Ruskington charity duo tackle lochs, canals and ship bow waves in epic kayak trip across Scotland

A pair of friends from Ruskington have completed an epic climb and canoe trip to raise over £6,200 for a new public defibrillator for the village and to support LIVES First Responders.
Celebrating completing their journey at Inverness. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai. EMN-210830-192949001Celebrating completing their journey at Inverness. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai. EMN-210830-192949001
Celebrating completing their journey at Inverness. From left - Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai. EMN-210830-192949001

Last year Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai raised £4,200 for the county’s life-saving charity by navigating the Leeds-Liverpool and Aire and Calder canals in an open canoe from coast to coast across England.

This time they topped it with a trip to make the 1,345m climb up Ben Nevis, the UK’s highest peak, followed by a 95km paddle in open kayaks from the west to the east coast of Scotland, following the route of the Caledonian Canal from Fort William to Inverness, as well as braving waves in open waters of three open lochs - including Loch Ness.

Mark, 50, who runs a gutter cleaning company, and Sunny, also 50, who is in the RAF, made the mountain ascent on Saturday, August 20 before completing the kayak crossing in under three days.

The Lincolnshire flag flies above the Shoulder of Mutton in Ruskington on Mark and Sunny's return. EMN-210830-192918001The Lincolnshire flag flies above the Shoulder of Mutton in Ruskington on Mark and Sunny's return. EMN-210830-192918001
The Lincolnshire flag flies above the Shoulder of Mutton in Ruskington on Mark and Sunny's return. EMN-210830-192918001

Mark said: “We are a bit tender in the legs now, but we raised more than planned.”

Mark and Sunny’s support driver had to drop out at the last minute after a positive Covid test in his household, and so they are hugely grateful to Taff dabies, a director of Sleaford Windows company, who stepped in and drove them up to Scotland in one of his vans, providing the fuel and vehicle for free, meeting them each day at the end of each leg of the journey.

Having done just six weeks of training beforehand, Mark and Sunny started climbing Ben Nevis at 7.15am, taking four hours to reach the summit and an hour less to get down.

Mark said: “That was epic. The weather was cloudy and we had to keep adding and losing layers of clothes.

Breath-taking - paddling along one of the lochs. EMN-210830-192858001Breath-taking - paddling along one of the lochs. EMN-210830-192858001
Breath-taking - paddling along one of the lochs. EMN-210830-192858001

“Coming down you were on your toes on shale, affecting the backs of our legs.”

For a £10 bet, Mark wore his steampunk hat all the way to the top and everyone on the way wanted to buy it or take photos of it.

They then headed off via the canal in their kayaks.

Mark said: “The canal is built for larger ships and then going across the lochs is like being on open sea. They were vast - you cannot comprehend the scale and we were like a dot on them.

Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai set off along the Caledonian Canal on their coast to coast challenge. EMN-210830-192928001Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai set off along the Caledonian Canal on their coast to coast challenge. EMN-210830-192928001
Mark Hennis and Sunny Sardesai set off along the Caledonian Canal on their coast to coast challenge. EMN-210830-192928001

“Loch Ness is roughly a mile wide and we higged the south shore, but saw a ship passing along the north shore.

“The ship passed three to four miles away but after 20 minutes we hit its wake. Unless you are ready for it you end up surfing for a bit.”

He likened the open kayaks to paddling on ‘an ironing board’. Going across open water they found themselves hitting one to two foot waves and having to plug out their scupper plugs to level them up, forcing them to sit in four inches of water to avoid capsizing. “I had my packed lunch in a compartment between my legs, so that got wet - Loch Ness ate my lunch,” said Mark.

“Loch Ness has pretty steep sides and so you cannot get out ashore in many places, so you are just on your own and get your head down and plough on.

Beautiful scenery along the Caledonian Canal for the pair. EMN-210830-192939001Beautiful scenery along the Caledonian Canal for the pair. EMN-210830-192939001
Beautiful scenery along the Caledonian Canal for the pair. EMN-210830-192939001

“We were eating loads of rubbish to keep us going - lots of calories, biscuits and takeaways.”

It meant early starts and days of up to 10 hours on the water.

But Mark said the scenery was amazing, with cloud floating above the loch with the mountain sides visible above. “It is beautiful and we were lucky with the weather.

“When we came across people they just thought we were out for a paddle - not doing the entire length,” he recalls.

On arriving home again their Lincolnshire flag went up on top of the Shoulder of Mutton pub. It bears the names of all their main sponsors.

The defibrillator has now been bought and installed on the side of the pub for public access in emergencies.

Paddling along the canal on the cross country Scottish challenge. EMN-210830-192959001Paddling along the canal on the cross country Scottish challenge. EMN-210830-192959001
Paddling along the canal on the cross country Scottish challenge. EMN-210830-192959001

They are already considering their next challenge.

Mark said: “If we have another one we may go coast to coast across Ireland - body willing!”

To donate go to: https://www.facebook.com/rocksandlochs and https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/sarah-tonge

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