Day 5: Windsor to Teddington

We had just stayed overnight in our swankiest hotel of the trip (a mansion estate on the outskirts of Windsor) and were charged and ready for our final day of kayaking. We took our equipment down to the Thames Path near Runnymede and were prepping our kayaks when we get a shout from a nearby house from a middle aged woman who claims we were on her property and that we were trespassing when we were actually on a public footpath.

Our morning got worse when Thom forgot his prized Colorado Rockies Cap and had to go back to the hotel only to get asked to enter the security office of the hotel and watch back footage of us malarking around the night before seeing how many sofas we could sit on in a time limit (see video below...). We were let off with a warning and got on our way heading towards Staines.

Then the rain started. We were happy to continue until Thunder and Lightning struck and then saftey Couch said we must evacuate the water to avoid being a target for London. So we got out water and went for the shelter under the second nearest tree (the nearest wasn't that great for shelter). The storm got worse and while we were busy feeling sorry for our situation we heard a massive bang and turned round to see the tree next to us had been hit by lightning (it was like an airstrike!) We took the sensible situation of waiting out the storm outside a pub (it was too early to get a cheeky beverage), however the Devize to Westminster Racers had caught up with us again and they were not so sensible and got back straight on the water even though they were prime targets for lighting #pushyparent.

After a rain delay we were back on the water but cold and damp so we pushed on with no breaks. We passed Walton on Thames, Sunbury on Thames and Shepperton, taking it in turns to walk alongside the two remaining kayaks. It turns out our kayaking had improved from the start of the trip where we were slower than walking pace to a fast paced jog which meant that the walkers by the side of the river had huge trouble to keep up with the remaining kayaks. 

The rain continued but our spirits were lifted by a quick cake and tea from the Bromley Clan at Kingston. We arrived into Teddington to complete the non tidal Thames at 5pm and were welcomed by friends and family and a live band played in our honour at the pub. Thanks to everyone who supported our journey. We can safely say that we will not be getting in an inflatable kayak anytime soon. Well done to Thom Watts who won the final day kayaker of the day award for perseverance and providing us with much needed would you rather questions and songs.

Day 4: Caversham Lock to Windsor

Day 4 started off very similar to our other morning starts, with only 2 functional kayaks. We therefore waited until the shops opened before heading to the town centre and returning our black diamond kayak we bought 36 hours before to upgrade to another very spacious seyvlor kayak. Big thanks to Bill, Vanessa and Grace once again for helping us get enough kayaks to fit us all in.

So we got started about 10am and managed to get to the first lock with no issues. Then all of a sudden pro kayaks started to pass us in droves as the Devizes to Westminster race caught up with us. We saw 3 boats capsize and we saw a number of children being forced to kayak by their pushy parents. All in all they were not a very friendly bunch, however their speed and agility on the river kept us motivated to want to try and be them one day so we kept up a good pace going into Henley.

Over the course of the afternoon we went through some fabulous locks and towns (Henley, Hambleden and finally Little Marlow. The only problem we encountered was our third and final yellow boat suffered a collapsed side and we had to put her down. That meant we kept up our momentum of 1 kayak biting the dust every day on our trip and left us with 2 functioning kayaks. All in all it was a good day and we had an unprecedented vote for kayaker of the day in which both Couch and Sophie shared the honours, awarded for their commitment and perseverance in the face of adversity.

1 day left!

Day 3: Culham Lock to Reading

After a late finish yesterday we decided to treat ourselves to a lie in of sorts, taking brekkie at 8am. We then got back on the river at 9.15am and pulled straws to see who is with who. The two ganglies Thom and Couch got the last remaining yellow boat, Joe and Rob got blue & Elise and Rhys got red.

In the morning session Rhys and Elise seemed to be struggling a bit, Couch and Thom were investigating posh houses and found a football and Joe and Rob were kicking back and trying out some new maneuvers.

We had a quick break for a soggy pizza lunch before heading back on the river. Thom and couch spent the afternoon spotting wildlife, Rhys and Elise learnt the whole lyrics of a song and we battled on to meet the Bromley clan for a pint at a pub on the river.

After a cheeky pint, we got back in the boats rather unsteadily and set off for our final 5 miles. We had just gone past 2 locks and it was all going well until we heard a loud bang and the new red kayak got a puncture in the bottom. Rhys towed the red boat single handedly for almost a kilometer but it was very slow going and we ended up doing the last 5 miles in 3 hr 15.

Big thanks to Colin, Ann, Addison, Sophie, Kesh, Flo and Katie for coming to support us. We had a splendid meal at the end of the day to keep spirits high.

Day 2: Rose Revived to Culham Lock

After our disappointing end to yesterday we decided to get up nice and early to get some river mileage under our belts. However we were disappointed to find that our two remaining yellow kayak's punctures had got a lot worse and were deflating instantly. 2 hours later after puncture repairs, silicon fillings, hair dryer treatment and a play on the hotels adventure playground we were on our way.

Unfortunately our bad luck continued and our 2 yellow and newly borrowed blue kayak gained slow burning punctures on the bottom so we relied on the inflated sides to keep us afloat. We made steady progress (6 miles in 2 hours) until rhys broke his second boat in 2 days with a seam split on the left hand side which left the boat with only 1 side afloat....

Luckily Bill and Vanessa were on site to help us obtain a nice reduced kayak from argos so that we now had 3 different colour kayaks to bring out our personalities for all the river goers around oxford. Due to all these unforeseen turns of bad luck we were way behind schedule and had managed 11 miles by 3.30pm.

But this is when our arms took on a new lease of life as we headed downstream to oxford alongside some made in chelsea type characters on a mini speed boat. They laughed at us when they spes by but before long they were laughing on the other sides of their face when they couldnt work out how to use a lock and we carried our inflatables round. We then continued through oxford seeing loads of wannabe rowers and some punters.

The last 5 miles was extremely tough as it was getting dark, cold and we were getting a bit cranky from kayaking the furthest we had ever kayaked. Luckily hero of the day, Elise Bromley was on hand to tug us along when we were at our lowest was a real treat.

Finished the day at 21.30, 25.2 miles in 11.5 hrs. Lets hope tomorrow brings us a bit more luck.... 

Day 1: Cricklade to Rose Revived

A 6.30am wake up when your not working is not the best but when you are kayaking for the whole day it is just like Christmas morning. After a quality continental breakfast we made our way to the start of the navigable Thames at 8 am.

To say navigable is a bit of an overstatement. Although there was a bit of a current we faced severe tree obstacles for the first several miles. A normal pro kayaker would have been quaking in their boots at this point but not us. We got scratched, poked in the head by brambles and our kayaks took a bit of a battering, getting stuck on logs and rocks and puncturing on 3 occasions in the first 2 hours.

However we were in good spirits with Thom teaching us lyrics to famous pop songs, our boombox at full volume and many a swan sitting on a nest to make sure we didn't aggravate.

The morning was going swell until Rhys and Couch got stuck on a log. Everyone managed to get over it but then we hear a cry from their boat and a rush to shore. At first we thought they were crying wolf (like olly used to do when he needed a brake when cycling) however it turned out they had a massive rip between the side and the bottom of their kayak which looked unrepairable.

We tried gluing, stitching and patching but to no avail and in the end we emptied out their boat and stuck an inflatable seat under the hole to help but water still leaked in. We were in the middle of nowhere so we had to keep paddling so rob (voted kayaker of the day) took one for the team and got wet kayaking to lechlade.

We arrived in Lechlade a little later than expected and bought the entire stock of a D.I.Y. store to try and repair the boats. Although we made progress in repairing the damage, the boat was beyond repair so we ended up getting a taxi the last few miles to avoid getting trench foot. Big shout out to Clive Hooper who has just delivered us another inflatable kayak so that we can get back on track tomorrow.

1 Day to Go!

So we are all rested and prepared to head down to Cricklade tomorrow to start our 135 mile - 5 day adventure. Equipment checked, provisions bought, maps printed - lets hope we don't get an early puncture.....

Please follow our journey @wewill_you on twitter or on our twitter feed, we will also post daily updates to the blog, or you can come down in person (see Support Tab above to find out where we will be)

4th Official (& Final) Training Day - 5th April

 

Day 4 of kayaking training and we set off to tackle another epic day of paddling. We planned to do 15 miles and that's exactly what we did, even if we did finish at 7:30pm at night! 

However, it wasn't all that bad as we didn't just have one pub stop but two. Kayaking up the river was tough as we battled against a strong river current and a headwind. Even people out for a leisurely stroll were overtaking us! On the positive side at least it was a good workout. 

Sophie was back on form after her river plunge in midweek. Tom entertained many of the hours by making up quizzes including a round on "Joe Clarke", "superheroes" and "Bridges of the world" and we were even given a special project designing a pub menu. Drama was made by the Bromleys being difficult in the pub requesting extra ramakins of tuna and Rob was given the new nick name of The Neanderthal Monkey for his general primitive slightly odd behaviour. A long day but lots of fun had by all!

Daily stats:

Total trip time: 8 hours
Total time on river: 6 hours
Total time in pub: 2 hours

Unfortunately the 1:3 hour pub to river ratio will not be possible on the actual challenge!