Five South Hams explorers recently enjoyed a fundraising adventure with a difference when they tackled the hazardous route from Dartmouth to Salcombe by water on paddleboards. Paddleboards are similar to large surfboards, normally ranging in length from eight to 12 feet long, paddled with a blade similar to that used in canoeing, and the sport of stand-up paddleboarding originated in Hawaii. The sport is one of the fastest-growing in the UK, but is perhaps not the ideal vehicle for riding swell, thus adding an element of excitement to this charity challenge. Emma Lovick, of Hang Ten Yoga, Sara Lovick and Helen Symons were joined for this challenge by world-record rower Josh Tarr, who completed the round Britain competition last year with partner Jason McKinley. Last but not least came Crispin Jones, an experienced paddleboarder who completed the mammoth 11 cities challenge in the Netherlands last year. The group had worked out that the best time to tackle the most dangerous part of the journey, round Start Point, would be between 4pm and 4.30pm. As such, the intrepid quintet set off from the higher slipway in Dartmouth at 11.30am, Crispin having informed the Coastguards at Brixham of their intentions. As Josh said: 'We set off with everything we needed (in dry bags on our boards) to keep us safe, warm and in good spirits – chocolates – for the next seven or eight hours.' As soon as the Dart estuary was left behind it became clear that the trip it would be a little more challenging than first thought. With the wind against the tide and some rebounding swell on the rocks, an unpredictable chop made it tricky to stay standing up for any length of time. According to Josh, these choppy conditions made it difficult for some to stay standing, but Crispin and Sara were not to be beaten as the others saw discretion as the better part of valour and resorted to kneeling as a more stable base. Despite the watchful eye of support crew Paula Marriot, Geoffrey Woods, Warren Nuth, Truffles and Bella, the group were thrilled to complete their voyage without any assistance. Next came Start Point, the most challenging part of the trip. Josh said: 'Start and Prawle Point are very special places for a couple members of our team and very close to why we are supporting Myeloma UK.  It was a bit of a slog and definitely the most challenging part of the trip.   'We all needed to come together to round Start Point as there was a small tidal race which we needed to punch through close to the rocks, the boys did their best to pick a safe route and be ready if anyone needed help, but Sara, Helen and Emma stormed it!  'As we'd expected, once we had got around the headland the conditions became much calmer, the tide was with us, the wind was with us and we were sheltered from the swell so we leisurely cruised home to South Sands taking in our beautiful coastline. 'Our timings were pretty much bang on and we couldn't have asked for more in terms of varied sea conditions, weather and how we worked as a team. 'Thank you to Sea Kayak Salcombe for supplying us with essential kit and Red Paddle for the boards. 'In memory of a very very special man, we would all really appreciate it if you could spare a few spare pennies to help Myeloma UK by donating at http://www.justgiving.com/DartmouthSalcombe">www.justgiving.com/DartmouthSalcombe Paddle.'