This is a blog takeover by Lucy Jackson, who is fundraising for a volunteering trip to Fiji. Good work Lucy!
Two weeks ago I paddled down the river Tay on my stand up paddleboard in order to fundraise for my volunteer trip to Fiji next month. In Fiji, we are going to help teach English to pupils, painting the walls of the school and building rainwater catchments. I am also going to be helping out at a turtle sanctuary.
The total length of this journey is 70 miles, each day we paddled on average 25 miles. Early Friday morning we set off from Kenmore andvpaddled down to Dunkeld. This was challenging, as I had to overcome several rapids on my journey. The paddleboard was very stable and I managed to complete most of the rapids. Shortly after the rapids we all capsized, and our clothes unfortunately got wet. Nevertheless, we could not fault the weather, as it was a beautiful day. When we arrived in Dunkeld we sat out and enjoyed our fish and chips, and then found some flat ground for us to set up camp.
On the second day we paddled from Dunkeld to Perth, even though this may not seem far on the road, it was a real trek down the river. Again it was another sunny day, and there was a lot of fisherman about on the river. We also passed Campsie Linn waterfall, although we could not paddle through this due to safety risks. When we arrived in Perth later that evening we had a BBQ and camped on the grounds of Perth sailing club.
Finally, on the third day we travelled from Perth to Tayport. Again, this was also challenge as this is where the river meets with the sea, so the water was more difficult to paddle through. At the start of our journey that day, we were paddling alongside the sailing boats, as they were having a competition from Perth to Newburgh. Going under the Tay road bridge and the railway bridge was tricky, as the winds were very strong. However, we managed to reach our destination at Tayport later that afternoon.
The McConks paddle played a great part in enabling me to complete this journey smoothly. The fact that this paddle is so light to hold made the paddling a lot easier, and cut through the water with little struggle.
What I have learnt from this trip is that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it. I had done a little training for this trip, however I am in no way an expert on paddle boarding. Therefore, anything is possible if you just believe and then you will succeed.
Lucy Jackson
If you’ve been inspired and want to donate to Lucy’s fundraising, you do so via her fundraising page here
For more content like this hit up the McConks Knowledge Hub where you’ll find plenty of SUP inspiration and aspiration.
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