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I set up “Cackle TV Productions” in 2001 so
I could combine my love of nature,
adrenaline and exercise with my professional
TV background. I consider myself as much an
explorer as I do a programme maker so it’s
an ideal way for me to be “out there”
exploring, kayaking, traveling and having
adventures as often as possible.
One of my first jobs was as a television
journalist in Jersey, Channel Islands. This
was a real eye-opener, great fun and gave me
really valuable training in how to tell a
story with pictures. After 2 years, I moved
to Southampton and worked for Meridian TV as
a “multi-skilled programme maker”. I was
trained to use video cameras, edit, record
sound, produce, direct, sound mix and do all
the dull paperwork needed to make TV
programmes. This was a fantastic opportunity
& set me up technically. Soon I took
tentative steps towards using my new skills
to make programmes about expeditions and
outdoor activities. I bought a small
professional camera (the PD150) & edited a
video short about a trek I did in the
Himalayas, which was shown at the Kendal
Mountain Film festival. The next move was to
mid Wales to work with an independent TV
company, Moving Vision, trying to persuade
TV channels to pay me to make the programmes
that I dreamt about. I learnt hard lessons
and it all looked like it was going to go
very wrong for a while. The first
breakthrough was when I competed for England
in the World surf kayak championships in
Santa Cruz, California. I managed to sell
footage of winning Brits to 5 different TV
channels on my return to the UK. A DERA
expedition then said they would like me to
film their attempt to climb 7,000 metre
Aconcagua in Argentina. I did and managed to
sell the footage to a National Geographic
series. I began to realize that I might be
able to make a living doing exactly the
things that I was passionate about.
Meanwhile, I had applied for a grant which
helped me buy an excellent small waterproof
camera system, and a waterproof housing for
my PD150 (see www.evs-co.com). This meant
that I could get fantastic action shots of
any outdoor sport including all types of
kayaking, mountain biking, winter
mountaineering & climbing.
 Since then the business has developed into
exciting new areas. I've directed/ filmed
and edited a BBC Wales documentary &
directed shoots at events like the Junior
Wild Water Racing World Championships. I
often run, swim, cycle and kayak after
competitors on adventure races (with my
camera). I've produced and edited hour long
documentaries for a National Geographic
series, and filmed expeditions for National
Geographic programmes in places like Alaska,
Greenland and Kamchatka. In 2004, I made the
first ever sea kayaking action video,
designed to show the world that sea kayaking
IS exciting and dynamic. See the preview
under the
THIS IS THE SEA section of the website!
"My love of seakayaking expeditions has also
grown into an obsession. I can still
remember my delight at surviving my first
12mile crossing from Jersey to Sark in the
British Channel Islands - the flame was lit!
From there, the next big step was the first
circumnavigation of Wales by seakayak with
Fiona Whitehead. You may be scratching your
head and thinking that Wales isn't an
island, but we managed to make it one by
paddling up the River Dee, through the canal
system and then out the river Severn. Since
portaging around all those canal locks, I
think of kayaks as being like seals -
wonderful, graceful objects in the water,
but clumsy heavy things out of it. My first
(and only real) solo trip was around
Iceland's West Fjords. Many small mistakes
were made and many lessons learnt. I've
never been so scared on the water as when I
rounded the northermost tip of the West
Fjords in a big tidal race and have since
been a bit more careful. In 2003, Hadas
Feldman and myself paddled 650km up the
remote Pacific coast of Kamchatka with a
Russian 'guide' who didn't know how to
kayak, but the authorities insisted we take
with us. What a beautiful country with 29
active volcanoes, thousands of brown bears
and big dumpy surf. In Nov/ Dec 2004 I
completed my longest expedition to date -
the first all-female circumnavigation of
Tasmania with Trys Morris and Gemma
Rawlings. I have also visited lots of
beautiful countries like Norway,
Newfoundland and New Zealand to film for my
seakayaking DVDs. Life is pretty good!
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