For news, articles and features on the Board of Europe project, please click here

Board Talk The online diary of the Board Of Europe Project

Check back regularly for updates on progress and news of the Board of Europe Project. Board silly? Get on-board with the news by e-mailing the boardmaster where you will be added to the Board Talk mailing list

31st December 2007 By Big Rob

For the complete report and the full gallery of the September 2007 Challenge Tour, please click here.

26th December 2007 By Big Rob 'Ho Ho Ho!'

Christmas time, and the Board of Europe project came out of it's 12 week rest period to complete a winter challenge. 9 local friends, paddlers and lifeguards got together on Sunday 23rd September to raise over £600 in sponsorship, and paddle 5km on the River Avon on a foggy and frosty morning, the day before Christmas Eve. With an air temperature of -3 degrees, water temperature of +5 degrees and costumes of various degrees, this wiley band had a great time and plan to do the same on a bigger scale in 2008. Many thanks to Evesham Rowing Club for launch facilities, South Worcestershire Lifeguard Club for safety cover, and Sankey Marina for landing and changing facilities.

10th September 2007 By Polly Gee

Two days and counting, and we're nearly ready to go. That said, there is still a huge amount to do but Rob and I are geared up to plough on through it so hopefully we'll be off with no major difficulties. The last few weeks have been eventful to say the least. Unfortunately, we didn't quite escape the widespread flooding. In fact, we had three feet of water in the house for 24 hours. It was a somewhat surreal experience wading into waist deep water as I walked down the stairs. The water, however, receeded, and although it did unfortunately take with it a substantial proportion of out kit, we have gradually managed to get back on our feet and back on track.. Obviously, the immediate clear up operation took several days out of our planning time and as a result some elements have been delayed. However, I think that under the circumstances, we have resurfaced remarkably well. The fundraising barbeque, whilst very...very wet, was a resounding success, and a big thankyou to all who braved the wind and (more) rain to support us. Once that was over it was simply a case of finalising arrangements for the tour, a time consuming but successful process. Now we are just trying to tie up all the loose ends and ensure that we leave with all the necessary contacts, details and kit we need for the trip. Neil is ready and waiting for us in London as we speak. So, the challenge commences on Thursday, and we have our fingers crossed ...... come hell or high water.

8th July 2007 By Polly Gee

Well you could say there's been a bit of water around the last few weeks. Despite the chaos caused by the floods and seemingly endless rain, we decided to put a positive spin on the miserable weather and take another trip. After managing to pin Rob and Fletch down in the same place at the same time (miracles will never cease) a good day was had. Malcolm at Snugg had kindly sent through two 'Board of Europe' wetsuits, which have certainly added a touch of professionalism to the photos. They are both training hard, although have had to adapt slightly to more land based work over the recent weeks, as the rivers have been flowing far too fast for safe paddling.Some rumours around of an indoor rowing competition in a week or so too..

Earlier in June we had a very productive couple of weeks after an article of ours was published in a few local newspapers. This gave us a couple of leads and has resulted in some really positive developments, one of which should appear on the website in more detail over the coming weeks. The next few weeks will be busy, several meetings and various work commitments, but we will certainly be focusing more on the tour itself. It is now only just over two months, that's 56 days, until we set off. Obviously there is a fair amount of preparation involved before we leave but Rob and I are confident enough that most of this should be relatively straightforward and are making good progress with the planning so far. Rob in particular is going through some large personal upheaval at the moment, and I think we both are looking forward to getting the whole team back together again soon to help the final planning come together.

27th May 2007 By Polly Gee

It’s been a strange couple of weeks really, with one thing and another.  The first May bank holiday provided an opportunity to confirm the tour dates and locations (which have now been posted on the website) and we were also able to get out on the river to take some close up pictures and video of Rob and Fletch.  The day resulted in some excellent shots, mainly thanks to Neil and definitely no thanks to my ability to drive a boat slowly in a straight line.  It certainly made filming a challenge.  On the sponsorship front we’ve got a few weeks to make some significant progress, by which point we’ll be running out of time.  If this summer disappears at the same rate as last summer then it will be September before we know it.  Rob and Fletch are both managing to fit in a substantial amount of training around their other commitments, although paddling the double board it proving difficult as they are rarely in the same place at the same time.  Fletch, it would appear, is buried under a vast mountain of maps and books as he finishes off his exams, after which hopefully he will emerge from worlds of doom unscathed and raring to go……..alongside completing a dissertation – no problem surely?!  Rob is also becoming very attached to Denzil, his enormous new truck.  A perfect match I feel, as neither Rob nor Denzil are known to blend into the background!  A date has also been finalised for the fundraising barbeque, invitations for which we hope to produce in the next couple of weeks.  In the meantime, enjoy the bank holiday weekend, and the beautiful weather?!

6th April 2007 By Rob

Well it seemed to work out in the end. Fitness aside, the 'Previously Heroic University College Undergraduate Men And Women of Loughborough' Lifesaving Club again took National gold in the Medley Relay in Sheffield. I can relax for another twelve months now on the swimming fitness front, if indeed Neil and I decide we want to make it four titles in a row...

It has just dawned upon me that in less than 16 weeks we will be cruising the UK on the first pilot tour of the project. Top of the list then is to get onto a strict training programme of 'beach weights'. Can't have several thousand pictures taken of me without suitable belly muscle ripplage! If that doesn't work then i'm sure we can find a shop that sells self adhesive foam 6-packs that we can wear under wetsuits and rashvests :) Interesting few weeks on the project front (is any week normal these days?). Now that the lighter nights and warmer weather is with us we can settle down to some training, however it's still tricky trying to get regular stuff in with Fletch and myself all over the place at the moment. Things are looking up on the sponsorship front, and with any luck we may be able to sign with a sponsor within the next week - fingers and everything else fully and completely crossed. Had a superb few days in Woolacombe last week, first proper waves of the year and a great break away from work etc. met up with some of the guys from Loughborough Students Lifesaving Club and had a really enjoyable paddle. More of the same please. Back to the sit-ups. Happy Easter everybody!

9th March 2007 By Rob

The last few weeks have seen us hit some major snags. Even though Polly and myself have spent an extraordinary amount of time trying to attract sponsorship, we're still short of the £8,000 that we need to make the project a viable one for this September..if we don't get hold of a substantial amount of this money within the next 6 or 7 weeks then we will really be in trouble. On the plus side, our media campaign goes from strength to strength. It's obvious that what we are trying to do is of interest to the media, and our visual impact is improving daily.Of course, as our portfolio grows then the more likely it is that we may be able to attain this elusive operational sponsorship. We fitted out the board with the Neilsen-Kellerman Speedcoach equipment a week or so ago and it works like a dream. Hopefully we'll be able to meet up with the suppliers, Oarsport Ltd, and get their help with calibrating it soon. Things have also been varied on the personal side of the project; I have been more ill during the last two months than I can remember during the last 2 years all put together, and this has had a dramtic effect on my fitness and mentality. James and myself are racing the National Speed Lifesaving Championships this weekend in Sheffield (swimming based), and even though I was part of a British record relay team last year I am far from fit enough to even defend the title.We shall see how Sunday goes. Once that is out of the way I have no further competitive outings planned this year which is an odd feeling having been so deeply involved in all kinds of competition over the past 10 years. Fletch on the other hand has got himself a new lady friend..although he seems reluctant to let us all meet her! This is great for him, but he's lost his focus! I think Polly and myself will give him another few weeks grace and then bring him back to reality nicely :) Only kidding.

15th February 2007 By Fletch

The project for me has really begun to kick on in the last few weeks. Currently on a personal note, as you would expect, my Masters course is demanding a lot of my time but Polly, Rob and Neil have been laying down a lot of ground work behind the scenes. Press releases have gone out in Worcester, Evesham, Leicestershire and up in Yorkshire, which will hopefully generate some public interest in the potential of the project, and a few sponsorship options identified.
To date between the four of us the amount of kit we have been able to generate between us has been impressive. Currently we have a 22 foot custom built double board, which has been funded by Rob and we are looking hopefully to help get sponsored soon. Rob and Neil have a mass of camera equipment between them which has enabled us to get some high quality images to give people some idea of what we are trying to do. We have had some water proof camera houses donated to us which will be invaluable in getting some unique shots and perspective on the boards over the summer. The new wetsuits from Snugg will be arriving shortly too I'm told.
Arranging a meeting for family and friends recently to introduce them to the project threw up some interesting ideas. The suggestion to cut our massively ambitious list of visiting around 40 sites to a still ambitious 30 was a thought generated by the meeting, hopefully allowing a bit more time in each place. Having this discussion forum was good for us in terms of reassurance and we have pretty much fed off the experience and suggestions of our family and friends following the forum.

Rob and I have had some different paddling experiences recently, the double board rides better than I think we both expected. We took the board out for the first time in pretty rough coastal water and had no balance issues whatsoever. And when we did eventually get it on some flat water it ran like a dream and eats up the water (good work Alan Neighbour – AKA ‘the board god’). I have no issues with being able to do long paddles on this board on the tour once we have got some good training in over the next few months.
Paddling in Sidmouth the day before we picked up the double board was certainly a unique experience. The massive MSC Napoli cargo ship had been beached a mile off the coast and truly did dwarf us on our boards. It was an awesome photo to put in the Leicester Mercury as an advert for what we are doing. We are certainly building up a portfolio of good images.
Paddling in the snow last week also proved too be a liberating experience. I quote Rob: ‘Wetsuits and Snow, unrivalled pleasure, strangely liberating!’.A little chilly on the hands but once you get paddling you really didn’t feel the cold. Having said that neither of us would be stupid enough to venture into the water this time of year even in a wetsuit, ‘on the board and not in the water is the main tactic this time of year’. Good kit is a must glove’s and booties are always on and the thick winter wetsuit will be staying firmly on my shoulders till at least the end of March.
We had a recent trip down to the coast to see a few sponsors. It gave us chance to see Malcom Ball from Snugg Wetsuits who was ‘Very pleased to meet Polly’. The trip also served as an insight to Polly’s unique but successful (on this occasion) sense of direction, Rob was dubious but I had every faith we’d get there in the end, just!
I have a feeling the next few weeks and months are going to be very busy for the project but I am looking forward to seeing what is thrown up.