & Exploring new and different places is a recurring affliction; one great beauty about sea kayaks is the perspective gained from sitting at water level highlighting the massive spectacle of the coastline coupled with the ability to take a much closer look.
The Falkland Islands is geologically wide-ranging with a great diversity of wildlife, flora and fauna. The findings from our expedition will have much value to the local community. The coastline and tidal activity promises to be a truly exciting challenge.
Initially we look forward to the trip but equally we shall be eager to share our experiences with other enthusiasts on our return.
Profile: Fiona Whitehead
I started paddling in 1994, whilst working at a centre, I didn't enjoy my first impressions of paddle sport, it was in a GP boat on a cold, wet and windy day in which my instructor swam whilst trying to teach me to draw stroke. I persevered and a few months later I went on an expedition to the Outer Hebrides and that was it I was completely sold.
I am employed for The Outward Bound Trust for whom I have worked for the last seven years. My main role with them is to oversee the development and management of staff and students in their Lake District Centre based on Ullswater near Penrith.
I have tried all areas of the sport, the devices to Westminster canoe race, racing at British National marathon championships, racing at national level for Sprint races, wild water racing, surf kayaking and dragon boating. My main focus is on Sea paddling I enjoy spending time coaching as well as expeditions, recently I have also developed an enjoyment for Journeying by open canoe and I am now working towards my Level 5 coach canoe.
I am employed for The Outward Bound Trust for whom I have worked for the last seven years. My main role with them is to oversee the development and management of staff and students in their Lake District Centre based on Ullswater near Penrith.
I have tried all areas of the sport, the devices to Westminster canoe race, racing at British National marathon championships, racing at national level for Sprint races, wild water racing, surf kayaking and dragon boating. My main focus is on Sea paddling I enjoy spending time coaching as well as expeditions, recently I have also developed an enjoyment for Journeying by open canoe and I am now working towards my Level 5 coach canoe.
In the first few years of sea kayaking I expeditioned with friends and colleagues in and around the UK waters. Since then I have coached and expeditioned in many countries around the world. One of my first big expeditions was to Australia where I spent three months paddling along the coast of Western Australia. The trip was a mixture of solo paddling and paddling with locals that I met, Since then I have done a many expeditions which have included the first circumnavigation of Wales by Kayak, the fastest female circumnavigation of Anglesey in 14 1/2 hours both with Justine Curgenven and a circumnavigation of Great Britain and Ireland in 93 paddling days and 144 days in total. The challenge and enjoyment I get is endless, I am constantly full of thoughts of places I would like to paddle only time will tell if I am able to do them.
Why the Falkland Islands?
My first recollection of the Falkland Islands was when I was eleven, it was April and I was home from School for the Easter holidays. My memory was of watching the News to see the Islands had been invaded by the Argentineans, whilst my memory of the timing after this is a little vague, I do remember my father making a few phone calls and before I knew it he was packed and rushing out of the door on a mission to join a new ship and make it ready for war and then head south to the Falklands.
On returning to School there were a few of us with Fathers serving in the armed forces so we developed the ritual of catching the 6pm news before dinner for updates of progress. I was lucky as at the end of September that year my father returned home, this was not the case for a couple of my friends.
Once I had grown quite a bit older and started to travel the world my father has always told me stories of his visits to where ever I had been. He has never really spoken much of the Falklands, I have learnt from other friends who have been there what a fabulous, remote and in places barren set of Islands they are. I have always been intrigued by them and now I have the chance to go and explore them and see what my father and others fought for.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
The Expedition
On December 28th Tom Parrick and Fiona Whitehead will be flying to the Falkland Islands in the South Atlantic, with the aim of circumnavigating the Islands by sea kayak.
The pair will leave from Port Stanley and paddle in a clockwise direction; they will encounter a range of conditions with the Islands being exposed to the weather patterns that circle the globe across the southern oceans and under South America. They will also have natural hazards which include large open kelp beds, which will restrict landing opportunities, open crossings and remote surf landings. Man has also thrown in a few hazards of its own by way of land mines on some of the more stunning and prospective landings spots, these are left over from the Falklands war and by now some of them have been known to have moved due the Oceans currents and storms over time.
This will not be the first time that the pair have paddled together, they have done many small trips as well as meeting up to paddle from Baltimore on the West Coast of Ireland to Inverness on the East Coast of Scotland via Rathlin Island and Cape Wrath together in 2004. The pair both work for The Outward Bound Trust, an organisation that uses the outdoors as a medium for personal development in Young people. Tom is based at the Welsh Centre in Aberdyfi on the west coast and Fiona at the Lake District Centre on Ullswater.
As part of the expeditions focus the pair have two other aims the first is to give something back to the Falkland Islands community, they are planning to work with some of the young people from the School in Port Stanley delivering personal development courses and the second is to raise money to help a few of the young people from the Islands about to leave school to travel to UK and enrol on a three week ‘Outward Bound Classic course’ next summer. The pair hope to raise money whilst they are paddling with reports being sent home but also through presentations and talks about the expedition after returning from the trip.
The pair will leave from Port Stanley and paddle in a clockwise direction; they will encounter a range of conditions with the Islands being exposed to the weather patterns that circle the globe across the southern oceans and under South America. They will also have natural hazards which include large open kelp beds, which will restrict landing opportunities, open crossings and remote surf landings. Man has also thrown in a few hazards of its own by way of land mines on some of the more stunning and prospective landings spots, these are left over from the Falklands war and by now some of them have been known to have moved due the Oceans currents and storms over time.
This will not be the first time that the pair have paddled together, they have done many small trips as well as meeting up to paddle from Baltimore on the West Coast of Ireland to Inverness on the East Coast of Scotland via Rathlin Island and Cape Wrath together in 2004. The pair both work for The Outward Bound Trust, an organisation that uses the outdoors as a medium for personal development in Young people. Tom is based at the Welsh Centre in Aberdyfi on the west coast and Fiona at the Lake District Centre on Ullswater.
As part of the expeditions focus the pair have two other aims the first is to give something back to the Falkland Islands community, they are planning to work with some of the young people from the School in Port Stanley delivering personal development courses and the second is to raise money to help a few of the young people from the Islands about to leave school to travel to UK and enrol on a three week ‘Outward Bound Classic course’ next summer. The pair hope to raise money whilst they are paddling with reports being sent home but also through presentations and talks about the expedition after returning from the trip.
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