And here we go, the first weekend of July and the private schools have broken.. we are into the Summer Holiday Weekends! How exciting!

Blue Sky Britain still seems to be holding and although we have a  short spell of cloudy and cool days ahead, by next week we are back into another batch of high temperature and wall to wall sunny days (or we were until I mentioned it..)  which does not bode well for our water companies. 

Ever felt like you needed a good long paddle? Well today we met a lady who has a very long paddle ahead of her.. a mere 1000 miles in a two person Canadian canoe. Mel Davis and her co paddling partner, Charlie Beamish, are heading out to Canada tomorrow to take part in a gruelling paddling challenge called the Yukon 1000. The challenge is to complete the 1K distance, starting at Whitehorse in Canada and ending at Daltons Crossing (Fairbanks ) in Alaska, within 10 days and to be the winner, as it is a race. The organisers claim is that more people have climbed Everest than have completed this river paddle and in all honesty, when you look at where the Yukon flows you can understand it. The river flows at 10kts which added to a 4kt boat speed (Canadians are not the fastest boats..) will give a reasonable hourly rate of ‘travel’ but areas will be affected by headwinds, which is every paddler’s nightmare. Then you have the added ‘concerns’ of camping at night in Black and Brown Bear country, with no one else ‘cooking’ for miles around. 

It's a select few that get to compete, as there are only 30 boats taking part this year and although Mel, who runs Horizon Chiropractic in Hove, has a history of paddling in long distance SUP events, as well as paddling with the Shoreham Outriggers, this is Charlie’s first paddling event for quite a while and therefore has a ‘fresh’ outlook on the whole distance paddling thing (it’s more about the persons personality and ability to survive in these types of events). Needless to say,  Mel will be in the back doing the steering.

As you would expect, they are raising money for a charity (not the one in the pic ) which is the local Russel Martin Foundation, an organisation set up to help youngsters and their families improve their wellbeing through sport.

https://www.russellmartinfoundation.co.uk/education

The race starts 10th July and we will try to keep track of Mel and Charlie’s Team 66 Degrees progress ( we do hope the paddle blade guards which James fitted this afternoon hold up for the distance!). You can find out more on the Yukon 1000 site.. https://www.yukon1000.org/racer-teams-2025/23-66degrees/

Anyone looking for a more leisurely paddle..  and wants a paddleboard package but are on a tight budget? We now have a 10’6” x 32” Allrounder from NSP, a well-known surf brand supplied via a UK Watersports distributor, which comes out at £259.00 complete. The boards are a single layer construction but with double rail layers, which stops rail seam leakage and increases the boards stiffness, which is what a good inflatable paddleboard needs if it’s going to be fun to ride. Supplied with a nice backpack bag, 3-part alloy paddle, double action pump, ankle leash and repair pack. Not on the website as yet but we have them in the shop. 

And now, the weekends weather and Tide times.

Saturday, is a tad windy, with 13-26kt West’ Sou’West in the morning and then ramping up to 16-30kts, if not more, in the afternoon. Possible rain showers but should clear by late afternoon. Air temp should be a cool 19°C (the wind did have a chill to it today). The Met and Windguru agree on Saturday’s forecast. Tide is High at 07.23hrs on a nasty 4.7m Neap. 

Sunday, the Met say a brighter start with a very gusty 11-27kt West’ Sou’West wind in the morning and increasing to 13-29kt during the afternoon. Again, it maybe more, as the sea breeze has been boosting the windspeeds recently. Guru think 14-21kts will be the highest wind speeds. Should be dry and a top temp of 22°C according to the Met but Guru say a chance of a shower around midday. Tide is High at 08.25hrs and still on that nasty 4.7m Neap. 

And that’s the essay done for this week. Sorry it was such a long read but hope that we’ve brought something of interest to the table. Back in the morning with a windswept shakin’ vid. Have a great evening in Paradise!