Sharn Mentz and Joseph Curley who set out on Friday (2) at 3am on their paddleboards, with the aim of circumnavigating Grand Cayman – a 70 mile journey that took two full days of paddling – accomplished their mission late Saturday evening.

Both very tired when they arrived safely back where they started, Surfside, Seven Mile Beach, they said they were going to bed and sleep.

Their trip around the whole of Grand Cayman on their stand up paddleboards was to raise funds and awareness to help feed the children of the Cayman Islands that are in need.

On their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/Standupforthechildrenchallenge2013

The final part of their journey is described:

“Yesterday our second leg started with a Bang as we woke up to 20 knot winds and 5-6 feet swell… we set off at 6 am.

“The wind was due East which meant the first 4 miles of paddling from Morritt’s around to East end was a battle yet again. As we turned the corner things changed with the wind now at our backs we were moving along nicely but that gave us very little time to decide were to come out the shallows and cross the reef into the open ocean.

“We planned to hug the coastline and exit by the anchor but the waves were breaking shoulder high and we had to make a decision fast. At this point we were moving fast and we missed the last channel out… so we quickly decided and committed to punching through the waves over the reef.

“This was a crucial and pretty dangerous move. After getting bashed around a bit we finally got through the waves and we were in the Deep! We now had the wind at our backs and riding the swell, we were FLYING!

“We reached Bodden town in 3 hours and we just kept going. The conditions at Beach bay was interesting as the large swells were bouncing back off the cliffs and made balancing hard. We didn’t set foot on land from East End until we reached Smith’s cove at 12:30pm. We relaxed here for about an hour before setting off on our final stretch along 7 Mile Beach to Surfside.

“Thanks to everyone that came out to show their support. Thanks to all our Sponsors that helped us make this possible.

“The final and true measurement of Grand Cayman is 60 miles on a Standup Paddle Board. This was awful and amazing all at the same time with a million emotions in between…

“See you next time.”

PHOTOS: From Facebook Page. Go visit. There are many more to view. And don’t forget to contribute to their charity – Help Feed the Children of the Cayman Islands.

See also iNews Cayman story published August 3^rd 2013 “Stand up for the children challenge 2013 gets underway” at: http://www.ieyenews.com/2013/08/stand-up-for-the-children-challenge-2013-gets-underway/