PK Podcast 027: Colin Skeath On What It Takes To Canoe Around Britain
On 30th April 2017, Colin Skeath and his nephew Davis Gould-Duff set off from Loch Sunart on the West Coast of Scotland in an open canoe, aiming to circumnavigate Britain.
Colin and Davis had already had many adventures together since Colin introduced Davis to the great outdoors when he was no more than a toddler. Their most notable joint climbing venture was an epic nine-day ascent of Muir Wall on El Capitan in 2010.
Climbing and mountaineering has taken Colin all over the UK, as well as to Europe, Africa and America. Colin has had three trips to Yosemite National Park where he has climbed multi-day “big walls” including The Nose and Muir Wall on the valley’s spectacular El Capitan.
Colin’s passion for the vertical started to give way to canoeing in 2010 when he bought a 17 foot canoe and learned the basics of paddling on Loch Sunart, and by 2012 climbing was a thing of the past for Colin.
Following many adventures by canoe around the West Coast of Scotland, in June 2015 Colin and his wife Katrina made an adventurous circumnavigation of Anglesey in North Wales by open canoe. This involved paddling through dangerous tide races and through the turbulent Menai Straits in the dark.
In 2015, in preparation for their planned Canoe Around Britain, Colin and Davis made the first circumnavigation of the Isle of Skye by open canoe. Their efficient use of paddle sailing was evident as the pair completed the adventure in five days.
A year later they completed a 174 mile canoe trip across the highlands of Scotland. They paddled the River Spey, the coast from Spey Bay to Inverness and the Caledonian Canal in just three days.
And so we come to the big trip in 2017 – the ambitious plan to canoe around Britain in over 2,000 miles of coastal waters…
I’m delighted to have Colin join me for this podcast to discuss this epic adventure, where the idea came from, the mindset required of them and what they learned from the experience.
Our conversation forms Episode 27 of the Paul Kirtley Podcast…
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TRANSCRIPT
The transcript is coming soon…. the typing pool are working flat out.
Links Mentioned In This Podcast
Canoe Around Britain Facebook Page
canoearoundbritain.com
Connect with Colin Skeath
The moment Colin and Davis completed their epic journey is captured in the video below….
Thanks For Listening!
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Related Material On Paul Kirtley’s Blog
Fun In The Swellies: Fighting The Tide In The Menai Strait
PK Podcast 014: Mark Kalch On Epic Source To Sea River Descents
PK Podcast 026: Kevin Callan On The Joys Of Winter Camping
13 thoughts on “PK Podcast 027: Colin Skeath On What It Takes To Canoe Around Britain”
Paul,
I enjoyed this podcast alot as I have a number of books in my library of similar type adventures. Lots of great info. Very honest account. Humorous at times. Informative and revealing. I love this type of adventure. Eight and 9 hours in a canoe every day is so physically demanding. Their focus level had to be on high at all times considering the risk factors. Thanks Paul
Paul
My pleasure Paul. Glad you enjoyed it. 🙂
Paul,
Really enjoyed this PC. Colin and Davis adventures are so inspiring to continue to get out there and do…
Nice one Darren. Glad you liked it.
Imagine my delight in not only having my questions answered but also getting so much I side thought on this epic journey. Thanks to both of you for putting this together chaps it was a real treat!
Hi Matt,
It was a pleasure to facilitate Matt. Thanks for your question and I’m glad you enjoyed listening to the answer as well as the rest of the podcast. 🙂
Warm regards,
Paul
Hi Paul! As always a great podcast-this chapter is among the best! I love sea adventures…..the rugged individual stretching the boundaries of outdoor experience. Great detail….kudos to Colin and Davis! The world awaits! This maritmime podcast ranks with the Aleutian adventure in your early podcasts Paul. Never turn your back on the sea!
Thanks for sharing this post this is really very nice and amazing.
Thanks.
Great work Paul,
I met Colin and Davis on their trip down the East coast and what an interesting couple of blokes! Great to hear what Colin was saying after the trip as they were not even half way round when I met them. He is coming down to do a talk in March so looking forward to seeing him again.
Thanks for your comments Ollie. Glad you liked the podcast. Enjoy the talk in March.
Warm regards,
Paul
A great achievement in a great podcast as always Paul. I am just about to listen to all your podcasts from day 1.
Truly inspired! Jonathan
Hi Jonathan. Thanks for your comments here and I’m glad you found this as a starting point. I hope you enjoy and are further inspired by all the other episodes.
Warm regards,
Paul