Jeff Allen

Profile

Born in 1962, Jeff first started paddling in the cub scouts and later in the sea cadets.

Jeff joined the Grenadier Guards straight from school seeing service in West Germany, France, Northern Ireland, Belize and Cyprus. It was seeing the beautiful lines of a Nordkap lay on the Tarmac in Larnaca (Cyprus) all ready to go on expedition that planted the first seeds of a dream that has now fully occupied his life for the last ten years or so.

Having left the Army in 1987, Jeff moved to Falmouth, Cornwall and has since worked as a commercial Fisherman, Boat Builder, Self defense instructor, Harbour Master's Assistant and more recently has been instructing Sea Kayaking at the Falmouth Marine School.  Having paddled and sailed in many areas around the globe Jeff holds a great deal of respect for the Sea with all its moods and ways.

In 2003 Jeff founded Sea Kayaking Cornwall, with the aim of introducing people to the world of sea kayaking and started to teach and guide groups around this most amazing South Westerly peninsular.

In 2003 Jeff also paddled all 300 miles of the Cornish coast and with a crossing to the Scillies and back by Kayak the previous year it has shown him just what a beautiful location Cornwall is for sea kayaking, Jeff finds no greater joy than introducing people to the world of sea Kayaking or showing them some of the hidden secrets of ancient Kernow (Cornwall).

In 2004 Jeff along with Hadas Feldman completed a full circumnavigation of the four main Islands of Japan, after 139 paddling days, spread over a six month period they completed this amazing journey, which took place during the worst year on record for typhoon activity and they managed to cover a distance in excess of 6500 kilometers.

In 2005 Jeff also completed the first circumnavigation of South Georgia by a British team along with Peter Bray, Nigel Dennis and Hadas Feldman.

On all of Jeff's expeditions he tries to highlight the needs for various charities. In March of 2008 Jeff will be setting off on an expedition to circumnavigate Scandinavia by sea kayak and ski. As well as being a major adventure this expedition hopes to highlight the needs of two charities, the Ovarian Cancer Action and the Children's Hospice South West.

For the last four years Jeff has been developing a series of Incident Management clinics, specialising in group control and rough water rescues and is available to conduct these courses both at home and abroad. Jeff has delivered inspirational/motivational presentations all around the world and is available for talks on his sea kayaking adventures.

Jeff has written numerous publications for the kayaking press and is a regular contributor for the 'Ocean Paddler' magazine. He is currently writing a book on the Japan circumnavigation. 'Karma Waters' should be available in spring of 2009.

Contact details: +44 (0)778 8690183

You can also view more at www.seakayakingcornwall.co.uk

Sea Kayaking UK sponsored paddlers have been selected for their expeditionary & kayaking skills. All are prepared to run courses on request having excellent seamanship and kayaking skills. They have the full support of Sea Kayaking UK and we would be glad to arrange tuition, lectures, etc.

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