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It looks like we will all be having ’staycations’ this year rather than travelling away. To turn this imperfect situation into a positive one, we have decided to set ourselves the epic challenge of leading a group of kayakers to circumnavigate all the islands in our beautiful Bailiwick. It is something we have always wanted to do and we think this unusual year is the ideal time to finally do it. So here it is!

The challenge we have set ourselves: to circumnavigate up to 5 of the Bailiwick islands by kayak. Ant Ford Parker from Outdoor Guernsey will organise and lead 5 expeditions around the islands throughout the remainder of this year. We will also organise a few training and practice paddles, as well as give advice and support on boat choice and kayak techniques. We hope to run an expedition each month, starting with Lihou in June, progressing to Herm, Sark, Alderney, and finally Guernsey in October. We hope that some of the teams will want to achieve all 5 expeditions, but understand that the challenges get progressively more physically and mentally demanding, and this huge commitment will not be not be possible for every participant. That does not stop anyone from partaking in this historic moment in time and marking that moment with a significant personal achievement!

Lihou can be circumnavigated in under an hour in the right conditions, Herm in about 90 minutes - dependent on how much time we spend with the puffins! The circumnavigations get progressively longer and more demanding; around Guernsey that can take anywhere between 7 and 10 hours, depending on the number of stops and the sea conditions.

We have set reserve dates should there be a need to postpone due to the weather. We will try to set weekend dates if we can and will always aim to do what is best for the group.  

Tour the Shores is a team event. We will support each other, train together, and we will attempt each circumnavigation as a group and paddle together at all times.  As far as we know the challenge in this format has never been attempted by a group of kayakers before, so it is unique, pioneering, and very special.  

The Tour the Shores is a significant personal challenge and we want all participants to use this opportunity to raise money for charity. The Smile for Georgie Foundation is a wonderful charity that uses their funds in creative ways to bring smiles to the local community. We think at this time we are all in need of as many smiles as we can get! The foundation has pledged to share the funds with other local charities Guernsey Mind and Les Bourgs Hospice so that we can help as many people as possible. We hope that you will fully embrace this fundraising and will share ideas as to how to achieve this in due course. We hope that through sponsorship the total amount raised will be in excess of £20,000.

Outdoor Guernsey will give all their time for free and cover all their own costs of travel to the other islands. All participants are prepared to contribute towards their own travel expenses. 

We truly appreciate your donation and will be paddling hard to earn it!

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