"Extraordinary Sea Journey"

So for lack of a better story the Grenadian news company GBN have run a two minute feature on our trip that went out across the Caribbean a couple of nights ago. "An extraordinary sea journey" was how they described it! It was strange having a camera in your face at 0630 in the morning while still out of breath from carrying a 45kg kayak down the steepest hill in Grenada. There were definitely points for both of us where we ran out of words, or even knew what we wanted to say but our mouths decided no, we will not function today. Well that is our excuse for the tongue-twisted performance - enjoy...

After our fantastc stay with Annie and Phillip at Petite Anse we left mainland Grenada and it's friendly faces behind and pressed on for Carriacou. On this crossing we got our first taste of big(ish) waves (although we don't think the gopro footage does it justice) and we got to feel our kayak, a Seaward Passat, in rough water for the first time...

Particularly amazing over the past few days have been our Celtic Pro Sea and Touring 650 Paddles. They are super lightweight, efficient and powerful... we will post a few videos of our kit, equipment etc. over the next few weeks but for the moment you can see some of the awesome stuff we need to get us to Miami here. Most importantly our hands are doing ok.. only a couple of small blisters so far.

Tropical Storm Matthew over the Windward Islands

Meanwhile Tropical Storm Matthew is making it's way past just North of us and it looks like we will have to sit out for another day tomorrow. No danger to us though as we have the kayak safely secured in the Carriacou Yacht Club's boat shed and we are being very kindly hosted by Allison in her storm proof concrete house. Althouh just a few miles north in St Lucia they are experiencing 80kmph winds and 5.5m high swells! Allison in fact runs tours on the island and the surrounding area. She is currently fundraising to expand her project and is looking for support here.

TS Matthew and it's predicted course

Finally a massive thank you to everyone who has shown there support and become founding sponsors of the Get Exploring Trust by sponsoring us on this expedition.

GET Going!

Where's the sea then...........?

Will and George have started their epic adventure, (this brief update is coming from Exped HQ in the UK), and are currently on their second day of paddling, having traversed the West coast of Grenada yesterday, and are en route to Carricou to the north.

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You can track their latest position which updates every 10 mins here.

The decision to go or not today was the subject of some debate with a heavy storm rumbling in from the Atlantic but the latest satellite weather maps suggest the storm should just miss Grenada and Carricou although there will still be plenty of wind and rain from this evening onward.

Petite Anse Hotel; Great location with outstanding hosts.

The boys stayed last night with the delightful Philip and Annie Clift at the Petite Anse Hotel in the North of Grenada and who have kindly pinged photographs from this morning over. Local sponsors and supporters of the expedition are critical to it's success. When considering a holiday to Grenada do please bear Annie in mind! (email here). 

Also, a big shout for the indefatigable Sally Stalker who has provided the guys with massive local support, helping unwind initial administrative problems and who helped them navigate their way through the local Customs process. Without her help they would probably still be in the Customs shed trying to figure out where the kayak was....... (and thank you for covering some of the expenses Sally... we do love you).

so, I'm guessing that's the back then.......

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if you are wondering that Grenada isn't looking it's best.... the picture was taken straight after first light!

The team should arrive in Carricou at around 8-9pm UK time tonight. After they have squared away their kit, fed and watered I would expect them to add to the narrative and update us on the weather system. Worst case they'll have to rest up until the storm passes through, best case is they'll be able to crack on tomorrow if it completely misses the area. It is worth noting, although the worst of the storm may miss their planned route it will inevitably impact wave height locally which is a consideration in itself. 

Donations continue to roll in and we're a shade under £7,500 currently so grateful thanks to all for your kindness and messages of support which are all warmly welcomed.

funny old thing...... the kayak suddenly doesn't look so big......... 

Hard Landings

So after months and months of preparation we are finally out here in Grenada!

After both arriving on Thursday and negotiating the delights of airport customs - for some reason George created a bit of a stir with the customs officers when he turned up with his 7 bags of equipment - we have since been unbelievably busy getting ready for the off.

Friday morning was spent collecting the kayak from Grenada's commercial port. This involved being bounced from enquiries, to security, to customs, to brokers, to more customs, back to security, and finally to the port storage warehouse. Here, after many stomach churning blank responses from the managers as we asked for what we could only assume would be a fvcking great big box, we finally found our vessel tucked nice and inconspicuously out the back.

A bemused truck driver helped us deliver it back to our poor host's house, aptly named Hard Landings after his career in the RAF. Since then it has been hard at work sorting, prepping and packing our kit and testing our equipment. Check out some of the kit we are using here:

http://www.getexploringtrust.com/kit-list/

This morning we spent time customizing the kayak and adding our sponsors details to make it look like a proper expedition boat. Check out some of our sponsors on the website here:

http://www.getexploringtrust.com/sponsors/

And this afternoon, finally, we got out on the water for a paddle. The Caribbean is average. But we think the kayak looks cool... 

The plan is to set off in a few days time. We have more preparation to do in the meantime and have been told Grenada's national news want to interview us tomorrow!?.. Monday is the proposed date of departure, although this may slip to Tuesday. Our only concern at the moment is the depression developing over the Atlantic heading our way - these things often turn into tropical storms, in which case we will have to batten down the hatches for a few days and wait it out.. 

More to follow! Check out our new Instagram account: goldenarcexpedition