UPDATE: 25/04/11

Well what can I say? So much has happened since the last update.

We had the Ceilidh on the 12th of March which was a huge success with £294 being made. The event wouldn't have been a success without the support of local businesses such as Pembrokeshire Battlefield Live, Heatherton, Folly Farm, Oakwood, Blue Lagoon, Wolfscastle Hotel, Steve Richards Photography, Dale Sailing and Steve Robinson at the Contemporary Glass Studio for his beautiful glass sculpture.

We've had a pub quiz at 'The Brook' in St. Ishmaels raising a total of £152.05

The Charity gig, which was also at 'The Brook', last night raised around £50 in donations.

This fantastic level of support means we have exceeded our target, with that in mind, we have decided to extend our fundraising to £1500.

So now on to today. Well its the day we set off on our paddle. So in a few hours we will be stuffing our equipment into our boats and paddling out from the 'Wiseman's Bridge Inn'. With our good fortune over the last week with the weather and the forecast ahead also looking good, if a tad chillier, things look set to be a good week.

A massive thank you to Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre for helping us with training, help, advice and putting us through our 3* Sea Kayak training and Foundation Safety & Rescue Training. A huge thank you to the British Army's Adventure Training Centre for really helping out with the loan of sea kayaks.

Come down and see us off at around midday or just stop bye to say hello, everyone is welcome.

Well thats the last of this update for now and we shall be back in a week with many pictures and videos and a full blown account of the things we saw and did.

So, untill next week.

 

UPDATE: 23/02/11

Thank you to everyone at the Wiseman's Bridge pub quiz last night we raised a total of £130 in one night. Well done.

The Celidh is on the 12th of March at Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre in Pembroke Dock. Remember to get your tickets soon as you can, to reserve   your place. Tickets are £10 and are available from Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre, Dale Music in Tenby and the Tourist Information Centre in Haverfordwest.

UPDATE: 17/02/11

A huge thank you to the Lion's Social club who have donated £100.

UPDATE: 12/02/11

A very fine afternoon to you all, this is an update covering where some of the donations came from and also what we got up to this morning.

First off the donations. A massive thank you to everyone who has donated so far.

The donation of £102 is from two of our events £50 from the car boot and cake sale that was mentioned in the last update and the other £52 was from the Quiz Night which was held at "The Captain's Table" in Saundersfoot. We also took part but came last, although we did pretty well with a total of 90 out of 120 questions answered correctly. Which makes a nice 75% pass rate and would have got us a 1.1 at uni, provided there was a course for random questions that is.

Next off a huge thank you to Kelpie Boats in Pembroke Dock who have supplied us with a marine VHF radio for our journey. Which will help us keep up to date with any vital infomation or should we require the help of the coastguard.

The Ceilidh is now set up and tickets are on sale ready for the 12th of March. They are available from Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre, Dale Music in Tenby and also from Haverfordwest Information Centre (by the bus station). They are on sale for £10 each and there will also be a proper bar with pumps and everything

And so, now onto today. We loaded the sea kayak trailer onto the back of the car and headed off to Wiseman's Bridge. By the time we arrived the sun was beating down and it looked to be a good day....however, when we looked down a bit at the waves we discovered that they were rather large with only one or two calm ones between sets. But nevertheless we rigged up our boats and selves ready for an epic day. Sarah and Mel were set to go in with Tom and Richard giving them a hefty shove into the sea to get them going.

The waves had calmed, ever so briefly, and they were off heading towards the freedom behind the waves. But the sea was determined that we not be allowed out today for within a few minutes and several larger waves later, it happened. A huge wave came in and threw Sarah out of her boat and forced Mel ashore. Somehow Sarah managed to grab her boat and the next wave forced her boat in, with Sarah in tow.

Sarah had several attempts but each time was forced back by the waves, but not out of her boat, she side-surfed all the way back in. Tom and Richard's turn came about. Both stripped their boats of all non-essentials and any loose equipment. Heading out into the big swell Tom went first with Richard a wave behind.

Somehow the waves decided bigger paddlers meant bigger waves and as such threw them with a huge amount of force. Several waves later, Richard got hit by a huge wall of wave as it crashed in front of him and threw him sideways enough forcing him to bail out, losing both boat and paddle and also new sunglasses. The boat drifted in as he reclaimed his paddle.

Tom managed to reach the safe zone at the back of the waves but could still feel the swell and power. Surfing back in on a huge wave he got rolled once managing to right himself and carry on then being thrown again but unable to roll again he bailed out. The boat drifted in and Tom quickly followed.

Enough is enough was exclaimed and the boats were abandoned in favour of body-surfing the monster waves. However on realisation of the temperature of the water Tom and Richard left the girls to it. Several minutes later the girls returned thoroughly soaked and grinning and a decision was made to change and load the boats back onto the trailer in favour of food and coffee.

Once loaded and much food consumed the waves died momentarily but it would have been long enough, but alas it was too late. Tomorrow is another day, and tomorrow we will be paddling from Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre up the Cleddau towards Landshipping. Maybe we will see some of you out there, if you see us, please say hello and come talk to us we're not that scary...I think?!

UPDATE: 30/01/11

Well hello, just a quick update today. As we speak Sarah, Mel and Alex are all at Carew Market, in the freezing cold, selling cakes and a variety of other things to help try and raise some extra money towards our target. Much giggling has been had whilst baking these cakes and many photos were taken to prove it and these shall go up at some point soon hopefully.

Yesterday we went on a short 11km paddle with Phil from P.A.C, in the sea-kayaks, for the first time, that the army have lent us to practice with. We finally rolled out the Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre carpark some time around 10:30am and headed for Solva Harbour in the north of the county.

Arriving at Solva carpark we were met with strange looks and the occasional comment of "Are you lot mad?" and "You wouldn't catch me out there", which, is fair enough as the whole getting up early-ish and going out on the water in the cold isn't for everyone, especially when its so cold the seaweed freezes. The day however is a postcard picture. The sun is out and the harbour and village add to the vibe making this a day to remember. The change of clothing in the carpark was performed very hastily and then equipment was checked and loaded into hatches, flares strapped to decks and one rather large spikey helmet donned.

Well, almost. All we had to do was get our feet in the freezing, cold, freshwater that runs down into the harbour and float our boats down to an area deep enough to get in the boat and be able to paddle away. However, this meant walking through all the frozen seaweed and the aforemention cold water, not one of my favourite things I must say.

After a brisk float down the cold stream, we all don our boats and attach spraydecks and we set off. Everyone starts to get used to their boats and the way they handle as we drift towards the harbour entrance. Heading out of the harbour we turn right and proceed to inspect all the bays and little channels. We find some lovely little bays and have fun doing some 'rock-hopping'. At the back of the first big bay we come across a 'through-cave' with a dogleg at the end and take it in turns going through as the tide rolls in towards us. Tom and Sarah go through and just as Mel goes through the swell picks up and she meets a nice, clean, rolling wave, bigger than her, head-on. Paddling straight up and over she goes through the cave like a pro and earnt herself the award of 'swell of the day'

The morning continues on like this, with us each finding little bays and pour-overs to tackle and test ourselves. At the back of one of the bays is the remains of a steel ship which Sarah gets all excited about. As we continue around the coast many potential coasteering spots are noted and many slabs are stared at for climbing routes. We paddle gently past Carreg-y-Barcud where we encounter some climbers on the classic route 'Sinecure'(Grade: E1,5b) and friendly greetings are passed between us. We continue on towards Caerbwdy Bay for our lunch and a nice gentle chat and to enjoy many cups of coffee.

The tide has risen and our boats are now knocking around anxiously on the beach, proof that they want to be off to play in the water for which they were designed. So, we happily oblige and begin a nice gentle paddle back. The tide is ever so slightly against us as is now the wind, making body parts start to hurt with the icy chill. Nevertheless we continue on. However rather than heading back eactly the way we came, we make a detour and head out to sea slightly and go around the back of the Green Scar island and enjoy the respite from the wind for a few moments.

Exiting from the back of the island we are met by the wind going a fair bit faster but its okay because within our sight is the entrance to the harbour at Solva. We push forward, seeing many birdwatchers atop the cliff face as we enter the harbour and head around the corner. The stream is now covered and we can paddle right up to the slipway, hurrah. Many walkers stop to look at the five boats and paddlers who appear a picture of serenity and calm as we gently coast toward the slipway.

Getting out we are met by several people coming to ask us about our trip, where we went, how we got on, why we were doing it. Everyone was friendly, polite and generally interested, its nothing like meeting a fisherman on the river. The clothes change takes a bit longer as everyone is reluctant to get changed and various body parts are numb. Boats are loaded, kit is packed away and we are all ready for the off. There is a general consensus that today was a good day.

UPDATE: 27/01/11

Hello all, just a quick update for you.

Car Boot Sale at Carew Market - 30th Jan

Pub Quiz at Captain's Table in Saundersfoot - 2nd Feb

Pub Quiz at Wiseman's Bridge Inn - 23rd Feb

Celtic Celidh and supporting band at PAC - 12th Mar

Easter Bakeoff

There you go, plenty of dates for you all to come and meet us and have a chat and help show your support.

UPDATE: 19/01/11

Time for an update I think.

So far we have new hoodies, bearing the PaddlePembs kayak dude, from Tees'r'us in New Hedges which we cant wait to pick up tomorrow.

The Army have loaned us some sea kayaks to practice in till our very funky boats arrive from P&H.

We are enjoying of coverage of us in the Western Telegraph, Tenby Observer and Radio Pembrokeshire including a telephone interview with Mel on Friday

On a different note, we have had our first training session of the year. After a christmas rife with illness and heavy snow we are finally out on the water most weekends from now till the expedition.

Keep an eye out for the girls at Carew Sunday Market on the 30th of January. Selling all kinds of things including some homemade Welshcakes from a genuine Welsh grandma.

Also on the cards is a Celidh (Thats a traditional irish dance) with a live band and barbeque and also several pub quizzes. The dates and venues are in the process of being finalised.

UPDATE: 30/12/10

Well what can I say except a fantastic well done to the girls in the Y.O.T offices. The 'Bake-Off' was a success with a cool £72 raised towards our goal. The winner was a chocolate cake with very gooey frosting.

A session of kayak training was planned for the week before christmas but due to so many people being ill it was cancelled.

UPDATE: 07/12/10

Two weeks ago. Tom, Mel, Sarah and Richard met with an Instructor (Pete) from Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre and had a day of training in Kayaks. The water was baltic to say the least and the air temperature was also not of the most favourable.

Moving forward there is to be a Bake-Off held at lunchtime of December 16th at the Youth Offending Team offices for those that wish to enter something delicious for the girls to judge.

More training to ensue and photos will be taken this time

UPDATE: 16/11/10

Training has begun and there will be photos going up from training sessions, additional plans such as; a benefit gig which has been talked about as well as working with one or two schools before the event and during the event.

A plan has started to come together dates and times to be confirmed along the way.

I'll edit this page as I go along and we all put our thoughts into it.

The idea is simple, to travel the Pembrokeshire coastline in sea kayaks and raise money for The Prince's Trust.

The Prince's Trust is a youth charity that helps change young lives, including the life of one of the paddlers.

They give practical and financial support, developing key workplace skills such as confidence and motivation. They work with 14 to 30-year-olds who have struggled at school, have been in care, are long-term unemployed or have been in trouble with the law.

Around one in five young people in the UK are not in work, education or training. Youth unemployment costs the UK economy £10 million a day in lost productivity, while youth crime costs £1 billion every year

They have helped more than 600,000 young people since 1976 and support 100 more each working day. More than three in four young people they helped last year moved into work, education or training.

They work with local schools and communities. Help with environmental and social projects.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity and make sure Gift Aid is reclaimed on every eligible donation by a UK taxpayer. So it’s the most efficient way to donate - I raise more, whilst saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

So please dig deep and donate now.