#151 - Breaking Waves & Records: Billy Butler's Kayak Endurance Push

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Welcome to Paddling the Blue. With each episode, we talk with guests from the

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Great Lakes and around the globe who are doing cool things related to sea kayaking.

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I'm your host, my name is John Chase, and let's get started paddling the blue.

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Welcome to today's episode of the Paddling the Blue podcast.

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Billy Butler has built a name in the endurance paddling world on rivers and

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has recently burst onto the sea kayaking scene and he's setting some pretty

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impressive speed records.

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Billy joins today's episode of the Paddling the Blue podcast to share what he's

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been up to, his training and preparation, how he finds inspiration,

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and what's possible for the future.

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Before we get to today's conversation with Billy, James Stevenson and Simon

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Osborne at OnlineSeaKyaking.com continue to produce great content to help you

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evolve as a paddler and as a coach.

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Enjoy today's episode with Billy Butler.

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Hi Billy, welcome to Paddling the Blue. Hi John, it's an absolute honor to be invited on.

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Oh, I appreciate you joining me here. We've had a couple references to you as

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a future guest and I really appreciate that you've taken the opportunity to come on and join us.

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So you've burst onto the endurance paddling scene in the last year, setting five records.

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So tell us a little bit more about what got you started in endurance paddling.

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Well, I've always been an endurance paddler really. My first sort of introduction

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to paddling was the Devizes to Westminster Canoe Club with my school.

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And we were sat in school assembly one day and the teacher stood up and gave

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the results from the previous year's race.

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And I went into my next class and said to my mate, that sounds the most amazing

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thing in the world. Let's do it.

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And so over the next year, we got ready, trained with the teacher and then started.

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And so that was it really straight into ultra endurance paddling.

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But it was many years later that I met a young man called Dougal Glacier,

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who your listeners will probably be very familiar with.

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He set the GB Cirque record two years ago at 40 days.

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And he sort of opened my eyes to the

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world of of kayaking on the sea and in a surf

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ski and so you know i really

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got sort of got into that and

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and then found the performance sea kayak world which again your

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listeners will be very familiar with and just got

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completely addicted to that looking looking through the website finding something

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that inspired me and and then going after that yeah so speaking of performance

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sea kayaking so you one of your recent records is a record around anglesey where

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you just squeaked out a six-minute lead on john willesey,

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uh yeah a six minute funnily enough i met up with john after the after going

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around the island and and we were talking about i had my surf ski and he had

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his taran and he said oh you know is it is it fast how much and i said it's

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about six minutes faster than a taran john.

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But no the the anglesey record was was

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brilliant i i started with the isle of white and

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it had been something i'd seen a few years previously actually

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as as but i'd never really looked too much into

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it so I did the Isle of Wight and then it was

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probably Dougal that said you know if you want one you

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you really need Anglesey and so I started looking at

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Anglesey and and I knew Anglesey would be

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on the very limit of my skill set you know it's it's a wild bit of coastline

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and and whilst I am pretty good on the sea I have my limitations and I knew

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that the the north coast of Anglesey was was going to be you know right on my

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limit so I had to really wait for the right weather window.

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And I monitored it for for a long time

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and and then I did manage to to sneak

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around on on the right day and just get

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under the time but it was it was hard going

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I was I knew I was on the very limit from a

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long way out really from you know

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well over you know nearly four hours away from

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the finish and i knew it was tight and and i was i was

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redlining from you know the whole last hour

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really i'll bet i'll bet yeah now did

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you do that unsupported as well yes unsupported and solo so yeah i i quite like

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the the unsupported solo aspect and i sort of fall into line with with john

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willis's rules i i know he's he is very strict but i i like that you you know

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where you with all of his records.

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When they say they're solo and unsupported, you know what happened.

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Excellent. So what is it that made you make the transition from rivers to the sea?

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Well, it got to a point in, well, late 2022, and I was paddling and I did a

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river race on sort of white water.

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And I realized I was very uncomfortable and I'd spent way too long in just a

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racing boat on very flat water.

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And being so uncomfortable in this moving water made me realize that actually

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it's a skill set that I'd lost.

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I had had it previously and I really needed to work on it.

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And so it was at the same time as I met Dougal that I sort of started training on the sea as well.

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So the whitewater river paddling and the sea paddling came in at around the

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same time with me going, actually, you know, there's a huge hole in my skill

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set here and it's something that needs addressing.

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All right. And you found a way to address it, certainly. I found a way to address it. So yeah.

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That's why I sort of did it. When I realized there was something lacking in

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my paddling, I had to sort of fix that.

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All right. So was the Isle of Wight your really first experience with that?

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Yeah, the Isle of Wight was my first experience. I sort of knew as Dougal was

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going around Britain, I sort of thought, I need to get into this.

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And the Isle of Wight is very accessible down on the

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south coast i it's very

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easy to find tidal information for the isle of wight the solent is

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is one of the most sailed areas in the uk

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the the tidal stream atlases are plenty you

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can you can pick any any one of a number of books

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to to find your tide information from it and it

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was it was easy to do i went and did a surf ski race in belgium on the the weekend

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and we got back into england on the uh train on the sunday night and i drove

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straight down to the isle of white to to do to do the uh circumnavigation on

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the monday and and and managed it.

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And what was your time there? I believe it was somewhere in the region of six and a half hours. Okay.

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Yeah, it was a hard day out, but it's a really nice island to go around.

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It was a long day to get the tides right.

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I left the mainland very early and had to sit on a beach for a couple of hours,

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which was quite cold in that early October morning.

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And then eventually the tide was right for me to start from the needles on the

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western edge of the island.

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And I did my circumnavigation and crawled out the boat at the end on the same

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beach and then eventually managed to make my way back to the mainland.

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Tell us a little bit about the paddle specifically and what made that challenging

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for you, especially being your first one.

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Well, I was still in my first sort of 12 months of paddling on the sea.

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And it's a long day out, but that was nothing I couldn't handle.

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But there's tidal overfalls on the south coast where the water just can't get

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round the headland at St.

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Catherine's Point. That was quite rough.

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And then you're just really getting the tides right.

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Now I do come from a sailing background, so getting the tides right was relatively easy for me.

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I have spoken to a couple of people that said I was about 15

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minutes out at the at the crutch crux point

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at on the eastern side of the island but I

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think for my first to go being 15 minutes out

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after nearly four hours of paddling well it

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would be it would be three and a half hours of paddling it's not bad going 15

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minutes and then having that sailing background certainly that that would have

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helped you yes I think it does it enables me the navigation then becomes a non-issue

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I think it really helps me with the safety side of being on the sea I'm well aware of,

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that sort of stuff and I think it just helps with the general sea knowledge.

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What was next after Isle of Wight? So after actually two weeks later,

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I hooked up with someone who had gone around the Isle of Wight on the same day as me, Giles Hudson.

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And we were discussing going around Hailing Island, which is a very small island

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on the south coast of England.

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It's only about 20 kilometers.

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And Giles very kindly said, well, you know, it's fairly difficult to find tidal

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information about the island. If you want to go round in a double, let's do it.

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So we went round in a surf ski double and we did, we managed to break the record.

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Two young guys held it at the time. It was Alex Sheppy and Tom Holland.

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And they're actually, they're really good paddlers, but they're sprinters really.

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And sprinters and wild water racers at a really high level.

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And Giles and I managed to sneak below them in the in the in the times and take the record.

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It's actually it's one of my favorite records because we

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forced them back to the drawing board and they did actually then the following

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year go back and re-break it and making some younger paddlers who are way faster

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than I am go back out there and and try and improve their time is something

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that I'm really happy that I've done.

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In some way, I've managed to improve two other paddlers who I have no other

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influences on other than,

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on some website yeah yeah i'm improving the uh improving the paddling landscape

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i guess you might say well in in some small way i i then two weeks later teamed

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up with someone else and then rebroke it so they do have to go out there and

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do it again i was gonna ask that when you go again but,

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there we go yeah we we did it two we only allowed them to have it for two weeks

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so but but i i think that's my last go on on the doubles on that island i i

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don't think i can improve my time on it so So if they can go out and get it

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back, then it's theirs to keep.

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Well, if they're listening, maybe they'll now hear that you're not going to chase it again.

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Maybe. And then what was next?

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That's a good question. I think I went back to...

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Sort of inland paddling at that point all right and i think i got a couple of records on the thames,

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is is that correct i don't you may you may be looking at

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performance i'm actually not at the moment so are you not okay i believe i i

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believe i then went inland and went down the thames a couple of times so there

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had been lots of talk about doing the thames from the first navigable navigatable

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point down to the tideway.

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And in the end, a friend asked me if I'd support him doing it in a single.

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And I said, well, that's quite awkward, actually, because I wanted to go down and do it in a single.

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And so in the end, we agreed to do it in a double. But the only available date

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was actually my birthday.

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So on my birthday, we went down the Thames.

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It was an easy day to pick really because you you're

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allowed to do whatever you want on your birthday so i i

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i got a free pass away from home all right and

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that was a good that was a good day out really it again

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that's that's quite a tasty record but perfectly achievable someone someone

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could put their heads together with someone else and and go and get that one

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if they wanted and now what was the distance on that that's a 200 200 kilometers

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wow and yeah it's a long day out yeah but there was a decent

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amount of flow so we got down in 15 hours

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45 minutes well done yeah i

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know it's it's a it's a long day in the boat but you do get out actually the

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thames is a really nice river you get out around about every half an hour for

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a lock and and you just you know run around and and you get back in the boat

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so your legs get a nice stretch and it's not too tedious on on the uh on the behind End.

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And one of your more recent is you recently cut the record for a solo North

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Sea crossing nearly in half.

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So tell us about that paddle.

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Well, it's a little bit naughty, really, talking about how much we cut off,

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because Dimitri, I don't think, was trying to set a time.

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He really was just going across. Okay. Fair enough.

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So, yeah, I did go after a time. I mean, it was partly because it was midwinter

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and I didn't have that much daylight.

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So I did start in the dark and I finished at dusk.

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But knowing that I needed to do most of it in sort of daylight, I did pick my route.

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So I went slightly further south on the Belgium coast than Dimitri.

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I cut about 10 kilometers off his distance. and

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it was also slightly more

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favorable with the tides going west to east than

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the way he did it it did it was slight marginally

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better and and of course i was

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doing in a surf ski whereas he was doing in a sea kayak which i

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i think is slightly faster but yeah that

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was a that was a brilliant day out i don't particularly know why i did it in

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winter i think really just to prove that it was possible and and really wonder

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why people you know stop the stop the sea kayaking so much in the winter and

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and i just decided to go for it i found a weather window and and went for it.

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So what was that like making that crossing in in such a busy area i was surprised actually,

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it really wasn't very busy i i saw 10 ships in in what's meant to be a one of

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the busiest shipping lanes in the world, I was really surprised.

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Really very limited shipping and and

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as a lot of people say about crossings a lot

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of the time they're quite boring and this was

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very similar you know I just got got paddling and and just kept going and then

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you saw a couple of shipping lanes and and you you you crossed them there was

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there was only one one ship but I even considered might be getting close and

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and I stopped and had a drink and had some food.

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And by the time I got going again, there was no one near me and I carried on.

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So, you know, as crossings sometimes are, it was quite dull.

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Yeah. Somebody told me once that they keep all the interesting stuff near the shore.

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They do. They really do. And other than that, you just keep going. Yeah.

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On a crossing of that distance and of that length, how often do you stop?

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Well, I stop about once an hour.

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And unless I'm starting to feel like my energy levels are dipping,

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in which case I will stop on the half an hour.

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But really that is just to put some nutrition in me.

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And actually I had noticed when I do too much on the sea, when I do too much

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bimbling around on the sea, it does start to stop.

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It does start to slow me up a bit and I do stop too

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often so in the first sort of

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hour and a half of going around anglesey i'd noticed

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that i was i was just fidgeting way

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too much so you know adjusting something or or

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just every kilometer i thought hang on a minute there's there's 10 seconds every

00:16:50.599 --> 00:16:55.619
kilometer here that that i uh i've stopped and done something and you you don't

00:16:55.619 --> 00:17:00.839
get that time back yeah you can't recover it you can't recover it and and so

00:17:00.839 --> 00:17:03.679
actually that's where some of the racing stuff comes in.

00:17:04.893 --> 00:17:08.813
When I look back on a, on a day's paddling, I'm, I'm not really very happy if

00:17:08.813 --> 00:17:09.973
I found that I've done that.

00:17:10.173 --> 00:17:17.173
And actually a fidget free, you know, completely no time wasting day will, will make me happy.

00:17:17.853 --> 00:17:22.293
And, and I might actually, maybe at times I'm maybe not paddling as fast as I can.

00:17:22.473 --> 00:17:26.213
I don't know that. I don't necessarily know if I paddled as fast as I could

00:17:26.213 --> 00:17:30.393
the whole day, but the fact is that you can control.

00:17:31.193 --> 00:17:34.393
Did you stop and faff around? Did you, were you doing this? Were you,

00:17:34.893 --> 00:17:37.273
Did you want to adjust your seat when you didn't want to?

00:17:37.433 --> 00:17:41.313
Did you, you know, change the angle of your paddles when you really didn't need to?

00:17:41.873 --> 00:17:46.613
And just getting on with it is quite an important aspect to me.

00:17:47.073 --> 00:17:51.293
Yeah, those are good learnings. Not only for you and when you're trying to set

00:17:51.293 --> 00:17:56.033
records in a racing environment, but for those of us who might be doing more

00:17:56.033 --> 00:17:59.693
of expedition or touring, just to think about just get on with it.

00:18:00.213 --> 00:18:03.993
Yeah, I do think that. And that's one of the controllables.

00:18:03.993 --> 00:18:07.033
And you can you can control it so so get on

00:18:07.033 --> 00:18:10.273
with it and and stop faffing one thing

00:18:10.273 --> 00:18:13.293
that people might have noticed from from that sort of

00:18:13.293 --> 00:18:15.973
brief uh answer there was that i i do everything in

00:18:15.973 --> 00:18:19.353
kilometers and that's my racing background and the sea

00:18:19.353 --> 00:18:22.393
kayakers will probably say why is he talking about kilometers and not you know

00:18:22.393 --> 00:18:27.173
knots and nautical miles but i i i do it makes it quite difficult when i get

00:18:27.173 --> 00:18:30.453
to the chart work because all my paddling is done in kilometers and then when

00:18:30.453 --> 00:18:34.453
i get to the chart to do any planning i have to go okay right convert that to

00:18:34.453 --> 00:18:37.433
uh miles and uh knots yeah.

00:18:38.372 --> 00:18:43.192
Because of that racing background, you know what… Just because everything came

00:18:43.192 --> 00:18:46.772
from distance of races was in kilometers.

00:18:47.132 --> 00:18:52.032
The training was all done at pace. So what did we do that thousand in?

00:18:52.192 --> 00:18:53.992
What was the last kilometer split?

00:18:54.692 --> 00:18:59.812
And so yeah, that makes it… That's an interesting quirk, but I'm probably in

00:18:59.812 --> 00:19:01.932
the minority there. That makes sense though.

00:19:02.492 --> 00:19:07.212
Yeah, I suppose it does. So on that North Sea crossing, just to ask one other question about that.

00:19:07.892 --> 00:19:11.692
You mentioned you only saw about 10 ships but i have to imagine you have to

00:19:11.692 --> 00:19:15.872
plan for more so what kinds of things do you do to to protect yourself to make

00:19:15.872 --> 00:19:18.592
sure that you can potentially be seen.

00:19:19.852 --> 00:19:23.172
Well i go off the principle that you're

00:19:23.172 --> 00:19:26.032
not going to be seen and no matter what you do i don't

00:19:26.032 --> 00:19:30.112
believe that people on the bridges of these boats are paying enough attention

00:19:30.112 --> 00:19:36.472
to see you i would agree so i i make sure that i know where they are at all

00:19:36.472 --> 00:19:41.692
times i i check around me a lot you know that was the that was the one thing

00:19:41.692 --> 00:19:44.792
that you know i did allow for stopping you know i,

00:19:45.472 --> 00:19:49.972
regularly checked over the shoulder but funnily enough actually it wasn't really

00:19:49.972 --> 00:19:55.412
an issue that way that everything was coming left left or right of me so you

00:19:55.412 --> 00:19:59.892
know not much goes across the channel yeah it all goes along it so but no i

00:19:59.892 --> 00:20:01.952
go off the principle that they can't see me at all,

00:20:02.812 --> 00:20:08.232
and i am much more maneuverable than them and in general it's the big ships

00:20:08.232 --> 00:20:13.432
i i'm i'm not worried about them they they take very uh predictable paths it's

00:20:13.432 --> 00:20:16.972
the speed boats when you're closer to the shore that i'm really worried about

00:20:16.972 --> 00:20:21.012
speed boats jet skis and and the like because you can't predict where they're

00:20:21.012 --> 00:20:22.392
gonna go that's a good point.

00:20:23.591 --> 00:20:26.491
Point but either way the law of tonnage always wins the law

00:20:26.491 --> 00:20:29.351
of tonnage yeah i mean yeah i'm definitely i'm definitely

00:20:29.351 --> 00:20:34.031
not wanting to hit one i think i'd come off way worse and and i go off that

00:20:34.031 --> 00:20:37.791
principle it's it's me that's got to keep out the way and and i just assume

00:20:37.791 --> 00:20:41.811
that you're never going to be seen yeah so you mentioned dougal glacier earlier

00:20:41.811 --> 00:20:47.631
and now you and along with dougal and another another fellow set a record on

00:20:47.631 --> 00:20:49.111
saint george's channel is that right,

00:20:49.751 --> 00:20:52.511
uh yeah we i forgot that was actually my

00:20:52.511 --> 00:20:55.551
introduction to sea kayaking was an irish sea crossing

00:20:55.551 --> 00:20:59.071
ah so yeah doogle doogle

00:20:59.071 --> 00:21:01.931
is type 1 diabetic with a with a slight heart

00:21:01.931 --> 00:21:04.891
problem and on his gb circ we

00:21:04.891 --> 00:21:07.611
decided that it was you know safer for him to

00:21:07.611 --> 00:21:11.551
have someone with him going across the irish sea so

00:21:11.551 --> 00:21:15.191
myself and matt roland's got in a double and

00:21:15.191 --> 00:21:18.211
went with him and and that was that was our introduction to

00:21:18.211 --> 00:21:21.791
sea kayaking all right i don't know it it wasn't

00:21:21.791 --> 00:21:24.491
the fastest time across that piece of

00:21:24.491 --> 00:21:30.451
sea but it was the fastest going that in that direction okay i believe there

00:21:30.451 --> 00:21:35.151
has been others maybe someone including at the team with jim morrissey and it

00:21:35.151 --> 00:21:42.751
was quicker going from ireland over to england over to wales sorry all right now speaking of doogle.

00:21:43.591 --> 00:21:48.791
So Dougal had set the record for Mainland Great Britain at 40 days,

00:21:48.971 --> 00:21:51.851
which I think someone broke this year as well. They did, yes.

00:21:52.071 --> 00:21:57.111
Which is mind-blowing because Dougal's, I think he, I can't remember how many

00:21:57.111 --> 00:22:02.271
days he cut off the previous record, but significant, whatever that was.

00:22:02.371 --> 00:22:04.751
So when do you chase the record for Mainland Great Britain?

00:22:05.591 --> 00:22:10.631
That's a brilliant question. And it was heavily talked about this summer.

00:22:10.631 --> 00:22:14.091
And I really wanted to go and it just didn't happen.

00:22:14.691 --> 00:22:18.551
I'm actually very disappointed with this year. I've done very little on the

00:22:18.551 --> 00:22:22.791
sea and it just hasn't happened really this year.

00:22:23.151 --> 00:22:26.951
But going around Britain, it is on the list.

00:22:27.975 --> 00:22:33.055
But I just, I do wonder whether I'll get around to it. Now, I really do see

00:22:33.055 --> 00:22:34.655
myself as a single day paddler.

00:22:34.895 --> 00:22:40.935
I don't know if I have it in me to get up in the morning, pack up all my stuff

00:22:40.935 --> 00:22:44.315
and put on the wet kit and get going again.

00:22:44.515 --> 00:22:49.275
I feel terrible the next day when I've done any of these record attempts.

00:22:49.555 --> 00:22:55.515
You know, a long day in the kayak is quite taxing on me, but it might just be

00:22:55.515 --> 00:23:01.195
the way I paddle. And if I can adapt that, then maybe a GB Cirque is a possibility. All right.

00:23:01.735 --> 00:23:03.775
Thinking of each day as just a separate paddle.

00:23:04.395 --> 00:23:08.935
Well, maybe. And just making sure that I look after myself on those days.

00:23:09.135 --> 00:23:13.975
I was planning on doing a couple of sort of warm-up paddles this year,

00:23:14.115 --> 00:23:15.135
but they just never happened.

00:23:15.255 --> 00:23:19.395
I was looking at doing the length of the Netherlands,

00:23:19.835 --> 00:23:22.575
which I sort of thought I could get

00:23:22.575 --> 00:23:28.415
down to about 72 hours and which but I found out actually no one's really ever

00:23:28.415 --> 00:23:32.735
tried to do that fast lots of people have done it but I don't know of anyone

00:23:32.735 --> 00:23:38.215
that's that's tried to sort of set a record as it was and then another paddle

00:23:38.215 --> 00:23:42.075
I wanted to do where there is a record is the I,

00:23:42.685 --> 00:23:46.585
the circumnavigation of Denmark. Interesting. Yeah.

00:23:46.825 --> 00:23:51.285
But just, unfortunately, I just ran out of time. I sort of, I had a slight injury

00:23:51.285 --> 00:23:52.265
at the beginning of the year.

00:23:53.105 --> 00:23:59.605
And I think I spent most of the winter sort of floating about a bit too much in my surf ski.

00:23:59.725 --> 00:24:03.685
I wasn't training hard enough and I wasn't in my racing boat enough,

00:24:04.005 --> 00:24:06.445
which I think I paddle it slightly different.

00:24:06.665 --> 00:24:13.965
And I think I was ending up with my stroke too far back in the phase and the

00:24:13.965 --> 00:24:19.485
power was coming on, you know, towards the exit of the stroke rather than at the catch.

00:24:20.005 --> 00:24:23.845
And through neglect of gym work, and this is something you'll appreciate,

00:24:24.145 --> 00:24:29.065
I didn't do the small exercises enough.

00:24:29.065 --> 00:24:33.085
And I ended up picking up some small niggly injuries because I wasn't,

00:24:33.105 --> 00:24:37.065
you know, really looking after, looking after myself with those,

00:24:37.065 --> 00:24:40.105
with those shoulder sort of stabilizing muscles. Okay.

00:24:40.405 --> 00:24:44.285
And it sort of meant that I was playing catch up for most of the season.

00:24:44.825 --> 00:24:47.785
And it meant that I wanted to get back in my racing boat to,

00:24:47.785 --> 00:24:49.385
to sort of address some of these issues.

00:24:49.945 --> 00:24:53.785
And then it, it, it just didn't happen for me on the sea this year, unfortunately.

00:24:55.333 --> 00:24:58.093
Since you opened the door there, what does your training look like?

00:24:59.113 --> 00:25:02.893
Well, that's a good question. I do like a good bit of volume.

00:25:03.293 --> 00:25:07.273
I think that it's very important to get out as much as you can.

00:25:07.893 --> 00:25:14.873
If I can get up around 12 hours a week between running, paddling and the gym, not in that order.

00:25:16.113 --> 00:25:20.333
I feel I'm fit. But I like to look at it from a monthly point of view.

00:25:20.333 --> 00:25:23.553
If you sort of level out over the month you

00:25:23.553 --> 00:25:26.393
get a really good clear view of of where your

00:25:26.393 --> 00:25:29.233
training's at and if i'm gearing

00:25:29.233 --> 00:25:31.993
up for anything like the divisor to westminster i really

00:25:31.993 --> 00:25:34.993
want to start be getting up to 50 hours a

00:25:34.993 --> 00:25:39.313
month and then you know you're in a really good place but as i say you know

00:25:39.313 --> 00:25:43.793
i really like to to sort of balance it over the the paddling the running and

00:25:43.793 --> 00:25:47.673
the gym okay and i think that the gym is very important as well as the running

00:25:47.673 --> 00:25:52.433
you get very fit by running And I don't believe my heart rate gets quite as

00:25:52.433 --> 00:25:54.293
high paddling as I do running.

00:25:54.993 --> 00:26:00.593
And then the gym, you know, as you will well know, you can't get strong enough

00:26:00.593 --> 00:26:03.253
to paddle just by paddling.

00:26:03.873 --> 00:26:07.413
And you can fix a lot of injuries that happen in the gym.

00:26:08.133 --> 00:26:13.053
Certainly can. Yeah, that's one learning I think a lot of paddlers can really

00:26:13.053 --> 00:26:19.373
look at is there's definitely no substitute for time in the boat,

00:26:19.533 --> 00:26:25.573
but you certainly can augment that and make your time in the boat more effective by cross-training.

00:26:26.913 --> 00:26:30.293
Well, it's very interesting you mentioned time in the boat because when you

00:26:30.293 --> 00:26:35.573
just mentioned Sebastian Scrubski's GB Cirque record,

00:26:35.933 --> 00:26:38.693
he really didn't spend a lot of time in the boat in the lead up to that,

00:26:38.913 --> 00:26:45.233
but he has done a huge number of long challenges and he said his body's used to it.

00:26:45.393 --> 00:26:48.273
He's in the gym a huge amount. He runs a CrossFit gym.

00:26:49.213 --> 00:26:51.953
And so interestingly, time in the boat isn't always important,

00:26:52.173 --> 00:26:56.133
but it is something that I believe in. I wouldn't do that myself.

00:26:57.333 --> 00:27:00.393
So who's your inspiration who's my

00:27:00.393 --> 00:27:03.293
that's a brilliant question i like

00:27:03.293 --> 00:27:06.833
to take inspiration from lots of different people and

00:27:06.833 --> 00:27:14.093
from all different paddle sports really so i will look at people going really

00:27:14.093 --> 00:27:18.353
fast and think well if they can go really fast then maybe my speed can improve

00:27:18.353 --> 00:27:24.133
and i can go fast and if you look at someone doing something really long you go well okay they,

00:27:24.593 --> 00:27:30.133
they spent 24 hours in the boat then, you know, I've never spent 24 hours in the boat. So I'm,

00:27:30.577 --> 00:27:36.697
why can't I do that? And then, you know, in all those things,

00:27:37.077 --> 00:27:40.557
you know, okay, they crossed that channel. Well, if they can do it, I can do it.

00:27:40.797 --> 00:27:43.617
So I like to take inspiration from quite a few people.

00:27:44.517 --> 00:27:49.377
Certainly took a lot of inspiration from Dougal going around Britain and really

00:27:49.377 --> 00:27:55.057
setting new sorts of limits, really pushing the envelope there.

00:27:55.577 --> 00:27:59.137
I took a lot of inspiration from sort of

00:27:59.137 --> 00:28:01.957
some of the i will i will

00:28:01.957 --> 00:28:06.837
upset people here by calling them the old boys but the the the

00:28:06.837 --> 00:28:09.697
previous generations of paddlers who who've done

00:28:09.697 --> 00:28:13.177
stuff with much worse equipment so all

00:28:13.177 --> 00:28:16.937
of the people that did early devices to westminsters in

00:28:16.937 --> 00:28:19.677
in boats that nowhere near to the standard of

00:28:19.677 --> 00:28:22.597
what we're paddling nowadays and and in in

00:28:22.597 --> 00:28:25.437
terrible kit which you know just they were

00:28:25.437 --> 00:28:28.737
sopping wet and probably cold for most of the time whereas now i

00:28:28.737 --> 00:28:32.777
nearly always paddle and i'm pretty dry and pretty warm and

00:28:32.777 --> 00:28:35.697
and then the guys that were on the sea in the in the early days

00:28:35.697 --> 00:28:38.517
really with with very little

00:28:38.517 --> 00:28:42.017
safety equipment in in kit that wasn't

00:28:42.017 --> 00:28:44.877
up to it sure and they they were going out and getting it done so

00:28:44.877 --> 00:28:48.537
i do like to take inspiration from a lot of people i'm the

00:28:48.537 --> 00:28:51.457
the early divisors to westminster's and sea sea

00:28:51.457 --> 00:28:54.337
kayakers as sort of ollie harding and ian white spring

00:28:54.337 --> 00:29:00.197
to mind from the uk they they had a really good varied background in kayaking

00:29:00.197 --> 00:29:05.277
doing some really interesting stuff at one point i had my story mixed up but

00:29:05.277 --> 00:29:10.177
i was corrected by ollie a couple of weeks ago actually they both separately

00:29:10.177 --> 00:29:12.957
did isle of man crossings from britain.

00:29:13.842 --> 00:29:17.922
But Ollie said he had some sort of terrible compass.

00:29:18.702 --> 00:29:22.022
And other than that, that was all. You know, it really wasn't,

00:29:22.082 --> 00:29:24.282
you know, it was something that you had to sort of, it was a silver compass

00:29:24.282 --> 00:29:26.482
that you sort of had to fold up and put back in your pocket.

00:29:26.722 --> 00:29:31.682
Okay. So really, he kept a very rudimentary bearing a lot of the way. And they got there.

00:29:31.982 --> 00:29:35.082
And, you know, whereas now I'd be sat there with a GPS strapped to my leg,

00:29:35.242 --> 00:29:37.902
I'd have a compass, you know, sat between my feet.

00:29:38.222 --> 00:29:42.882
And you've got near constant sort of confirmation that you're doing the right thing.

00:29:43.682 --> 00:29:46.502
And and i love hearing that the stories of people who

00:29:46.502 --> 00:29:49.582
who just went out there and did it yeah got it done with with

00:29:49.582 --> 00:29:52.562
poor equipment and still still managing to

00:29:52.562 --> 00:29:55.482
do it yeah i mean here we are uh 50 years

00:29:55.482 --> 00:29:59.922
this year from the nordcap expedition and

00:29:59.922 --> 00:30:03.602
like you said think about the equipment and technology that they had at the

00:30:03.602 --> 00:30:08.842
time and and what they've accomplished yeah exactly and and and you know who's

00:30:08.842 --> 00:30:13.042
who's doing stuff like that now the numbers numbers aren't there people should

00:30:13.042 --> 00:30:18.442
take advantage of the stuff that we've got nowadays and go out there and get it done. Certainly.

00:30:18.942 --> 00:30:21.922
So you mentioned that you take inspiration from a lot of different people.

00:30:22.202 --> 00:30:26.222
And depending on what you see somebody doing and you think I can do that.

00:30:26.442 --> 00:30:28.202
So what is today's inspiration?

00:30:28.922 --> 00:30:35.402
Today's inspiration, next on my list is the Fish River Marathon and then Surf

00:30:35.402 --> 00:30:36.982
Ski World Championships in Durban.

00:30:37.202 --> 00:30:39.562
Both races taking place in South Africa.

00:30:40.022 --> 00:30:45.482
So currently on my mind is is getting down this huge river.

00:30:45.802 --> 00:30:49.862
Anyone not familiar with the Fish River needs to have a look at it online,

00:30:49.922 --> 00:30:52.602
but there's some huge weirs and huge features.

00:30:53.830 --> 00:30:56.950
Likes of which we don't really get in the uk you could

00:30:56.950 --> 00:31:00.310
you could get something familiar similar in france

00:31:00.310 --> 00:31:03.210
and and europe but in the uk we we

00:31:03.210 --> 00:31:06.510
don't really have that so i've i've got to sort of push my

00:31:06.510 --> 00:31:09.470
skill set to the limit there and then again

00:31:09.470 --> 00:31:12.910
in durban we don't get the swell and

00:31:12.910 --> 00:31:15.850
the sea state that they get in durban in the

00:31:15.850 --> 00:31:21.830
uk so that really will push my surf ski skills to the limit but i will return

00:31:21.830 --> 00:31:28.270
to performance sea kayak again next year and i'm looking at i really want to

00:31:28.270 --> 00:31:33.690
get another irish sea crossing in and i'd like to do the angle sea to dublin route and.

00:31:34.710 --> 00:31:38.310
I would really like to knock off

00:31:38.310 --> 00:31:41.230
hailing island in the singles i've done the doubles but

00:31:41.230 --> 00:31:44.930
i'd like to try and break the singles record and then

00:31:44.930 --> 00:31:47.690
i'd like to sort of push the limits of what you can do in

00:31:47.690 --> 00:31:50.870
a single day so i've got two things that that

00:31:50.870 --> 00:31:53.990
are on the list there there's an expedition sorry

00:31:53.990 --> 00:31:57.310
it wasn't an expedition at all it was dutch guys

00:31:57.310 --> 00:32:00.330
escaping the war the second world war and they paddled from

00:32:00.330 --> 00:32:05.310
the netherlands to the suffolk coast there's a memorial for them on the suffolk

00:32:05.310 --> 00:32:10.770
coast and they were called the england vaders or england invaders i think it

00:32:10.770 --> 00:32:16.010
translates to okay and they were escaping the Germans during the war and they

00:32:16.010 --> 00:32:19.570
paddled across the North Sea further up.

00:32:19.910 --> 00:32:27.970
This is about a 190 kilometer crossing. It took them 56 hours and many people

00:32:27.970 --> 00:32:34.670
attempted it, but only eight survived because there was mines and the boats weren't good enough.

00:32:34.850 --> 00:32:39.730
And there was probably aircraft that might be taking potshots at them if they saw them during the day.

00:32:40.270 --> 00:32:43.930
And I'd like to try and recreate that expedition it's been done several times

00:32:43.930 --> 00:32:49.810
but no one's ever done it solo unsupported that would take me about 22 hours

00:32:49.810 --> 00:32:51.870
so I'd like to give that a go.

00:32:52.822 --> 00:32:57.502
And then the only other thing on the Performance Sea Kayak that's really,

00:32:57.602 --> 00:33:00.742
really intriguing me is the Isle of Skye.

00:33:01.402 --> 00:33:09.322
And to go around the Isle of Skye nonstop really would be something that I'd really like to try.

00:33:09.902 --> 00:33:14.602
John Willis, he's done it, and I believe he took 56 hours, but that does include two sleeps.

00:33:15.842 --> 00:33:22.162
So if I can do it without sleeping, I think I can knock off a huge amount of that record.

00:33:22.162 --> 00:33:25.622
And but i don't know whether it's possible and

00:33:25.622 --> 00:33:28.562
and that that's that's what really makes me

00:33:28.562 --> 00:33:32.062
intrigued is is if if i believe something's on the

00:33:32.062 --> 00:33:37.042
borderline of being possible then i'd like to give it a go so when do you tackle

00:33:37.042 --> 00:33:43.062
the first one the first one i had wanted to do this summer and actually you

00:33:43.062 --> 00:33:46.422
know i had sort of made rough plans and it and it again it just didn't happen

00:33:46.422 --> 00:33:51.522
i think once i decided that i wanted to go to south africa and do the surf ski world championships i,

00:33:52.282 --> 00:33:55.302
knocked the really long stuff on the head so that may

00:33:55.302 --> 00:33:58.142
have to wait until next summer and both of these things

00:33:58.142 --> 00:34:01.562
they really do need all the daylight in the world whilst i could

00:34:01.562 --> 00:34:04.202
manage the north sea in the middle of

00:34:04.202 --> 00:34:11.202
winter both of these things need maximum daylight so they one of them may happen

00:34:11.202 --> 00:34:16.522
in june next year and i'd love for that to be the case but you've got to do

00:34:16.522 --> 00:34:19.822
an awful lot of preparation and sometimes these things fall by the wayside.

00:34:20.022 --> 00:34:21.742
I don't like it when it does.

00:34:22.382 --> 00:34:26.862
And especially coming on an international podcast and saying you want to do one of these things.

00:34:27.422 --> 00:34:35.462
But they're on my bucket list and I do like to cross things off my bucket list. All right.

00:34:35.702 --> 00:34:37.802
Well, you've said it here publicly, the world has heard it.

00:34:38.707 --> 00:34:42.167
Yeah, I might be ringing you up and asking to take this episode down,

00:34:42.347 --> 00:34:44.347
I suppose, in the middle of next year when they don't happen.

00:34:45.687 --> 00:34:51.527
Well, they may not happen in one short period or in one year, but you've got time.

00:34:52.267 --> 00:34:54.427
Yeah, I have time. Yeah, I have time on my side.

00:34:55.467 --> 00:34:58.827
So in terms of the surf ski world championships, what are you doing to prepare for that?

00:35:00.187 --> 00:35:03.807
Well, I'm not going to feature at the front of this race. And realistically,

00:35:03.947 --> 00:35:09.787
I'm still very new to the sport. So I'm learning how to surf and how to link up waves.

00:35:10.087 --> 00:35:13.287
But I'm trying to get out in the surf ski as much as possible.

00:35:13.547 --> 00:35:17.287
We're going out there a little bit early. We were going out there to do the

00:35:17.287 --> 00:35:18.787
fish river marathon before.

00:35:19.087 --> 00:35:20.767
And then after that, I will get straight

00:35:20.767 --> 00:35:24.947
in the surf ski and trying to get acquainted with the Durban swell.

00:35:25.707 --> 00:35:28.847
I may get lucky in it and it not be too big. But if it's big,

00:35:29.047 --> 00:35:31.207
I'm going to have a steep learning curve out there.

00:35:31.547 --> 00:35:35.247
Okay. So this is a learning experience for you. It's a learning experience.

00:35:36.207 --> 00:35:41.567
It's big conditions. I've now got used to sort of UK surf ski conditions,

00:35:41.967 --> 00:35:45.567
which is a lot of wind chop, but Durban's going to have a big swell,

00:35:45.947 --> 00:35:48.987
likely to have a big swell, which I won't be so familiar with.

00:35:49.447 --> 00:35:53.907
And so it will be a fun learning experience and something that maybe I can build

00:35:53.907 --> 00:35:56.627
on in the future. Who do you consider your mentors?

00:35:57.227 --> 00:36:01.067
I was very lucky when I started paddling to

00:36:01.067 --> 00:36:04.227
have two brilliant coaches in les thompson

00:36:04.227 --> 00:36:06.947
and lee menday from the royal hospital school it was a

00:36:06.947 --> 00:36:11.667
an ex-naval school they were brilliant brilliant role models and brilliant kayaking

00:36:11.667 --> 00:36:18.027
teachers i'm very lucky to have them i also i take a lot of inspiration from

00:36:18.027 --> 00:36:22.367
john willesey actually he runs performance sea kayak and and he sort of sets

00:36:22.367 --> 00:36:24.227
the sets the rule book on the sea,

00:36:25.047 --> 00:36:31.827
You know, I can't thank him enough for running that website and sort of keeping that sort of going.

00:36:32.910 --> 00:36:36.950
Other than that, it's just looking at role models for everyone,

00:36:36.950 --> 00:36:40.050
pushing the limits in different aspects of the sport.

00:36:40.410 --> 00:36:45.630
I wouldn't be able to put many names on it really other than those people. Okay.

00:36:46.270 --> 00:36:48.970
Why is racing important for you?

00:36:49.710 --> 00:36:54.370
Racing and the records for me is, I do like doing them for myself and knowing

00:36:54.370 --> 00:36:58.370
that if I wonder whether or not I can do something,

00:36:58.610 --> 00:37:01.470
going out there and proving that I can to myself is important to

00:37:01.470 --> 00:37:04.670
me but but also i i love

00:37:04.670 --> 00:37:07.510
promoting the sport and at some point

00:37:07.510 --> 00:37:10.830
someone's going to be annoyed that i've got these records you

00:37:10.830 --> 00:37:15.250
know and they keep seeing me on paddle daily and and this sort of stuff you

00:37:15.250 --> 00:37:19.870
know popping up on on social media with you know i think you said five records

00:37:19.870 --> 00:37:24.750
on performance sea kayak and they're going to go after them themselves and i'll

00:37:24.750 --> 00:37:30.130
be very happy when that happens because it will have meant that I've made someone go out there,

00:37:30.530 --> 00:37:33.530
research it, and train for it.

00:37:33.670 --> 00:37:37.210
And as they do that, they will have dragged others with them.

00:37:38.086 --> 00:37:41.586
Almost like a rising tide floats all ships sort of situation.

00:37:42.946 --> 00:37:50.226
And that's a large part of why I do it. I'm not part of a canoe club for the last sort of 10 years.

00:37:50.286 --> 00:37:53.306
I've lived too far away from a canoe club to be involved.

00:37:53.426 --> 00:37:58.406
And I really want to get more people paddling and to just improve everyone.

00:37:58.886 --> 00:38:01.686
And so this is one of my ways of doing it.

00:38:02.206 --> 00:38:05.806
It's interesting that you mentioned that, hoping that others will break your

00:38:05.806 --> 00:38:09.786
records. I've had a couple of other endurance paddlers who've joined the show

00:38:09.786 --> 00:38:11.686
and have mentioned something very similar.

00:38:11.926 --> 00:38:15.826
And that is that there's a great camaraderie in paddle sports.

00:38:16.146 --> 00:38:20.806
And when somebody else breaks your record, that means that you've spurred them on to be better.

00:38:21.326 --> 00:38:25.166
Yeah, that's exactly it. And I know they're going to have to try fairly hard.

00:38:25.446 --> 00:38:27.286
There's definitely faster people out there.

00:38:28.106 --> 00:38:31.206
And but you know i have a nice mix of

00:38:31.206 --> 00:38:34.426
endurance speed and ski skills that

00:38:34.426 --> 00:38:37.466
they're going to have to sort of try and navigate around themselves

00:38:37.466 --> 00:38:40.726
they might they might not they might not be as fast so maybe

00:38:40.726 --> 00:38:43.586
they need to do it on a day where you know the sea skills come into

00:38:43.586 --> 00:38:48.426
more of a play do it on a bigger tide maybe their sea skills aren't quite as

00:38:48.426 --> 00:38:51.566
as good as mine and they'll need to do it on a flatter day and just rely on

00:38:51.566 --> 00:38:55.846
their speed and endurance but at some point someone will crack them and and

00:38:55.846 --> 00:38:59.706
i'll be very happy i i hope some of them i hope anglesey lasts for a little

00:38:59.706 --> 00:39:01.666
while i do like anglesey record,

00:39:02.555 --> 00:39:06.355
And when they do that, that'll spur you on to be better as well.

00:39:07.435 --> 00:39:12.495
Hopefully, yeah. And I'm not sure whether I can improve the Anglesey record

00:39:12.495 --> 00:39:14.115
much. I would like to give it a go.

00:39:14.795 --> 00:39:18.595
If someone goes around a bit quicker, then yeah, maybe I'll have to go back

00:39:18.595 --> 00:39:19.815
out there and have another go.

00:39:20.135 --> 00:39:24.535
Well, John Willissey, as you mentioned earlier, has quite a few records for Anglesey.

00:39:24.675 --> 00:39:28.235
And there's probably at some point in one of those records you thought he wasn't

00:39:28.235 --> 00:39:29.115
sure if he could do better.

00:39:29.255 --> 00:39:33.155
And here he is. i i do the

00:39:33.155 --> 00:39:35.915
tide wasn't massive on the day that

00:39:35.915 --> 00:39:39.075
i went round so i i would i would be curious to

00:39:39.075 --> 00:39:44.015
know what would happen if i could do it on a much bigger tide although with

00:39:44.015 --> 00:39:48.275
the slightly smaller tide that i did it on i i think it definitely helped with

00:39:48.275 --> 00:39:54.035
with the tide races and it kept the sea a lot calmer on the north coast and

00:39:54.035 --> 00:39:58.855
so as i've discussed with john privately you you don't always get,

00:39:59.075 --> 00:40:03.015
you know, you think, oh, bigger tide, I'll be quicker, but it changes everything.

00:40:03.295 --> 00:40:07.915
So might not necessarily be true. I may have done it in perfect conditions.

00:40:07.915 --> 00:40:13.535
And, you know, unless I had a computer simulation to run it in all of these

00:40:13.535 --> 00:40:16.235
different conditions, I won't know unless I go around again.

00:40:16.775 --> 00:40:21.975
Always worth a try. Yeah. So with most of our audience for Paddling the Blue

00:40:21.975 --> 00:40:27.615
being touring and expedition paddlers, what can we learn from what you've experienced?

00:40:29.066 --> 00:40:33.586
That's a good question. And one that I may find fairly hard to answer.

00:40:34.166 --> 00:40:40.246
I think it makes you a very good paddler. Trying to paddle fast makes you a

00:40:40.246 --> 00:40:48.006
very good paddler in a way that just makes you paddle well and a stronger paddler.

00:40:48.226 --> 00:40:51.906
I think when I've bimbled around and gone everywhere

00:40:51.906 --> 00:40:54.786
slowly it has been to the detriment

00:40:54.786 --> 00:40:58.486
of of my paddling and i find

00:40:58.486 --> 00:41:02.006
i i am better when i have tried to paddle with

00:41:02.006 --> 00:41:06.326
a bit more emphasis on on speed and power but everyone

00:41:06.326 --> 00:41:09.586
every each to their own and and i i i

00:41:09.586 --> 00:41:13.246
don't get the pleasure from sort of floating around

00:41:13.246 --> 00:41:16.006
as as much as others do and and and i i

00:41:16.006 --> 00:41:18.826
can respect that they wouldn't enjoy what i do as much i think

00:41:18.826 --> 00:41:21.706
it just adds to the wide variety of our sport

00:41:21.706 --> 00:41:25.186
that that everyone enjoys their own thing really so

00:41:25.186 --> 00:41:28.386
you mentioned earlier that you know you might not find a

00:41:28.386 --> 00:41:31.506
lot of joy in in slower paddling and that

00:41:31.506 --> 00:41:36.346
faster paddling makes you makes you better and improves you so what are those

00:41:36.346 --> 00:41:43.826
things in that in that focus on speed and application of energy that can apply

00:41:43.826 --> 00:41:47.166
to someone else who's not necessarily looking for that speed but just wants

00:41:47.166 --> 00:41:49.386
to be more efficient and more effective in their paddling.

00:41:49.986 --> 00:41:55.606
I think it just very much depends on the way you paddle. When you paddle fast,

00:41:55.806 --> 00:41:57.686
your stroke is much more efficient.

00:41:58.675 --> 00:42:04.215
And you can get yourself out of certain tricky situations if you can put a bit of power in sometimes.

00:42:04.435 --> 00:42:08.735
You certainly find that sometimes when the boat's not going fast,

00:42:08.975 --> 00:42:12.615
you find yourself getting into certain situations.

00:42:12.855 --> 00:42:19.235
Now, I've always paddled with a rudder. So you do need some sort of flow over the rudder.

00:42:19.415 --> 00:42:25.175
And certainly in waves and flowy water, being able to put a spurt in and get

00:42:25.175 --> 00:42:28.255
some water moving over the rudder does get you out of trouble sometimes.

00:42:29.115 --> 00:42:30.975
The added strength I think that you

00:42:30.975 --> 00:42:36.155
get from paddling fast and efficiently certainly helps me out at times.

00:42:36.355 --> 00:42:42.095
You know, I know that if I wasn't particularly fit because I've not been training

00:42:42.095 --> 00:42:45.515
that way, I know that I can get into difficulty that way sometimes.

00:42:46.015 --> 00:42:49.755
I think that's where I'd sort of look to advise people.

00:42:50.175 --> 00:42:56.935
Yeah, and long distance paddling and touring and expedition paddling it's not always the same speed.

00:42:57.015 --> 00:43:00.895
There's some points where I need to go a little bit faster and I need to be

00:43:00.895 --> 00:43:04.195
more efficient and more effective in that stroke for that particular moment.

00:43:04.435 --> 00:43:08.215
And that's certainly something we can learn from the endurance paddling world.

00:43:08.415 --> 00:43:12.695
I think so. I think it improves the core a lot. And when I slow down,

00:43:12.835 --> 00:43:16.175
I find that I slouch a bit more. I don't sit quite as efficiently.

00:43:16.795 --> 00:43:20.895
And certainly if I sit up and try and improve my catch in my racing boat,

00:43:21.175 --> 00:43:22.895
then my core improves. Yeah.

00:43:23.368 --> 00:43:28.148
And I think that's an important part of paddling. Do you have an interest in expedition paddling?

00:43:28.908 --> 00:43:33.088
I do. Although, as I mentioned earlier, I'm from a sailing background.

00:43:33.088 --> 00:43:37.628
And I think if I was sort of doing some of the more expedition stuff,

00:43:37.808 --> 00:43:39.388
I'd rather do it from a sailing boat.

00:43:39.868 --> 00:43:46.028
But, you know, the expedition stuff, you know, as I said, I don't really think

00:43:46.028 --> 00:43:47.528
of myself as a multi-day paddler.

00:43:47.888 --> 00:43:52.488
I still appreciate the views that you get from paddling. You know,

00:43:52.608 --> 00:43:56.648
I'm not paddling so fast that I don't see anything and nothing soaks in.

00:43:56.928 --> 00:44:02.148
But still, I still get to look at the beautiful coastlines that everyone else does.

00:44:02.468 --> 00:44:07.028
I don't go and explore the caves and the cliffs that everyone does.

00:44:07.028 --> 00:44:09.048
I do often go past them a little bit.

00:44:10.348 --> 00:44:13.328
Yes, expeditioning. Yeah, I do like exploring.

00:44:13.528 --> 00:44:17.128
I actually am living in the Netherlands right now and I'm right by a national

00:44:17.128 --> 00:44:23.188
park called the Bijbosch and it's full of islands and it's good fun to go exploring.

00:44:23.388 --> 00:44:30.648
You can go exploring all day sort of in this big national park full of islands and trees and wildlife.

00:44:30.888 --> 00:44:36.668
It's actually famous for its beavers, but they're quite hard to spot. What is paddler media?

00:44:37.682 --> 00:44:41.042
Oh, Paddling Media is run by a friend of mine, Betsy.

00:44:41.582 --> 00:44:46.382
And I've recently joined her on a podcast called Paddlecast.

00:44:46.782 --> 00:44:53.622
And we focus on marathon racing, surf ski paddling and descent racing.

00:44:54.142 --> 00:44:57.242
So we're actually somewhat rivals here, John.

00:44:57.522 --> 00:45:03.322
But we have started a podcast. We've been going just over six months now.

00:45:03.702 --> 00:45:06.922
And it's growing. It's something I'm really enjoying doing.

00:45:06.922 --> 00:45:12.162
It's a good way to promote the sport fantastic so i would not consider uh another

00:45:12.162 --> 00:45:15.722
podcast arrival certainly uh we all make each other better and like you said

00:45:15.722 --> 00:45:17.322
our rising tide lifts all ships.

00:45:17.962 --> 00:45:20.782
And the more of us the better the

00:45:20.782 --> 00:45:24.062
more ways we can get the word out the better exactly yeah

00:45:24.062 --> 00:45:27.222
so if any of your listeners do do like dabbling in

00:45:27.222 --> 00:45:30.282
marathon paddling surf ski paddling and descent racing

00:45:30.282 --> 00:45:33.102
then we're the place to go to all right where would someone

00:45:33.102 --> 00:45:36.642
find uh find the paddle cast so we stream

00:45:36.642 --> 00:45:40.302
on spotify apple podcasts

00:45:40.302 --> 00:45:43.162
and youtube we do actually have the video

00:45:43.162 --> 00:45:45.982
on youtube as well so it probably is slightly better on youtube

00:45:45.982 --> 00:45:49.122
and if you type in paddlecast then

00:45:49.122 --> 00:45:53.342
you should find us all right we'll uh we'll include links in the show notes

00:45:53.342 --> 00:45:57.302
so folks can find that information as well how can listeners connect with you

00:45:57.302 --> 00:46:03.662
billy well you can find me instagram as billy likes kayaking or you can get

00:46:03.662 --> 00:46:07.202
me on billylikeskayaking at gmail.com Alright,

00:46:07.642 --> 00:46:14.262
love the handle Well, I came up with it many years ago and it stuck and it sort

00:46:14.262 --> 00:46:16.402
of works because I really do like kayaking.

00:46:17.724 --> 00:46:21.544
As we all do. Yeah. Billy, one final question for you.

00:46:21.724 --> 00:46:24.644
First of all, this has been great listening to you and hearing from you and

00:46:24.644 --> 00:46:28.864
learning about your experience in the endurance world and how we can apply that

00:46:28.864 --> 00:46:32.504
and kind of what's coming up next. So thank you very much for sharing that.

00:46:33.024 --> 00:46:36.784
One final question that I have for you. Who else would you like to hear as a

00:46:36.784 --> 00:46:40.344
future guest on Paddling the Blue? Well, it's...

00:46:40.941 --> 00:46:45.081
Knew this question was coming as everyone does and i i put a lot of thought

00:46:45.081 --> 00:46:50.021
into it and i i think i would quite like to hear from ollie harding he has done

00:46:50.021 --> 00:46:55.021
an awful lot of of stuff that i'm interested in and in marathon paddling and

00:46:55.021 --> 00:47:00.121
on the sea most recently they they did a a descent of a danube,

00:47:00.621 --> 00:47:03.901
and him and two other friends yeah but

00:47:03.901 --> 00:47:06.781
you know as i said he he did a an isle

00:47:06.781 --> 00:47:09.421
of man crossing many years ago he's done a lot

00:47:09.421 --> 00:47:12.261
of a lot of very interesting stuff on the sea as well as

00:47:12.261 --> 00:47:15.021
some really top level racing he he held

00:47:15.021 --> 00:47:18.441
the divisors to westminster record for a number

00:47:18.441 --> 00:47:23.521
of hours and it was broken when another crew came came through in a slightly

00:47:23.521 --> 00:47:28.701
quicker time who had started earlier so for a few hours he was a divisors to

00:47:28.701 --> 00:47:33.001
westminster record holder but unfortunately it didn't stand long so it would

00:47:33.001 --> 00:47:37.581
be ollie if if uh if you speak to someone i can put you in touch with him super Well,

00:47:37.641 --> 00:47:40.941
we'll connect offline and figure out how to connect with Ollie.

00:47:41.501 --> 00:47:46.441
So, again, Billy, I appreciate the opportunity to chat with you today and to

00:47:46.441 --> 00:47:47.761
hear from you, learn from you.

00:47:48.001 --> 00:47:52.281
And I'm certain that our listeners will also enjoy the experience.

00:47:52.861 --> 00:47:55.601
Thank you, John. It was a pleasure. You're welcome.

00:47:56.981 --> 00:48:00.821
If you want to be a stronger and more efficient paddler, Power to the Paddle

00:48:00.821 --> 00:48:04.481
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00:48:04.481 --> 00:48:08.901
of more than 50 exercises to improve your abilities and enjoy your time on the water.

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The concept and exercises in this book have helped me become a better paddler

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and they can make a difference for you too.

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The exercises in the book can help you reduce tension in your shoulders and

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strokes more efficient,

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So visit paddlingexercises.com to get the book and companion DVD.

00:48:43.408 --> 00:48:46.508
Thanks to Billy for joining us for today's episode. He's putting up some pretty

00:48:46.508 --> 00:48:49.168
impressive numbers and shows no sign of slowing down.

00:48:49.368 --> 00:48:52.528
It's interesting that the endurance paddlers I've talked with are both very

00:48:52.528 --> 00:48:55.908
competitive and very cooperative among each other at the same time.

00:48:56.168 --> 00:48:59.288
They get excited in a positive way when someone breaks their records because

00:48:59.288 --> 00:49:02.788
it tells them what's possible and forces them to find a way to improve.

00:49:03.088 --> 00:49:07.428
In the show notes for this episode at paddlingtheblue.com slash 151,

00:49:07.568 --> 00:49:10.968
you'll find links to John Willis' Performance Sea Kayaking website,

00:49:11.388 --> 00:49:14.588
the source of truth for endurance paddling records where you can find Billy's

00:49:14.588 --> 00:49:16.208
records and a whole lot more.

00:49:16.528 --> 00:49:19.808
And if you're interested in the latest news from the endurance paddling scene

00:49:19.808 --> 00:49:23.808
with an emphasis on surf ski and stand-up paddleboard, there's a link to Billy's

00:49:23.808 --> 00:49:26.908
Paddlecast podcast at that show notes page as well.

00:49:27.068 --> 00:49:31.868
And if you're not already a subscriber to OnlineSeaKayaking.com or OnlineWhitewater.com,

00:49:32.268 --> 00:49:36.368
remember you can use the coupon code PTBpodcast at checkout on either of those

00:49:36.368 --> 00:49:40.748
two sites, and you'll get 10% off just for being a member of the Paddling the Blue community.

00:49:41.088 --> 00:49:45.888
Thanks again for listening, and I look forward to bringing you the next episode of Paddling the Blue.

00:49:47.648 --> 00:49:51.168
Thank you for listening to Paddling the Blue. You can subscribe to Paddling

00:49:51.168 --> 00:49:56.468
the Blue on Apple Music, Google Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

00:49:56.648 --> 00:49:59.608
Please take the time to leave us a five-star review on Apple Music.

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We truly appreciate the support.

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And you can find the show notes for this episode and other episodes along with

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replays of past episodes, contact information, and more at paddlingtheblue.com.

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Until next time, I hope you get out and paddle the blue.