North Channel Crossing 2011
by John Willacy
Going back a few years, I took part in the Hebridean Challenge. At the end of a tiring but rewarding day I found myself sat on a beach with Bennie. Bennie was a fellow competitor and we were discussing canoeing tales of past and future, as well as his rather strange tent with no poles. Bennie regaled me with details of his trips across the North Channel between Scotland and Northern Ireland; it all sounded impressive and rather intriguing… could I paddle that far? Bennie made it sound like an (almost) everyday occurrence, though it sounded an unfeasibly long way to me…
