Lead interview: Circumnavigating the UK on a Paddle Board with Charlie Head

The call of adventure Charlie Head – explorer

Explorer of the waters of the world, Charlie Head was the obvious choice for our ‘Adventure Awaits’ issue of Style of Wight. From paddleboarding down the Amazon and the Blue Nile, to circumnavigating the UK, solo, without a backup boat, Charlie is the very essence of a traditional explorer.

By Jo Macaulay

Charlie’s small base in the West Wight is the very epitome of an explorer’s office. If Shackleton were alive today, he’d have an office much like this one, with maps on the walls, the tools of his trade hanging from the ceiling, bags of essential kit packed neatly on the floor and interesting objects from his travels strewn over any available surface.

Brought up on a boat in Cyprus during his early years, and later in Bembridge, it’s not surprising that seas and rivers have become Charlie Head’s passion and his go-to place. He began his romance with paddleboarding just over a decade ago and was the first person to paddleboard around the Island single-handed.

“That’s really when it started,” says Charlie. “I went round the Isle of Wight, that was my first tester, then it was the South Coast and I decided to do the

Atlantic but then Red Bull came along, and they scooped me up to do the Amazon (in 2015), instead of crossing the Atlantic.” He went on to paddle the Blue Nile in 2017, but in between these adventures he began his next challenge to paddle around the entire coast of the UK, which he completed in September 2021. A litany of paddleboarding ‘firsts’ During his navigation of Scotland, Charlie completed a remarkable firstof-a-kind overnight 104km nonstop crossing of Moray Firth. He paddled solo and unsupported in less than 24 hours, through two wind farms in 15 hours of darkness on November 20th, 2020. Then, on 10th December, Charlie rounded Cape Wrath, paddling east to west around the most north westerly point of Scotland; he is believed to be first paddleboarder to do so. On 21st July 2021 Charlie crossed “The Minch” from Stoer to Lemreway, a 70km solo unsupported paddle in 18 hours, and on 30th July he crossed The Inner Hebridean Sea, an open water, one of a kind 82km feat solo from Lochboisdale on South Uist, landing on Tiree 15 hours later. Friday 10th September saw a huge fundraising and endurance challenge to mark ‘The Last Stand’ of Charlie’s circumnavigation. Then, at 4am on 11th September, Charlie concluded the first unofficial official circumnavigation of the UK by breaking the world solo and unsupported distance record - 87.2 miles / 140.3 km / 75.7 nautical miles in 22.5 hours. Setting Off When Charlie set off on his trip around the UK in June 2016, he had limited food supplies – just what he could carry on the board – and no money, relying on the generosity of supporters and strangers. “I did the UK in three stages, Land’s End to London and then London all the way around to Land’s End,” explains Charlie. “I went up the coast to Berwick on Tweed and across land on a little girl’s bike.” A little girl’s bike? “I chose the bike because it was about people supporting and helping me, and

Charlie in Scotland

part of it was the spirit of adventure and having a laugh with it and raising money – I couldn’t sit down on it! So that made Scotland laugh and raised loads more money,” he laughs. “Then I carried on and returned to Scotland, which was broken in half by Covid. I did the West coast, and I crossed over to Lewis and Harris and did the arc of the Hebrides – I made a completely new path going round the outside of the Isle of Skye, then to Iona and Islay. It was something that other SUPS hadn’t done before – we can’t find anybody who’s ever paddled it before. “Finishing it off going around Scotland was certainly the most spectacular – it was mythical, it was brilliant.” For Charlie it’s not just about the journey, it’s about the people he meets and raising awareness of mental health, especially the charity Dare2Express, along with highlighting conservation and sustainability issues. “That fuelled the journey. It was a social experiment that forced me to connect with people about mental health, ask for help, and explore the most vulnerable things about myself,” says Charlie. “I learnt a lot about mental health, and organically connected with others, which helped me translate thoughts and feelings in ways I had never thought of before. Inspiring people and communities helped me do this, and it shows how large-scale adventures can be achieved, even with no budget,” he explains. “A huge part of the journey was about taking responsibility over my life and my footprint. So, I would beach clean where I landed, and find ways to minimise my impact with my diet, clothing and waste. All these factors play a role in my mental health and living within a balance that I can morally afford.” Facing fear on a brutal coastline “The coldest and hardest time, as the conditions weren’t good, was around December when I went round Cape Wrath on the northwest coast of Scotland. It was quite frisky, and I was quite cold, and as I came around the Wrath the whole coastline was lit up like it was on fire because there was so much spray from the waves, and I struggled to find a place where I could come in okay. “Then I eventually found this tiny channel through the big breakers, and I managed to squeeze through it, but I was locked into this part of the country where there’s no access to people, no nothing… “But I found a little rocky bothy on the shore, and I stayed in that for a couple of days until the weather changed. I had all the food and bits I needed, and it was snowing, so that was a bit of a toughie. And then I did the most extreme beach clean in the world. “Nobody can get there, so all the plastic there would stay there forever and there’s no one who would ever clean it. So, I strung all the fishermen’s buoys together and strapped them onto the board and took them 20km to my next destination and sold them to a fisherman for 50 quid!” Paddling across the mighty Moray Firth

“The Moray Firth was 100 km, and 15 hours of darkness in November, dodging big boats and having to go quite hard. “I’d get grief from some of the boats, so I’d go stealthily, because if the smaller fishing boats saw me, they would want to come and investigate and slow me down. But if there was a big tanker coming in my direction then I’d light myself up and if it was coming on my course, I would radio in to them and let them know that I was there, my course and my intention.” Travelling light and fast When it comes to Charlie’s kit, planning is critical. “I have to strap down everything in bags – bags within bags. Everything is acutely organised and accessible,” he says. The speed achieved on a standup paddleboard can be variable. “Anywhere from cruising at 5-6km per hour up to 15,16, 17 or even 20 if you’re on a down wind and catching swells.”

Where’s Charlie? Amateur trackers hunt the adventurer

“There were times where people would be tracking me without me knowing it – like that game ‘Where’s Wally?’” Laughs Charlie. “So they would test their navigation skills to know where I would be and at what time, and I’d arrive in some slightly hostile sketchy places and these people would pop up and go, “How are you doing? Do you want a cup of tea? Do you want to come and stay with us?” “Because of the nature of what I’m doing I became like a mobile confession box. It’s a great opportunity because of the promise that I’m leaving, and they get reassured by the point of my story. It’s a great opportunity to open up and talk about stuff that otherwise they never would. “That was beautiful, because it was real and it was raw, and it was us, and they take ownership of me and my story as much as I did. They would find me, and they would empower themselves with the story with me, so it’s theirs. And when I go, it was shared.” The call of the sea

“I have a very special connection with the sea and water generally, so that drives me, and the stories of rivers, the arteries of countries, the draw of all animals and mankind, the story of the river changes with altitude, and then the oceans – there’s nobody else out there except me, it’s beautiful. “A wise person once told me that I ought to put all my energy into one thing, because I was bouncing off the walls. I used to do stunt work for films (he was a pirate in Peter Pan with Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard), I loved every sport, I used to do this that, that, that, everything, everything, everything and so I took on this advice and thought “where can I take one sport and enjoy all the aspects of life around that one thing?” “I saw paddleboarding as a kind of gift to me really, to use it as a form of expression of myself. It’s a sport that really connected with me, and nobody had really done anything with it. I felt like I could take this to the hardest places in the world.”

Charlie on the Isle of Wight

Explorers Creed Charlie will be running experiences through his new venture Explorers Creed, opening up some spaces for people to paddle with him. To find out more about this and to stay connected to Charlie go to: link.charlieheadsup.com/signup Rio Marañón, Peru/Brazil, 2015: Charlie and his production team made a historic first and last descent of the Rio Marañón, the primary source of the Amazon from high in the Peruvian Andes to Iquitos in Brazil. Hearing it was to be dammed, Charlie teamed up with wingman Rocky on a campaign to bear witness, protect the river, and spread the word, highlighting the environmental and human impact. In 2015 Charlie not only paddled this river for the last time but also captured the magic and beauty of the river by capturing raw and unedited aerial and POV footage on the way, in association with Red Bull TV.

The Last Descent, The Blue Nile, 2017: Charlie leapt at the last chance to paddle the Blue Nile River in its free-flowing state before the completion of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam upstream, near the border with Sudan. Now completed, the essence of this river is changed forever by the dam. The reservoir is starting to flood 230 km of plains and valleys, including the lower part of the Grand Canyon section. Charlie and his team successfully descended this iconic river, honouring the river and telling her story in film and educational resources, before it was changed forever.

charlieheadsup.com dare2express.org