A WOMAN plans to pull a kayak from Dunblane through Clacks all the way to South Queensferry in a bid to raise money for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI).
Alexis Rigby will start her trek from her home in Kinbuck on May 17, and expects the challenge will take three days to complete.
She plans to finish at the Queensferry RNLI lifeboat station, and hopes to raise a total of £5,000 for the institution in the process.
A sea kayaker herself, she wanted to do something for the organisation which is always on hand to help people when they are out in the water.
She said: "As a paddler I felt that I needed to take myself out of my happy place and do something which would really put me out.
"So, as these wonderful people, in all weather conditions, would come out to sea to get me, then I thought that I should to go to them."
But instead of paddling her kayak, she intends to mount it onto a trolley and pull it across the 38-mile journey – sticking to cycle paths as much as possible.
She will complete most of the challenge on her own, but given the kayak is more than five metres long, she will receive help at certain points.
Alexis, who will be 64 by the time of the challenge, added: "I am not doing this in the name of a loved one but rather for all those RNLI volunteers who have already given service, some their lives, and those who are prepared to do so now, and are always at the end of our PLBs, flares, radios [and] telephones."
She has already started preparing by taking up training, and her husband Malcolm has been encouraging her as the start of the challenge nears.
Day one on May 17 will see Alexis walk from Kinbuck through Dunblane, Bridge of Allan, Alloa and Clackmannan.
On day two she will pass through the West Fife Way, and on day three she will cross Dunfermline before finishing at South Queensferry.
Any Wee County residents who see Alexis pulling her kayak have been asked to give her a wave and encourage her as she goes on her way.
To contribute to the RNLI fundraiser, visit tinyurl.com/y6krjx36
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