I've never ever sat in a kayak let alone paddle that sort of distance.
Donated. Very well done, and thank you.
Donated. Very well done, and thank you.
Air ambulance - Devizes to Westminster kayak race
- Thread starter The Other PaulG
- Start date
When you likely to be coming past Maidenhead and Bray Paul?
I can pop down with some refreshments, hot drinks etc. if needed!
PS: flow is dropping past our rowing club - but still on red boards!
I can pop down with some refreshments, hot drinks etc. if needed!
PS: flow is dropping past our rowing club - but still on red boards!
Thanks Toddy, our current schedule shows us passing Bray at 23h20 on Saturday night. Our timings, though, are based upon a few assumptions, the most unreliable being our pace on the Thames which will be very flow-dependent.
At Bray we'll have been paddling for just under 19 hours (with roughly 11 to go), so our timings may be way out by then. Thanks for the offer of sustenance - in fact we have people lined up at about 3 places with food (and painkillers!) so we're sorted there.
As the air ambulance fund has just passed £200 - double the initial target - it's a good time to say a massive thank you to anyone who has contributed. I do believe it's a good cause, and hopefully your donation will make a difference to them and their ability to continue to provide the service. Great stuff, folks. 
No problem Paul - I'll probably have had a couple of glasses of wine by that time on a Saturday night, so coming down to stand by a fast flowing river my not be conducive to a long life!
If it stays as it is you'll be doing about 5 knots without the need to paddle!
River Thames Flow at Maidenhead – Richmond Canoe Club
richmondcanoeclub.com
Had I not been away over Easter, I’d have been down on the river bank at Westminster….. shouting advice and drinking their tea.
At the end of any arduous event it’s good to have a picture, everyone knows that. I am sure there’ll be photographe of the happy pair, leaping from the kayak, beaming and saying “Same again next year”.
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Donated,and well done Paul. Sounds easy. Meandering along on the river in the sunshine listening to the countryside sounds. That’s how I see it…..lol
Chipped in too! C'mon you're close to tripling the (fund) target.
Donation made Paul - used to be BCU Senior Instructor in the dim and (very!) distant.
Donation made as well . For a fellow ´´London meet up´´ mate!
Paul, is there a 'forecast estimate' for hitting the lock at Hampton Court/East Molesey? I am a mile upriver from there right on the riverbank at Hampton ferry crossing/Yacht Club... Happy to cheer you on!
Bloody internet malarky... failed three times. PM - I'll pay you into your bank, you sort the daft electronic gubbins please.We'd like to think that none of us will ever need this, but the reality is that many bikers have been, and will continue to be, saved through the air ambulance service.
Personally I cannot believe that these (and the RNLI for that matter) are funded directly by citizens while we chuck public money at seemingly pointless initiatives, but maybe that's a topic for another thread!
Anyway, in brief - I'm aiming to raise £100 for the air ambulance.
In order to do this, a mate and I have spent the last 18 months training for the Devizes-Westminster kayak race.
This is the longest single stage kayak race in the world. We will start in Devizes, Wilts, at 04h30 on Easter Saturday and if all goes well, we'll finish at Westminster some time on Easter Sunday morning, having paddled non-stop for about 30 hours, covering 125 miles, and carrying the boat around 77 individual locks.
The biggest challenge will probably not be the physical endurance or the sleep deprivation (although both of those are very unpleasant), but the sheer discomfort. I'll be 60 later this year and it's deeply uncomfortable sitting in a kayak for any length of time. After the first couple of hours, everything aches. Fingers blister, backs knot up, shoulders take the brunt of it.. you're certainly wet and most likely cold.
Anyway... the ill-conceived decision to enter this race was made in a pub, after way too many beers. So I invite you to have too many beers, too, and if 10 people chip in £10, we'll make the £100 target and the air ambulance will be able to fly for another hour or two. That could mean someone's life.
So neck those pints, then if you feel the urge, come here:
Paul's fundraiser for Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussex
Help Paul Greenhalgh raise money to support Air Ambulance Charity Kent Surrey Sussexwww.justgiving.com
Cheers!
Paul
Hi! Yes, we have a race plan, which shows us being at Molesey at 03h49 (GMT) . However an accurate race plan is hard to create because of the variables, as above, esp the river flow rate. By Molesey we could be an hour ahead, or behind schedule, or silently weeping somewhere..!
Fixed it for you.
Good on you, I'm in
I was thinking to myself of the Danish gentleman of ‘advancing years’ sweating on his bicycle up one of the famous high Pyrenees cols. We had seen his family, standing by their car in the car park, drinking coffee and eating cake.
It was obvious that they were meant to greet the chap as he crossed the line, as he was puffing and trying to call out to them. He was obviously expecting a round of applause from his wife, kids and I guess, young grandchildren.
The look of extreme disappointment on his face when he crossed the line with nobody there, had to be seen to be believed.
Over to the carpark he went pushing his bike slowly. The family saw him and the penny clearly dropped with them. I don’t speak Danish but I think they were suggesting to him he go back down the col a few hundred meters and re-stage the finish, so they could get the camera out. NO!
Happy days.
It was obvious that they were meant to greet the chap as he crossed the line, as he was puffing and trying to call out to them. He was obviously expecting a round of applause from his wife, kids and I guess, young grandchildren.
The look of extreme disappointment on his face when he crossed the line with nobody there, had to be seen to be believed.
Over to the carpark he went pushing his bike slowly. The family saw him and the penny clearly dropped with them. I don’t speak Danish but I think they were suggesting to him he go back down the col a few hundred meters and re-stage the finish, so they could get the camera out. NO!
Happy days.
Hi! Yes, we have a race plan, which shows us being at Molesey at 03h49 (GMT) . However an accurate race plan is hard to create because of the variables, as above, esp the river flow rate. By Molesey we could be an hour ahead, or behind schedule, or silently weeping somewhere..!
There's some nice Houseboats opposite Molesey Rowing Club - you could always sneak over and have a kip in someone's porch!
Just out of interest what are the rules on lighting? Presumably you have to have some form of lights on bow and stern, and then do you use headtorches to see what the feck is coming up! Appreciate that a lot of stretches are quite well lit from the houses and gardens that back onto the river, but there are some bits that will be bloody dark with lots of overhanging trees and obstacles. Must be quite exciting (or should that read scary!) at times!
Paid .. I think you are a bloody idiot. Well done!
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