I rowed the Atlantic Ocean with three wonderful guys. It was a privilege to share an adventure with each of them. The skipper of our boat was Marin, a young Slovenian. He was a superb skipper, a great bloke, and considerably clever than the other three of us combined.
Marin has now launched his own adventure grant, offering 4500€ to people planning their own waterborne adventures.
If you are planning an adventure, please have a read of Marin’s post below and then apply. It could be the kickstart your expedition needs…
Some of the most memorable moments in my life have taken place adventuring across the seas, rivers, lakes and oceans of the world.
Seeing a moonbow, a rainbow produced by light reflected off the surface of the moon, in the middle of the Atlantic, sleeping on beautiful beaches in Albania, accessible only from the sea, or the puzzled sights of Koreans seeing kayaks for the first time in their life.
These moments made my life feel more full and I’mm a happier person than I would have been without them. Water also provides serenity. Each trip that I make, be it paddleboarding down a river in Slovenia or kayaking the Adriatic Sea, I come back to “real life” feeling calmer and happier.
Now I want to share the beautiful moments I have experienced on the water with other people. Between rowing across the Atlantic Ocean (with Simon, Steve and Al) and the East Mediterranean, kayaking around South Korea and many other nice places, I also started making paddling keyrings. Small quirky replicas of SUPs, sea kayaks, whitewater kayaks and open canoes. Luckily they sell well, and I’mve come to the point when I can give a small share of my income to support other people to go out and have an adventure on the water. I’mve put 10% of revenue from the keyrings’ sales into an adventure grant and, together with a few other sponsors chipping in, 4500€ of money and equipment is now up for grabs to fund and encourage people to embark on an adventure.
The idea for the grant came from last year’s Tim Moss’s Adventure grant. I contributed a few pounds through crowdfunding and I really liked the idea of enabling others to have an adventure. It’s more about giving people the push to do it, than just about the money.
I set up Hobkey Adventure Grant to support paddlers to go out and do something they’ve always wanted to do. It’s not just for hardcore expeditioners, but any kind of memorable trip. It’s open to beginners and more seasoned kayakers, canoeists and paddleboarders.
The grant is divided into four categories, SUP, sea kayak, whitewater kayak and open canoe. Each category has a professional committee that will look at all the applications and choose five finalists in each category, which will then go to a public vote.
Some exciting applications to date:
- An Iraq veteran suffering from PTSD canoeing the Amazon
- Three friends kayaking from the Netherlands to Italy for charity
- A 13 year old boy paddleboarding the historic Delaware Raritan Canal
- A father-son trip in Oregon and a multi-day exploration of the Stockholm archipelago
Applications are open until May 31th 2016.
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