Dover to Finland

[Mark R]

http://paddlingchallenge.co.uk/?page_id=24

[Ceegee]

And why not?

I trust they have the regulatory side sorted out for landing in France and proceeding up to the Belgian border.

There is quite a paddling community up the east coast of the North Sea, particularly Holland & Germany (whose members also stretch into the south Baltic).

http://www.seakayak.nl/ could help in contacting Dutch paddlers and

http://www.seekajakforum.de/ the German ones, for hints, tips and maybe support along the way.

In Sweden http://www.horisontkajak.se/ are based near Stockholm, and I found them very helpful

and in Helsinki http://www.helsinginkanoottiklubi.fi/ is a very decent kayak club in the city centre.

I have paddled various stretches of the route - should be fun. I'd definitely get advice from some locals if crossing the Elbe shipping channels - if you think the French are officious, don't tangle with the German Wasserpolizei!

[mwaddoups]

Hey guys,

I'm Mark, one of the people doing this challenge. Thanks for posting about us, and for all the helpful tips and ideas - there's still a lot of planning to go for us and we really appreciate it! We're still waiting on confirmation from French authorities, but fingers crossed things should be okay - it's certainly a life-consuming planning process...

[Shawn]

I have a product the Kayakkaboose that I would be willing to donate for the cause. Shipping costs would have to be on your team sent from Canada. If this is someting you would be interested in contact info on web-site http://www.kayakkaboose.com
Best Regards
Shawn

[JB-NL]

I have a product the Kayakkaboose that I would be willing to donate for the cause. Shipping costs would have to be on your team sent from Canada. If this is someting you would be interested in contact info on web-site http://www.kayakkaboose.com
Best Regards
Shawn

The east side of the Northsea and the Baltic are not the otherside of the world and remote areas....!
Or do they plan the trip as1 stretch...? :-)
JB

[Ceegee]

Not sure I would want a towed "caravan" surfing down on my back deck of a 4' wave and clobbering me in the kidneys - might be fine on lakes (I say that as an "intermediate" paddler who has never fallen out on any of the lakes I've paddled on) but surely not the sea,

or is this more "comedy" in the line of: http://www.sponsonguy.com/

or heavens forbid: http://www.wavewalk.com/

If you can't get enough kit in, maybe a bigger boat? But as JB-NL implies, there are plenty of supermarkets, camp sites, B&B's etc. in Belgium, Holland, Germany, Denmark & Sweden.

What I can donate is a set of charts for the Aland islands (which are a bit of a maze)- Sweden to Turku - if you want to PM me.

[Erinmd]

Hi,

I'm another member of the team kayaking to Finland.

I have a product the Kayakkaboose that I would be willing to donate for the cause.

Thanks for your kind offer Shawn, however we shouldn't have a problem fitting all our kit in our kayaks.

What I can donate is a set of charts for the Aland islands (which are a bit of a maze)- Sweden to Turku - if you want to PM me.

That would be really amazing, and thanks for the useful links you posted up earlier. I'll send you a PM about the maps!

Cheers,
Erin

[mwaddoups]

Hey guys,

We're sorting out a safety boat for the channel crossing, and when we contacted one of the providers they implied that we shouldn't ask for explicit permission from the French coastguard authorities. I'd been advised beforehand that any "Unorthodox Crossings" would require us to obtain permission first - can anyone who has crossed the channel shed any light on this? We're just trying to work out whether this is common practice or we should perhaps look for a different provider!

[Steen Johansen]

I met Alice and Erin in Stevns, Denmark, yesterday. They seemed to be in great shape. They are the most welldressed sea kayakers I have ever seen. How they manage to get room for their large wardrobe in their sea kayaks I do not know. They were followed for a few days by Thomas from Germany, going from Lübeck, Germany, to Trelleborg, Sweden. Alice and Erin will leave Denmark for now and continue to Sweden and from there to Helsinki. Nice going! I am impressed. http://paddlingchallenge.co.uk/

[trigger]

I'm super impressed, good luck team!!! I love the fact that expeditions of this nature are still forging ahead, I hope the beurocrats don't bog down your spirit too much!!

[coastal spirit]

England, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and now the girls have just arrived in Sweden ... they left Dungeness on the 7th July ... and are aiming for Finland, having a real adventure, meeting great people and doing remarkable well ... particularly considering they only really took up sea kayaking earlier this year ... go girls!

http://paddlingchallenge.co.uk/

Paddling Challenge: England to Finland | 1600 miles of sea kayaking, £10,000 for charity
paddlingchallenge.co.uk
Unfortunately the winds were too high for us to do the large open crossing to Denmark. However, we did

[Steen Johansen]

I followed Alice and Erin for three very pleasant but very short hours Sunday on their way from Oknö towards Oscarshamn.



They had had the wind against them for a while but it turned in the right direction Sunday. Amazing young women.

[coastal spirit]

The girls have crossed from Sweden to Allan Island, Finland ...their last country and their goal now clearly insight ... great respect

[Steen Johansen]

Alice and Ering have reached Helsinki! Congratulations! You made it. Well done.
Hope to see you in my club Havkajak Stevns next year.

[coastal spirit]

A huge well done to the Erin and Alice on completing their 3 month trip - Finnish channel 4 news about girls arriving in Helsinki:

http://www.nelonen.fi/uutiset/videot-ja-uutislähetykset?vt=video&vid=280476

For some reason I cant get the whole link to work, but Its ok if you copy it and paste it into your browser!

Roger