Do you drink tea?

It is now common knowledge that we are awash with plastics. At last it’s in all the papers and on people’s minds and, while the news of floating islands that ‘could be upwards of a million square miles in size’ (National Geographic) and plastic pollution that is ‘500 times the number of stars in our galaxy’ (https://www.sas.org.uk) is depressing and seemingly hopeless, we need to work hard to stay positive. Now is the time to garner a war on plastics and see if we can’t turn the tide. It won’t be easy and we’ll have give up some of the luxuries that we have become so very used to. One of those luxuries are tea bags that contain plastic…

Wait!… “What?” I hear some of you say? Plastic in tea bags? Sadly it’s true. Most tea bags contain a type of plastic called polypropylene or polyethylene which helps to seal the bag. There are very few that don’t use plastics and those that don’t tend to be the string and tag variety which usually come in a plasticised sachet which are not recyclable.  Of course, in an ideal world we would all go to our local tea shop (!) and buy fresh tea out of jars but that’s not going to happen (yet) for most of us. So I thought I’d find out which bags are the best and which are the worst so that at least we can all step one foot in the right direction to reduce our plastic footprint.

Herbal teas are no better. Whilst a lot of them don’t use polypropylene in the tea bags they usually come wrapped in the little individual sachets - and these are made of plastic and are not recyclable. It seems that a basic rule of thumb is that string and tag tea bags are made of compostable starch (but often come in the sachets) and square, heat sealed teabags do contain plastic.

Quite a few companies are working to try to make their bags biodegradable. In the old days they would have used staples to seal the bag but then we started recycling and, bam, out went the staples and in came the plastic. I am now very concerned because the council guidelines are to compost tea bags - and I don’t think they have taken the plastic in to consideration.

The Co-op supermarket is working with its supplier Typhoo and a packaging firm called Ahlstrom-Munksjö to develop a plastic-free tea bag which would be fully biodegradable and should be on the shelves within a year.  

Read more: www.dailymail.co.uk

So, to sum up. These are the tea bags which are better than others - these have no plastics in the bags but may have some in their packaging:

Tea Pigs

Pukka

Whittards

These are two local tea companies:

Debonair Tea

Shennong which is stocked at The Centre for Shaping Wellness, Faversham

I am using up my commercial tea bags and will only keep a few for emergencies. I have discovered that infusing lemon, ginger, turmeric and black pepper makes a great, immune boosting drink and will be buying dried chamomile and dried peppermint so that I have those options. And, of course, I’ve already moved on to loose tea too!

I hope to write more about this when I have more information - such as what the council have to say about what happens to the food caddies. Any questions or comments you have are much appreciated and will be answered.

Buy now or cry later

Shopping in India can be a crazy experience!! It's probably the nearest I get to understanding how a magpie feels - I want everything shiny and colourful. There are shops that sell every single kind of stainless steel cooking implement you can imagine

and shops full of such colourful, shiny tat which here, in the UK I wouldn't even look at. Somehow in India it's all so very appealing! There's such a fine line between buying unusual and fun things as gifts or for the house and ending up with a suitcase full of rubbish...

The advice I'd give? Take it slowly, don't be rushed in to too much tat and buy fewer - but better - things. And when it comes to haggling... I'm actually hopeless! It's complicated, the whole haggling issue. I was once in a shop in Istanbul with my husband. He was doing a brilliant price of haggling on the price of some cushions and I piped up and said that the price was unfair. Much too cheap!! So I'm probably not the best one to advise on this one. Some shops have fixed prices, the street vendors and markets expect a haggle but it's not always the done thing. If I love something I'm happy to pay the price if met with a tough bargain - and I always regret it if I don't buy something I loved!

And then there are the shops with the interesting or amusing names and signs. I particularly loved this one selling country drugs...

Holy Cow!

I've just spent a week in India immersing myself in the colours and the culture. The beauty, chaos and contradictions of the country always surprise. This time I went from Chennai to Pondicherry and my next few blogs will be sharing my photographs with you. Enjoy!

The cow is sacred to most Hindus, they honour her and thank her for the milk, cream, yogurt, cheese, butter, ice cream, ghee and dung that she provides. 

Her nature is represented by the goddess Kamadhenu, the mother of all cows. They wander freely everywhere, they have free reign and there are huge penalties if you hit one whilst driving. You have to keep your wits about you at all times as they cross the road at a leisurely pace, whether it’s a dual carriageway or a country lane. In the state of Gujurat it is illegal to slaughter a cow and is now punishable with life imprisonment.

They eat the food littered by markets and bins and this means, of course, that they often eat the litter too, plastic and detritus thrown on the street. One of the many contradictions that is India. 

My brother can SUP

I was at a memorial service down in Cornwall a few weeks ago and got talking to my youngest brother (Merlin) and a friend of his about how they'd been paddling in Mull recently. They'd had a great time, fallen in a fair amount and had gone to bed tired, happy and with aching shoulders.

They were discussing how they'd like to do a long trip, maybe the length of the Tamar or similar. I said they should have at least one lesson before attempting this - oh how they laughed! They both agreed there was nothing to this SUP lark, you just jumped on the board and off you went. When I asked them if they were using their core they said they thought so but (and then did a paddling action) it didn't really matter because they were perfectly able to get where they wanted to go, whatever. As for leashes? They're for dummies. Ok.

I persuaded Merlin to come and spend the day with me and said we could go paddling. I didn't tell him that I was actually going to give him a two hour lesson, half an hour on land technique the works, but he's a cool guy and I knew he'd be fine!

I always start my lessons explaining the parts of the board, what the different fins are for and talking about the leash. One of the main problems with not wearing a leash (apart from an obvious safety issue) is that if you fall in the board might go off one way and you go the other, possibly dropping the paddle as you go. Do you fetch the paddle or chase the board? And if you do get the paddle how do you then swim to the board? It's not that easy with a paddle. You'll probably swim to the board and realise you've lost the paddle. Not a great scenario. He'll wear a leash from now on!!

We then move on to discussing the paddle. I asked him if he's kayaked. He said he had. So then I demonstrated how a paddle is held when kayaking and how it moves the water. Then I turned the paddle around and said 'when you SUP you hold the paddle this way round'. Most people are surprised. Merlin was very surprised. He had probably been paddling with the paddle the wrong way round all the time in Mull...

He even did it a couple of times with me. It's a hard habit to break.

He soon got the knack of using '90% body, 10% arms' though and was nicely powering through the SUP stroke.

By the end of the day I was an extremely proud sister. He was talking about courses that he was going to go on before taking to the Thames (he'd already decided to buy a McConks board) and now completely understood why it was a good idea to have at least one lesson! Even if he can't persuade his friends at least he will be safer and, although of course we all know it's not at all important, he'll look cooler than them out on the water!!

Should I stay or should I go?

One of the hardest decisions I have to make is whether to cancel a lesson or not.

I use two, sometimes three, apps/websites... the main one is Windfinder, then I check on Tides4Fishing and finally Buoyweather. But Whitstable has it's own weather - honestly, it's true! The only way to be absolutely sure of how the sea is is to go down and look at it. The apps might all say that the wind is up, say 10 kts gusting at 15 kts... I walk down to the beach and it's dead calm.

Or vice versa.

My scenario is often that I have a student coming from an hour away, Dartford perhaps, and they need to know the night before, or early in the day. The tide goes out so far here and is out for a really long time. I'll go down to the beach to look and the distant water may look fine but all the apps say the wind is coming up and could be more than I'm comfortable teaching on (12 kts or 13.81mph max).

Luckily I can offer a choice - but only if I have time and the student doesn't mind changing location. There is an excellent river half an hour away and, unless it is blowing a total gale and lashing down with rain, we can usually go there. For a first lesson it's ideal - easy to launch and lots of sheltered places to practice standing and turning.

It's only a 35 minute drive from Whitstable and it's always a pleasure to paddle on the river. I do tend to err on the side of caution and believe the app - even though I have returned to Whitstable to find the sea has been glassy! It's not worth the risk.

So, hopefully the lesson can still happen. I'll check the apps and ask myself, to quote The Clash, 'Should I stay or should I go?' and then I start to load the car!

Are you scared of the water?

Last summer I took my best friend, J, out for a SUP lesson. The day was fairly typical for Whitstable, a little breezy with a small chop on the water.

I was freelancing at a school nearby where it's obligatory to wear a buoyancy aid (otherwise known as a PFD, personal flotation device). There's some mixed feelings about wearing these and it grates a bit on some SUPers but the body they are associated with insist on it. Of course, there are times when it's essential to protect yourself and your students/clients/staff but when paddling on reasonably calm enclosed water conditions it can sometimes seem like overkill. The PFD J was wearing was a bit bulky and didn't fit her very well and this made the whole situation harder and more dangerous. Wearing one can also make it harder to swim to the board and awkward to climb back on to the board.

When we SUP we wear a leash (coiled or straight, depending on the location) and this attaches us to, what is in effect, a huge PFD.

We paddled out on our knees and got comfortable with the boards. J practiced some turns and then stood up. Her legs started to shake uncontrollably as soon as she rose to her feet. This often happens to a newbie and is quite normal. After a while it should stop but it's important to relax your body, and those shoulders. Flex your knees a little and breathe. Take time to look around and take in the surroundings.

We're really lucky here in Whitstable, there's so much to see. There are the beautiful brightly coloured beach huts and pastel 'Wavecrest' houses, the restaurants and food shacks scattered along the beach and always plenty of wildlife.

It's often possible to see a Cormorant diving and then reappearing further on, great flocks of birds that fly so close you can hear the beat of their wings and even the occasional sighting of a seal or porpoise.

J was doing really well but then she did fall in. And she panicked. She swum to her board and clung on but because she was wearing the pfd her legs went under the board. I was talking to her and trying to coax her to put her legs out behind her but the pfd had slipped up over her chin and she was really uncomfortable - she wasn't hearing me.

I slipped into the water and came up next to her. This is where it helps to be experienced and calm. I've got two grown up daughters who have put me through my paces and a husband who is an ex racing driver so I've had to learn this skill!

I got her to rest on the edge of the board and talked her round to pushing her legs out behind her. Then I slowly coached her into lifting her chest on to the board and then helped her swing her legs around so that she was lying on her front. None of this was easy because of the bulky pfd but we did it. I got here standing again quite quickly and she soon forgot about having been in the water and started to have some fun.

It wasn't until afterwards that J told me how scared she was. She really had believed she was going to drown - but she had then gone on to enjoy the experience.  She's more experienced now and, although she still has a healthy fear of the water, she's no longer terrified when she falls in.

So don't be scared! Come and have a lesson and experience the beauty of stand up paddleboarding. The chances are you won't fall in - but, if you do, I can assure you you'll be fine!

From housewife to SUP teacher

When we first moved to Whitstable I knew I wanted to spend time out on the sea. I just wasn’t sure how I wanted to do that! The children were all grown up and I had time on my hands. I had sailed a little when I was young, water-skied, swam a bit, quite fancied windsurfing or kite-surfing - so many options!

The first thing I tried was a sailing lesson at the local sailing school. Jason was very, very patient with me because it was, to say the least, a disaster! There’s so much to think about: a jib sheet, boom, cleats, a rudder etc. etc. Ok, to be fair it wasn’t perfect conditions. It was very cold and very windy.

I spent a lot of time hunkered down in the middle of the boat terrified of the boom which seemed out to get me at every opportunity.

For the next three days I could hardly walk and it was utterly apparent that sailing is great for so very many people but absolutely not for me.

A friend had given me a yoga magazine and in it there was an article about SUP yoga. I loved the look of it and really wanted to have a go. A few days later I found out that my yoga teacher had done a course. I asked her for a lesson.

I was hooked.

I bought an RRD 12’ x 34” board. It arrived and I was so excited to take it on the water. I had no idea what I was doing and there were no instructions. I inflated it and put the fin in. Unfortunately I put the fin in incorrectly - I hadn’t locked it in with the pin and the minute I put it on the shingle, in the water, the fin sheered at its fixture point.

The wait for a new fin was agony. But eventually a new one arrived and I was out on the water. I felt like Pocahontas. I’d go out in all weathers and felt absolutely at home. I wanted to teach others how to do this - get them out on the water and share this amazing thing with everyone. I even taught Elmo to ride!

I rang the ASI (Association of Surfing Instructors) and told them I wanted to teach.

“How long have you be paddle boarding?”

“About two months”

“Ah, right. Um, have you ever had a lesson?”

“No, but I’ve watched lots of videos…”

“Right. What’s the furthest distance you’ve paddled?”

“I don’t know, maybe two miles?”

“Right, well you need to have paddled 10 Km before you can teach. And I suggest you have some lessons…”

I felt a bit of an idiot but it spurred me into action and for the next couple of years I tried to do as many different SUP things as possible. I swapped my RRD board for a Red Paddle Co 12'6. I had  lessons with different teachers and joined the Blue Chip SUPer Club. Every Wednesday night I’d drive to London and paddle (often in the dark) on the Thames. I went to Portugal and did a Learn to SUP course with SUPxscape. And I paddled in Whitstable. As much as possible, in all weathers.

And then I heard that there was an ASI teacher training course coming to Whitstable. It was what I’d waited for all these years. The hardest part was the mini triathlon - a 200m run, swim and prone paddle in under 10 minutes. I knew that I’d find the whole course hard. I’m not great under that kind of observational pressure, I was the oldest on the course (by far!) and I couldn’t swim very well. I failed.

For the next six weeks I ran, swam, swam, swam and prone paddled. And then I passed.

And now I am a teacher. I've swapped my three Red boards for six Mcconks 

a lovely, and affordable, new brand. I absolutely love being able to help people feel confident on the water. I love it that age is no barrier in the world of SUP - in fact it's great for the older generation as it is an excellent way to get flexible, get stronger and get out there.  I still train as much as possible and attend as many courses as I can and. If you've never tried it - come and have a go. If you're already a paddler then maybe I'll see you on the water!