Paddle Round the Pier 2019

After a successful day cleaning up the beach on Friday, the team went back to the sea for the annual Paddle Round the Pier event. There were carnival rides, food stalls, and, to be expected, loads of inventive, colourful, (thankfully buoyant) watercrafts strewn across the pebbles. It wasn’t a bright sunny day like the week before but the clouds were a welcomed relief to the Harvey John team after a couple of sunburn-inducing days! (If you want to find out more about the event and the charity behind it, read up here)

The crowds had gathered amidst the water creations. These ranged from a floating Mexican wrestling ring to a buoyant ping-pong table. We stood by the water with our sturdy, if homemade-looking, craft of two kayaks, some repurposed wooden pallets, and a surfboard to trail behind for our 6th teammate. The HJ team and their partners were there to support Alex Mann, Ed Moore, Alex Baxter Smith, Josh Rapaport, Alice Cahill, and Antony Barnett who decided to brave the chilly Brighton waters and set sail.

 

With the waves crashing up onto the beach, the teams lined up for kick-off. There was a fair amount of excitement in the air (along with a couple of timid raindrops). Each team was set off one after the other to take on the loop challenge. We had a bit of a shaky start! The surfboard attempted a swift escape from the craft, but they were off pretty quickly! Two paddles and a couple of arms in the sea propelled the team with the ease of a struggling duck. While the rest of the crowd looked on in awe at all of the other floats. There were floaty swans that rocked and rolled. A boat full of human-bee hybrids glided seamlessly. A three-man group with a wheelbarrow moved with surprising speed (amongst others!).

Our team may not have been the first to complete the challenge, but we sure did have fun.

*let’s just say we stayed behind to make sure the other teams got to safety

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