I think I was more nervous waking up to run a beginners paddleboarding session than I was the day I woke up to paddle around Cape Wrath – the most Northwesterly point of mainland Scotland – in an overhead swell.

I was anxious: Will they get cold? Will the wind pick up? Will they like it? Will they like my banana cake? Will this put them off wanting to go anywhere near the sea ever again?

Seaful, the charity I founded with an aim to connect people to the ocean, had received some funding from a kit sponsor to introduce a group of women in the Highlands of Scotland to paddleboarding. It’s well documented that time on, in, or by water is beneficial for mental health, and there are even studies demonstrating this specifically with paddleboarding. We also know that stewardship of nature is nurtured through personal connection to it, and my own journey into Ocean Advocacy began with adventuring in blue spaces – surfing, diving, and latterly paddleboarding.

In fact, sharing ocean adventures and experiences with others who might not otherwise have the opportunity or means to engage in them was the reason I set up my charity.

I reached out to a few people in the small community where I live to try and ascertain who would most benefit from this. The early years practitioner in the village introduced me to a small group of women with young children who had never paddled before, with whom I was to run a three-part programme.

I tried not to overthink it. But by the first morning, I was flapping. How on Earth was I going to teach them everything they needed to know about paddleboarding, the ocean, marine conservation? Should I include an exercise from our Ocean Literacy programme? Should I guide an on-water meditation – or would that be a bit ‘too much’?

What sent me over the edge was the banana cake I’d stress-baked that morning, still soggy in the oven when I needed to leave the house. Writing this now makes me realise how utterly ridiculous the whole scene was. Thankfully my ever-level-headed partner, James, reminded me that all I needed to do was facilitate a good and safe time on the water for them and help them learn a new skill. And that I had the skills, qualifications and experience to do this.

Banana cake or no banana cake.

I returned from the first session buzzing. The two women I had paddling with me were amazing – and they absolutely loved paddleboarding. Neither had done anything like it before and both expressed a nervousness around the water as well as a wish to be able to get into the sea with their children, but that confidence was holding them back.

They also told me that, as mothers with young children, they couldn’t remember the last time they had a moment to themselves, and to be on the water felt very special. I was so grateful for their trust in me. I had planned for us to build up over three sessions to a wee paddle along the coast to a secret cove where, in spring, wild garlic grows all the way up the beach to the cliffs surrounding it.