My name is Pen Godber. I'm an ancient mariner! I've set myself a challenge: to kayak to and sleep on 77 islands by the time I am 78, which will be at the end of October 2028. Will I still have the capacity for expedition paddling when I’m 78? Oh I hope so. This is one way to find out.

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Every time I camp on an island I will donate £10 to Àban, a charity that gets youngsters into the outdoors. If I circumnavigate an island it’ll be £1. If you’d like to join in by donating as well that’d be great.

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​Seventy Seven Islands is a celebration of adventure and friendship. Adventure doesn’t have to be exotic and far from home. For me adventure is exploration and discovery, making connections with people and places.

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Islands on my “wish” list range from tiny unnamed green dots on the River Tanat in my Welsh home valley to Shetland, Skye and the Scillies. I like planning but sometimes I like to visit an island with no knowledge or preconceptions. 

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To camp overnight is to make a tiny itinerant home. I love the feeling at the end of a day on the water when you survey each bay and inlet for a landing and a camp space: that shelf of grass surrounded by rocks and heather, will it take a tent or two? For one evening you explore and enjoy your place in the landscape. In the morning you leave without a trace. The land doesn’t remember you but you take away a connection.

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And it’s all about people. I hope that friends old and new and not yet met will come along. Do you know of an island you’d like to propose? Maybe we could get together? 

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77 Islands was born on a trip to Mingulay in May 2023. The wind and waves were challenging, the forecast wasn’t ideal but we were determined to get there, to stand on that mythically beautiful beach.

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As I paddled to Mingulay I thought about how much adventure gives me: confidence, strength, powerful friendships, the knowledge that when things don’t go as planned I can and  will find a way, that I can trust my pals to look out for each other. Adventure gives you the strength to pick yourself up, plan a way through, reach out for help when times are hard.

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I believe life is particularly tough for young people these days. I wanted to find a charity to sponsor that serves young people who might not otherwise get the chance to discover adventure in outdoors. I found Àban, a new project born out of lockdown based in one of the UK’s fastest growing cities.