There I was, paddle in hand, shuffling along the gangway with the eyes of over two hundred ramblers boring into my back. That all of this went down with good humour speaks volumes about the whole MS Olderburg experience; in fact I found the two hour sail – and associated loss of mobile phone signal and other digital interference – to be a nice transition away from modern life.
On the crossing we had time to chat. Nick is well known in local, regional, and in fact international circles as a preeminent lifeguard and open water swimmer, but I hadn’t realised quite to what extent. The list of Nick’s achievements is far too long to go into here; it’s almost as bewildering as some of the fund raising challenges he has conquered: swimming the 22 miles from Lundy back to Devon – solo, a 38 mile solo open ocean board paddle, a 25 mile English channel board paddle, and that’s before you get into a lengthy domination of Iron Man and Surf Life Saving events spanning two decades. This information was revealed only after questioning and with a complete lack of self-importance, as if I’d just asked him how many miles he’d put on the van last year. I don’t think there can be many people who know the waters around Lundy as well as Nick; and knowledge is surely top priority when you’re dealing with nine meter tidal ranges around a three mile long piece of granite.
