Groat captures lucky shots of world breaking challenge
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By chance, our paper captured images as a man arrived at John O'Groats on a stand up paddleboard (Sup) record breaking attempt to circumnavigate mainland Britain.
Brendon Prince was greeted by army cadets from Castletown and Thurso as well as some of his support crew who were shooting a documentary about his journey – The Long Paddle 2021
The John O'Groat Journal happened to be there on another assignment when activity near the harbour was noticed leading to some timely snaps being taken as Brendon arrived.
"It's taken 74 days to come from Land's End to John O'Groats going clockwise and I hope I can complete the trip around mainland Britain in the next 40 days," he said.
The paper had been informed of Brendon's imminent arrival at Groats but he was expected to arrive on Tuesday morning, so was well ahead on his journey. We were covering another charity run involving motorcyclists arriving at the village when the chance encounter occurred.
Brendon is undertaking an official world record attempt to circumnavigate mainland Britain by Sup. By being the first to ever complete this challenge, he will also complete the world record for longest ever journey by Sup.
"I've seen lots of wildlife including orcas yesterday. Amazing wildlife, amazing scenery and amazing coastline. I'm doing it to promote water safety for children. Too many people in this country die from drowning and something's got to be done to raise that awareness."
Brendon says that children need to be aware of hidden dangers that can lurk around coastlines, canals and other bodies of water. He has visited many schools and communities teaching over 100,000 children water safety and drowning prevention.
The Long Paddle 2021 provides an opportunity for him to fundraise for the development of the world’s first-ever water safety app – an innovative, gamified app that will teach children and young adults about water safety. With a series of interactive challenges and minigames, the app will be available on both mobile and desktop. There will also be accessible, easy-to-read information for adults about low and high tide.
A spokesperson for the local army cadets who were at John O'Groats said: "Brendon is a friend of our National Ambassador and TV Star Jordan Wylie, who attempted the same challenge – which was unfortunately halted halfway through at the end of last year due to new Covid restrictions in Scotland."
Brendon's website with more information can be found at thelongpaddle.co.uk/what-is-the-long-paddle-2021/
Anyone wishing to donate to his fundraiser page for The Long Paddle 2021 can do so at www.justgiving.com/fundraising/thelongpaddle2021
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