Vet finds Major mess on record paddle run
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A VET caused a bit of a splash when she swapped her stethoscope for a paddleboard to complete a memorable Land’s End to John O’Groats journey.
Cal Major was paddling along the seas, rivers and canals of Britain in order to raise awareness of plastic pollution in our waters and to also raise money for mental health charities the Samaritans and Vetlife.
The 30-year-old completed her momentous journey inside 59 days – as she’s the first to do this by paddleboard, she is now the official world-record holder.
Cal, who hails from North Devon, is keen to highlight not only the untidiness of plastic litter left on our beaches and in our seas but also the damage it can do to both the sea wildlife and the environment.
She found many examples of plastic pollution along the way to John O’Groats and hopes people will give more though to their use and disposal of plastic products.
“There was plastic wherever I went. I found countless deserted and remote beaches piled high with it – plastic bottles, cotton-bud sticks, fishing gear, plastic bags,” she said.
“The worst-affected beaches in Scotland were on the west coast. On the east coast there was noticeably less on the beaches, but I was still paddling past beaches with nesting birds that had multicoloured plastic littering them.
“Paddling up the north-east coast, and particularly around Duncansby Head, I picked up several large plastic bags.
“The inland canals were the worst affected. One morning in Wigan I counted 691 plastic bottles just in the first hour of paddling.”
Cal admitted that the marathon paddle was not without a scary moment or two.
She added: “The Mull of Galloway paddle was one of the more terrifying moments. Storm Hector was approaching, so I had just one window to get around the Mull.
“I set off at 11.30pm, just as it had got dark, and paddled 14 miles across Luce Bay.
“The darkness made it very hard to navigate so I used GPS and, once I could see lights on the opposite landmass and the lighthouse at the Mull, I focused on that.
“With the Isle of Arran, I set off with a five-hour window to get to Arran before a storm was due to come in.
“The winds were strong the entire time, mostly behind me but enough of a crosswind to make the paddling incredibly challenging and painful. When I was 12 miles across, the waves were almost as big as me and the storm came in early. I was very scared and felt very alone – panic was starting to set in.
“Once I was within a mile of the island, and knew I was safe, fear turned to exhilaration, and the feeling of being propelled along by 20-30 knot winds was incredible.”
