Our surf boat girls Scilly summer madness

On Thursday 2nd July the Club’s ladies current surf boat crew of Alice Bane, Ruth Creamer, Tina Pascoe and Paula Bright rowed an Australian surf boat 30 miles from the Isles of Scilly to Sennen Cove with cox/sweep Peter Gaisford. It took 6hrs and 32mins. This is the first time that a surf boat has been rowed across this stretch of water and the first time an all woman’s crew has made this crossing in a rowing vessel. With this row the girls raised over £4500 for Cancer Research and for the surf club.

Here is their account of their epic row….

“It took much planning with Dan Berriman and Scott Bentley, both members of Perranporth Surf Club, providing our navigational guidance from the much appreciated support boat who accompanied us for the distance. We chose a beautiful day, with great visibility, lots of sunshine, a force 3 SW and a slight sea state. We took all necessary precautions for being this distance off shore, with flares, life jackets aboard, vhf radios. We checked in with Falmouth Coast Guard on our departure and arrival.
It was a fabulous experience, seeing plenty of sun fish and dolphins. We had trained hard in the months leading up to this so during the voyage we could relax and enjoy, taking breaks every hour to eat and drink. Of course it wasn’t easy but we worked well together, encouraging each other and overcoming the pain from our blisters and bodies.

There were beautiful rolling swells assisting us mid journey which the surfboat accelerated well on at times doing speeds of up to 8 mph. The toughest part of our journey was the last 2 miles as we hit the treacherous waters off lands end, with Long Ships Light House eerily close and at our most fatigued we had to work hard to get through the chop and beyond the strong currents. One mile off shore we were met by Richard Simms, an experienced canoeist who has paddled the stretch between Scilly and Sennen several times. He lead us along the channel into the calmer waters of Sennen cove and then into the safety of Sennen Harbour. Greeted by bottles of champagne and familiar smiling faces. We were all delighted to have achieved this dream and even more so to be able to raise money for some amazing charities.

We would like to thank the Steam Ship Company for all of their support in shipping our surf boat to the Scillies in the first place, Newlyn Harbour for looking after our support boat, for the amazing hospitality of the residents of St Mary’s who put us up including the Wheelhouse B&B, all those who have supported us and donated to our Charities especially for the generous donation from South West Water.”