In April 2018, Anna Blackwell and Kate Culverwell set out on a world first tandem kayak expedition from England to the Black Sea. This journey saw them paddle over 4000km along canals and rivers through 11 countries, including navigating almost the entire length of the Danube River, Europe’s second longest river.
The expedition was raising money for Pancreatic Cancer Action in memory of Kate's father, David Culverwell. While paddling, Kate and Anna also collected data to contribute to the research of FreshWater Watch, an Earthwatch research project investigating the health of global freshwater ecosystems.
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We first spoke with Anna in November 2017 when she shared more about walking across Spain & France! You can listen to this episode here!
Show notes
Being a full time adventurer
Dedicating her life to adventure
Learning more about Anna
Deciding on the next challenge
Explorers Connect - Belinda Kirk
How she ended up partnering up with Kate Culverwell
Hitting it off straight away
Funding the expedition
6 months to finish the route, sort out the kit, training and financing the challenge
Budgeting and costs for the trip
£15,000 of financial sponsorship
Focusing on local companies
How people became personally invested in what they were doing
Training for the event and getting comfortable paddling for hours
The relief of getting to the start line
Starting from Westminster Bridge from London
Crossing the English Channel
Wearing adult nappies!
Getting use to the new reality of life
Dealing with over 250 locks…
Wild camping by the canals
Having to make drastic changes in order to make it to the finish line
Reaching Serbia and getting ill
Being frustrated and demoralised on the water by lack of progress
Making changes to the plan and having to commit to an end date
Feeling like failures
What Anna learnt from the experience
Friendship and teamwork
Post expedition blues
Raising funds for charity
Feeling inspired week after week?
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