Tuesday 20 June 2017

Supporters

With less than 3 weeks to go to K-Day we are beginning to get the boat looking a bit more like with the first of many vinyls being applied, care of the many supporters of our adventure.

Among the first are the Cancer Support Yorkshire details taking pride of place at the front and rear of the kayak. Also the West Riding Province of the Masons, of which Andrew is a long-time member,  have been extremely supportive of our little jaunt and we are very pleased to display their shield at front and rear (especially helpful as they fit well on the pointy bits).


Caroline Lewis from Cancer Support Yorkshire joins us as we apply the first stickers

The Canal and River Trust have also provided us with the "Desmond Family Canoe Trail" vinyls. The trail is a CRT-sponsored initiative to produce a canoe route from coast to coast over a 5-year project ending in 2020 using young people as volunteers to get involved with the work.  It is the trail route from Liverpool to Goole that we are following and we are pleased to highlight the good work the Trust is doing to get young people helping in their communities.


In the kayak with the Desmond Canoe Trail promoted

Coming soon will be the vinyls of the many local companies who have agreed to support the trip with  generous sponsorship in return for promotional material being displayed on the boat which will make us look more colourful and interesting and sure to start discussions with passers by.

Wednesday 14 June 2017

Danger money rather than donations please

Having taken the kayak from Apperley Bridge through Leeds last weekend and ending in Swillington, a distance of 15 miles through lots of locks, we are just about ready for anything the canal can throw at us. However, we hadn't bargained on other things being thrown at us such as half-bricks and other missiles!

This was the warning we received from a canal-user when he warned us that great gangs of youths gather to cause mischief at a few places on the way to Leeds beyond Apperley Bridge as he seemingly cheerily told us of the high probability of our running into such ferrel kids. Hell.

We can cope with this we thought but then on Tuesday we discovered that a body had been in the canal in the lock near to Apperley Bridge just a couple of days after we had been paddling in the area! Bloody Hell. http://www.itv.com/news/calendar/2017-06-13/body-found-in-canal-at-apperley-bridge/


News report of body found in canal

Now this was OK as well, we can cope with that too. However, on the same day the news reported that armed police had been deployed along the towpath in Silsden on the hunt for someone reported as being armed! Now, this is getting beyond a joke and we are planning a small turret-gun on the bow of the boat!
Update to the story of the Silsden gunman

OK, so it turned out to be a BB gun, but we wouldn't know that if we encountered such a person and it's hard to outrun a crazed wazzock when your only means of escape is a kayak.



Wednesday 7 June 2017

On the radio

The pace is quickening with less than 5 weeks to go to K-Day on 9th July. More people are hearing about our venture and the awareness can only be helped by our meeting wth Stray FM this morning. Not sure when they are going to use the piece we did with Lisa but it's great that our canoeing is gathering pace and so is our promotion of the coast to coast challenge.

Thank you Stray FM, hopefully your support will help raise funds for Cancer Support Yorkshire and the great work they do. We look forward to hearing the item over the airwaves.


Lisa at Stray FM speaking with Andrew about the event



Tuesday 6 June 2017

In the dark

3rd June saw us invited to join the Pendle Paddlers canoe club to take part in a mass-paddle through the mile long (nearly) Foulridge tunnel. This is very helpful because until now the tunnel was off-limits to unpowered boats which, officially, involved a major hassle getting the boat carried for nearly a mile over the hill to reach the Foulridge Wharf end.



Paddlers getting ready to head south through the tunnel

To mark the occasion the Canal and River Trust had arranged for some young waterway volunteers to join the mass-paddle, paddling from south to north through the tunnel. This would involve the Pendle Paddlers canoeing to meet them prior to the official opening ceremony and ribbon-cutting. We joined the Paddlers in their southward paddle and got halfway through the tunnel when it became apparent that a narrow boat had entered the tunnel's south end, and was heading north toward the group of canoeists.

A hasty exit from the tunnel to avoid being run over

There is no room to pass in the narrow tunnel so we all had to turn round (no mean feat for us in a kayak that is just about as long as the tunnel is wide) and head back to the Foulridge end. The sound of a narrow boat's engine, getting louder in a confined space, is a tad disconcerting but we all got back to the northern end prior to the boat emerging a couple of minutes later.

We couldn't hang about for the second tunnel passage but are told it went without a hitch and was a great success. For us it means we will be able to officially use the tunnel on our fourth day travelling from Burnley - Skipton and avoid the portage hassle. Must remember the torch and the whistle and make sure there isn't a bloody boat coming t'other way.



Paddlers waiting at the tunnel's south end