Local Lynx No.146 - October/November 2022

started racing. Her training
for this particular challenge
started in October of last
year and her coach, who
lives in Canada so the
coaching has to be done via
zoom calls every week,
talks her through how
improve her technique; however, the hours on the water
and in the gym are all down to her. On the day of the
challenge sea and weather conditions were good, but the
strong undercurrents led to some choppy conditions halfway
across, so much so that she fell off her board, which she
rarely does.
One question she is often asked is how she goes to the
loo on these challenges and the answer is she doesn’t; she is
clearly made of stern stuff. One of the problems she does
encounter though is remembering to drink plenty to avoid
dehydration (her support crew were charged with prompting
her) which is also why she doesn’t wear a wetsuit but fast
drying gym wear instead. As she was not allowed to touch
her support boat at all, water (with additional nutrients
added) in a backpack was passed to her via her paddle.
We asked about fear and she said that the only things
that scared her about the crossing were jellyfish (of which
there were none) and anxiety a couple of days beforehand
principally about not being able to attempt the challenge
because of poor weather therefore letting people down. A
number of years ago she made the decision not to let anxiety
or fear of failure stop her from attempting anything, in fact
she now admits to being comfortable with the thought of
“failure” as it is the best way to learn and improve.
The next challenge for Sam is the English Channel in
May of next year. This will be the first time in a number of
years that paddle boarders have been allowed to attempt the
crossing because of issues with getting permission from the
French authorities. The record currently stands at 5 hours
and 9 minutes, currently being the operative word!
Finally, she is very keen to encourage younger people,
especially girls, to get involved in the sport so if you are
aged from 12 to, actually there is no upper age limit, why
not give it a go. Mimi & Harry, Langham Youth Group
Morris Dancers and
Fakenham Brass
band were fantastic
to watch and lent a
really party
atmosphere to the
day, for which we
thank them
enormously. The
children were entertained by Mr Punch and it seems the
stocks went down very well with dads and children
although we were surprised to see how many dads chose to
put their children in them (look closely at the picture)
instead of manning
up!
The Blakeney Old
Wild Rovers yet
again entertained the
crowd brilliantly in
the afternoon and in
the evening, we were
delighted to host the
amazing new band Sinby featuring Tamsin (village
resident) and her friend Ruby. They sang covers of songs
we know and even a couple that Ruby has written herself. A
great prelude to our closing band the Glamtastics who
glamrocked us into the night (and evoked many memories
of school and youth club discos for quite a few of us).
All of this could not have happened without the
generosity of our amazing sponsors. We did thank them in
the last Lynx but here we go again, thank you to: the team at
the Blue Bell; Langham Harper; Alastair and Montse of
Trofeo cars; the Phelps family at Grove Farm and Thaxters
Timber. Equally as important, without the brilliant support
of our fantastic volunteers the day would not have been so
STREET FAYRE 2022
Once again we were extremely lucky with the weather
for our Street Fayre, warm enough for folk to stroll about
enjoying the day but not too hot for the dogs attending the
dog show in the pub’s garden. The day’s activities started
off with said dog show, which was extremely well attended,
the sausage catching category being a big favourite. The
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