At 5:30 on the 12^th of May five canoeist arrived in the Port of Larne – Northern Ireland after kayaking the 27 miles from Portpatrick on the Scottish coast.  Eight and a half hours earlier we had been waved off by our supporters from a windswept beach with dire warnings of being run over by the SeaCat ringing in our ears.

The crossing took place in near perfect conditions with a gentle north westerly breeze for the first few hours of the trip. We were particularly conscious of shipping traffic before we left and carried VHF radio and collision flares just in case. The reality was that all of the traffic stayed well away and the horror stories that we’d endured over the last few months remained as just that. During the afternoon the sun came out and the sea became almost still with hazy silhouettes of land to the east and west.

The first 20 miles seemed to take no time at all but as we approached the Irish coast the tide turned and we had to paddle hard for the last few hours to get into Larne. On shore, we were greeted by Carol and Katie, our support team who cracked open the champagne as we staggered out of our boats. Our celebrations were bolstered by the presentation of a £100 cheque from Major John Hipkinson of 6 Royal Military Police, Northern Ireland. Major Hipkinson knew Matt and said that on behalf of the Regiment really appreciated what we had done.   

Thanks to Jez, Tom, Richard and Phil for your advice and support before and on the trip. Also Carol and Katie for all that behind the scenes stuff of Shuttling cars, picking parcels up, meeting strangers, worrying and just wanting to help. Thanks to Denny Wise the chairman of the charity who supported the preparation and promotion of the event and raised an enormous amount of money through this venture. Thanks also to John Perrin for his substantial contribution to the Trust.  

View more photos from the trip.

Thanks have to go out to:

Many thanks to our kind major sponsors, and individual donations. If you would like to donate to the Forces Childrens Trust, please use the Donate button to the left.

Nigel Dennis kayaks very kindly supplied two of their excellent touring kayaks. Their excellent speed, and robust build inspired confidence for our crossing.