Brighton Pier and Beyond

The days following Chris’ arrival have been slightly mixed; we have spent two days off the water due to not feeling too great.

Bad weather meant we had another two days camping under the pier in Brighton, although I did brave the sea for a play and enjoyed my first take off in the boat landing upside down. Chris seemed to be disappointed when he could not find guys walking the streets of Brighton in cowboy outfits.

The south east coast in not what I would call beautiful, every turn you take you are welcomed by another town and pebbled beach. To be honest the impact human’s have had on the landscape is incredible, out of the 100 or so miles maybe 5% has not been affected by humans.

Even though the landscape hasn’t been that interesting, the people we have both met over the past week have made up for it.

We were accompanied while camping under Brighton Pier by a guy who we nicknamed Gollum from Lord of the Rings, really lovely fella, but not sure how much of what he said was truth. When we left he decided his would walk all the way back to Plymouth.

After leaving Brighton we ended up in Worthing where we met the nicest family I have ever come across, the Buckley family. After we talked about what we were doing they started to explain that five years ago they packed up their jobs bought a big HGV campa and have been travelling around the UK, home schooling their children, living place to place, they were actually a really inspiring family to meet.

Once we had set up camp in Worthing, a bloke walking his dog suggested we could use his shower and wash our clothes. We now know him as Arran the kiwi, he was a diamond of a fella, understanding what it was like to be unwashed for days as he had spent much of his life travelling around the world, both Gollum the Buckley’s and Arran won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

Our next stop was Bognor Regis, the only funny story for this town was Chris ended up having a stone fight with a group of kids who took a liking to Chris’ tent, and please be aware NO KIDS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THAT STORY.

Finally I got the chance to meet Taz John, he has kindly picked us up with our kayaks so we can sort out this blog before we set out for to Cross to the Isle of Wight on Sunday. Hence I am sitting up in front of a computer at four o’clock in the morning. Very worthwhile detour as Sarah cooked a stunning lasagne…yum yum.

Before I forget… cheers Cheryl and Andy for coming to see us today at Bognor Regis, lovely to see you both, cheers for the food.

The First Few Days

The trip finally got underway on the 20^th May 2009, I decided to change where I would be leaving from, the new location was Camber Sands in Kent, a few family and friends were there to see a nervous Vaughan off to sea.

A few days prior to my departure date I received an email from a gentlemen called Chris Millington consequently Chris came to see me off. Having a few nervous cups of coffee with my family and Dom, Chris started to explain how he was due to leave the Army the day after my departure. As Chris was also a kayaker I suggested that if he was at a loose end he was more than welcome to join.

With this conversation put to one side the trip was underway, admittedly a few tears came from my eyes, not because of fear, just pure happiness as the sun was shining, the sea was flat and the unknown ahead, the talking and planning of the expedition was all behind me.

My first lunch break was on a cove just around the corner from Camber, after landing I noticed how the man in front of me had no clothes on, then another and another and another, yes you guessed it, Vaughan, Forest Gump and Borris the bear had landed on a nudist beach, probably the quickest pit stop known to man I made a sharp exit leaving the naked men behind me. Later on that day I found out that my Dad had been following me up the coastline keeping watch, honestly when we met up a few hours later I found it hard leaving him on the shore.

The first night I received a call from Chris explaining his wife Jackie had giving him the go ahead, consequently my new paddling partner would be joining from Eastbourne on Friday. In many ways relief was felt on my behalf, I no longer had the worry of being on my own when paddling, or lugging the boat to camp each night plus I had someone to bore with my usual chit chat. Chris’ attendance on the trip also gave my family large amount of relief.Chris recently circumnavigated the Falklands in January and February 09 with Tim Carter and Richi Simpsom . This also gives me a great opportunity to learn faster and push my limits as I had an experienced eye watching over me.

The second night was spent on Eastbourne seashore, while relaxing in the sun shine waiting for Chris to arrive, I heard a shout “oh, you are in my spot” to which I replied “well it aint yours now love”. The shout turned out to be from a woman called Charlie we spent the evening chatting, to my surprise later on Charlie turned up with fish and chips.

Chris turned up ready to go, in many ways he was like an excited kid going on an adventure, maybe that’s what we all are, just grown men living boy’s adventures? I was amazed at the small amount of gear Chris had bought with him, a few days later I asked if we could spend some time sorting out which gear I could send back home, basically half of my gear was put to one side and sent back home, Chris still thinks I have there is too much, but I had to put my foot down on certain belongings like my music.

Reasons Behind this expedition

I have been asked on several occasions the reasons why I am doing this trip, well, there is no one definite answer. Kayaking is a beautiful peaceful way of exploring the coast line and open seas, plus the only cost apart from the kit is food to fuel your body, its non intrusive on the landscape.

Many of you may or may not be aware that I suffer from a form of Epilepsy (Complex Partial Seizures), only recently being diagnosed in August last year. Obviously the diagnosis was a shock, but, life goes on. This expedition is not about proving my capability as an epileptic sufferer, I would have done it anyway.

Another reason is to give people an understanding of what this illness can be like and how there is such a lack of understanding about it. For example there is no actual test that proves 100% you have Epilepsy. My brother also has this illness, after undergoing tests for nearly a year it was not proven that he had epilepsy. However he and his wife nearly died when he had a seizure while he was driving his car down the M25. My diagnosis is based on my brother, family history and symptoms rather than concrete test results. Surely in the 21^st Century modern medicine should have an understanding of an illness that has been around for thousands years.

Another factor which people need to be aware of is that 1% of the population suffer from Epilepsy. Surely when more people die in a year of epileptic seizures than die of Aids more research and money is required. Many specialists will say Epilepsy is not genetic, if these assumptions are correct why are there are so many Epileptics in my family?

There are so many questions that need to be answered, this is why I have chosen to raise as much money and awareness for a charity called Epilepsy Bereaved. They really are an incredible organisation who over the years have pushed for more awareness and answers. They help families both present and past who have suffered because of Epilepsy. The charity was created by five women, one who is my Aunt Susan Kelk.

(For more information please follow the link below)

http://www.sudep.org/

Money needs to be invested especially by the government into research, surely its time this illness came out of the dark and into the light.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO DONATE PLEASE FOLLOW THIS LINK TO OUR JUST GIVING SITE

http://www.justgiving.com/vaughanroberts1