Pair prepare to paddle Scotland coast to coast...

Two friends from Ruskington are gearing up for their second epic coast to coast adventure for charity - but this time they have a mountain to climb too!
Gearing up for their next big paddle. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai of Ruskington. EMN-210908-180549001Gearing up for their next big paddle. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai of Ruskington. EMN-210908-180549001
Gearing up for their next big paddle. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai of Ruskington. EMN-210908-180549001

Having never canoed before, in December, friends and neighbours Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai completed a 162-mile coast to coast journey in a two-man open canoe, navigating the Leeds-Liverpool and Aire and Calder canals from Liverpool to Goole and raised £4,200 for the county’s life-saving charity, LIVES before returning to celebrate in the Ruskington Beck.

Mark, 50, who runs a gutter cleaning company, and Sunny, also 50, who is in the RAF, now plan to make the nine-hour drive up to Fort William in Scotland on Friday August 20 before taking on the 1,345m ascent of Britain’s highest peak, Ben Nevis, on the Saturday. They will then return on the Sunday to Fort William where they will set off on a four-day, 95km journey in two open kayaks along the length of the Caledonian Canal to Inverness.

The pair want to raise enough to buy a new public access defibrillator for Ruskington villagers, to be placed outside The Shoulder Of Mutton to suit both adults and children, with any extra raised going to LIVES.

Last year the pair named their canoe the Shalom Jackie, after a catchphrase from the Channel Four comedy, Friday Night Dinner. This time they are open to offers and sponsorship for the names of their two kayaks.

Mark said: “So far sponsorship is going fantastically well and has beat last year’s total already, standing at £4,650, meaning over £3,000 should go to LIVES.”

Needing a support driver, they found Jim McClory, a 56 year old lorry driver who was willing to give up a week off work to help ferry them to and from their accommodation each day to carry on with each leg of the journey. They have a base at the half way point and will drive back each day.

Mark said: “Jim has never climbed before, but wanted to climb Ben Nevis.

“We had never canoed before last time and have never done open water kayaking before, which will be the biggest challenge as they strongly recommend against using an open kayak.”

They will kayak 35km on man-made canals and 61km on open water on three lochs - Loch Lochy, Loch Oich and the famous 22 mile by 1 mile wide Loch Ness, where the deep water does not get above 7C and can have three metre high waves if windy, but Mark said if they capsize they can flip straight back in again.

“Paddling this time will be much tougher as the lochs have much rougher conditions more akin to open water or sea conditions.

“We are prepared for the weather and even have a pump for the kayak, just in case. And we will be wearing wetsuits against the cold.”

He said they would only have to get out and carry their boats around 10 lock gates this time.

They have again only given themselves six weeks to prepare, going for paddles on the River Witham and walking in the Lincolnshire Wolds. “We don’t organise things well in advance,” he said, “It’s more of a community effort.”

They have already set up Facebook and Justgiving pages and hope to easily hit £5,000 raised, which Mark says would be fantastic under the circumstances of the pandemic. To donate go to: https://www.facebook.com/rocksandlochs and https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sarah-tonge

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