Paddleboarder Charlene hits the high seas
A paddleboarder has told how she used her own terrifying brush with danger to launch a business.
Barmaid Charlene Macdonald took a lockdown leap of faith to set up shop teaching the new watersports craze.
And she’s revealed the scary moment that inspired her to keep others safe on the high seas.
Charlene, who works at Ayr’s Wallace Bar, said: “Paddleboarding has become really popular in recent times and it’s always been something I loved to do.
“I’ve seen the influx of newcomers to the sport – but I know first hand how dangerous it can be when you don’t know what you’re doing, especially on the sea.
“I learned that the hard way when I paddled for the first time on Loch Lomond.
“We hired our boards and headed out with little to no advice, which resulted in my friend getting rescued.
“It was a terrifying experience. “The RNLI have been the busiest they’ve been in a long time due to inexperienced paddleboarders who don’t know how to read conditions and don’t know to handle situations if they arise.
“I want to correct this now that it’s relatively easy to buy a board.
“There was 10,000 boards sold in Scotland last year alone.
“And this year most of the reputable companies can’t keep up with demand so you have a pre-order wait in to next
year.”
Charlene, 37, launched Ayrshire PaddleboardCo in March this year when the thought of going back to her full time pub job loomed on the horizon.
She said: “Lockdown has made me realise that working in the outdoors is what I want to do. Being couped up in a pub serving beer to the public does not make me happy.
“Yes it pays some of the bills but I get no fulfilment from it.
“The outdoors is my happy place.
When walking became the only thing we were allowed to do anymore, the streets and pathways became increasingly busier in lockdown.
“So I took to the sea for peace and tranquility away from the worry of people getting too close or someone sneezing in my direction.
“Out there I was on my own, mostly apart from a few seals and I couldn’t hear a thing just the noise of the waves lapping the side of the board.”z
For more information visit www. facebook.com/ayrshirepaddleco