Friday 26 June 2015

10 Day Countdown Begins!


Coming soon: far from the Cam

Time is creeping by so that in just 10 days time we will be on the waters of the Danube River in Belgrade, Serbia, at the beginning of our journey!

From there, we're planning to stand up paddle board 300 km, mostly within the borderlands of eastern Serbia and eventually into west Romania as far as Severin. Of course, what we plan and what actually happens could be quite different things; the Serbian Met Office website suggests the river flow rate is reasonably strong this year, so we might get lucky and travel further than Severin, but equally we have lots to learn in the first few days and new river traffic to navigate (fewer punts, more shipping containers).


We've planned to try and ensure the first scenario happens, but some things are beyond our own control, so we'll just have to go with the flow (sorry, not so punny). Medical skills have been brushed up thanks to a session with Dr Chris Press at Wilderness Medical Services; WMS will also be providing medical and emergency support throughout the trip. Test runs using our Origin Paddleboards have helped build our confidence, endurance and technical SUPing skills, both on the River Lea under the instruction of Spike Reid, the mastermind behind the Paddleboard River Project, and during exam term on the River Cam.

And now in our last few days before leaving, amongst other university, work and travel commitments, we'll be doing final preps on kit and trying to get out for some more test runs on the boards. Oh, and eating and sleeping lots (Cambridge exam terms & May Week & Graduation have left us still feeling poooped), making the most of our beds and clean running water.

Rosie and Alex



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