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ALSO |
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Simon
started his epic journey around the coastline of the UK on
Saturday 11th May and we were there to see him off.
Take
a look at the full
coverage.
Listen
to Simon's audio dairy of his epic voyage from the daily updates
he gave to us on his progress.
Simon's
- Kayaking for Cancer message board.
Send him your congratulations message for completing his epic
3,000 mile journey.
Kayak man beats Atlantic challenge A south Wales
man last year became the first person to cross the Atlantic
alone in a kayak.
from BBC News »
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| ROUGH
RIDE? |
Problem
currents can be reduced by keeping close inshore - but that
increases the distance travelled.
Strong
winds can knock a kayak over, but they can be rolled back up
again.
Kayaks are designed to cope with huge waves, there's no problem
in the open sea but there is a danger of being smashed up against
cliffs when hugging the shoreline.
But apart from all that, it's easy ... (so he says!)
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| FACTS |
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There
are many different types of kayaks. Here are five examples:
Flat water - long and thin for racing or touring.
River running - shorter and more manoeuvrable.
Sea touring - long and thin (about 17ft by 2ft) but strong
and able to carry equipment in sealed hatches.
Surf - short and manoeuvrable for sea waves.
Rodeo - similar but for big waves on rivers.
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| WEBLINKS |
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Kayaking
for Cancer
Find out how and why Simon Osborne planned to kayak
round Britain.
Leukaemia
Research Fund
Britain's leading leukaemia research charity.
Simon set himself the target of raising between £10,000 and
£20,000 for LRF and is keen to get sponsorship from as many
people as possible.
You can still donate online by visiting Just
Giving.
The
BBC is not responsible for the content of external websites.
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Simon's
epic voyage
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56k modem :To watch this you need
Real Player Click here to
download.
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Shropshire
man Simon Osborne set off on a epic voyage kayaking around Britain
in memory of his brother who died of leukaemia.
He travelled
3,000 miles on a journey which took him less than four months. Listen
to his audio diaries of his epic journey on our interactive
map.
He set off from Aberystwyth on 11th May 2002, heading north, and
aiming to cover 30-40 miles of sea each day at a speed of about
four miles an hour.
Simon, 23, who lives in Shrewsbury, has been an enthusiastic
kayaker for most of his life.
Before
he set out he said: "The weather will strongly influence
the final route and time of completion, but I expect to spend about
750 hours paddling altogether."
His passion
for kayaking was shared by his brother, Mark, who was diagnosed with
leukaemia when he was four and died when he was just 13.
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Mark
Osborne
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"Through
his amazing strength and determination he lived life to the full
and made the most of every day, even going on kayaking expeditions
to Scotland and France," says Simon.
"Losing my brother has given me an enormous amount of motivation
to succeed. I only have to think about what Mark went through to
put the size of the challenge into perspective."
Mark
had raised a lot of money for the Leukaemia Research Fund - and
asked Simon to do the same.
Now Simon
is hoping his epic journey - called Kayaking for Cancer - will bring
in up to £20,000 in sponsorship for the charity, which officially
backed him.
If you'd like to get some perspective of Simon's journey, take a look
a our map which
plots the route he took around the shores of the British Isles.
Sponsorship
can be sent to Simon at 2 Pig Trough, Shrewsbury, SY1 2ED, with cheques
made out to Kayaking for Cancer.
See our 'weblinks' section in the left
hand column of this page for Simon's website address and for the address
of the Leukaemia Research Fund. |
