Category Archives: Preparations

ready for the party?

Posted by Michal in Fundraising, Preparations

READY? WELL, IT’S BEEN HECTIC

Now we have only three days left so everyone is asking if we are ready.

I have to say, it would be great to have one more week but all major things are under control. Thanks to Natalie’s hard work our flat is nearly empty and clean as a baby.  Our boats have new Kevlar keelstrips fitted and are waiting to be loaded.

Of course there have been some glitches. Thanks to DHL our new paddles travelled twice between Czech Republic and London. However, we have them now, and I have to admit I’ve been very impressed when I tried them last Tuesday for the first time.

Getting a tent was even more stressful, again it needed two attempts to have the correct one and what more, we had to do some DIY extention of one of the poles. It had two short ones and one long instead of two long ones and one short. It is sorted, now.

We also have new Spot connect and are learning how to use it. So soon there should be new link in the menu to our position.

Now to the important stuff.

We have a leaving party on Saturday evening starting at 6pm. Also some people expressed their interest to join us on the water on Sunday. We are glad people want to show us their support. Only we would like to remind everybody that we are leaving at 10am sharp and it is fundraising event.  So if you want to show your support don’t forget do bring loads of cash with you.

I SHOULDN’T HAVE LOOKED

Posted by NAtalie in Preparations, Training and tagged with , ,

“Is failing to plan really planning to fail? Or is it just true adventure……” this is a quote I borrowed from our fellow circumnavigators of this year, the Midlife kayak team. But then one evening when I had nothing better to do, I found this

on http://www.martinkayaking.co.uk/, another fellow circumnavigator and from London, too. Now, it got me thinking. Is it still ok that I only looked in the map while studying the Cape Wrath area to find out if it is worth to stop there on our way? I read the menu in the Ozone café, and it sounds like we could do this.

And then I came across this http://www.aroundbritain4britain.co.uk/.

Impressive that someone plans it so in advance, but probably a norm. I like their daily schedule. Michal and I usually take between 1.5 and 3 hours to get ready on multiple day trips. But it got me worried. I have not planned for hot chocolate in our food bag. I would have to rethink the whole idea again.

Moving, phase one

Posted by Michal in Preparations

Plan was simple, we had a whole week to go through our flat and pack things we or the new tenant won’t need while we are away. But as always, we were too busy with work, so most things had to be done on Saturday. Another early morning start. The move itself was easier that expected with help from Alastair and Karel. Thank you.

Now half of our stuff occupies Eamonn’s spare bathroom.  We were quite surprised with the variety of things we found in our flat, alongside ordinary objects like clothing and framed pictures, we moved 2 pairs of skies, 2 bouldering mats, 360 meters of climbing ropes, 28 shot glasses, and Natalie’s Grandmother’s tea set.

Move Phase Two is scheduled for the last Thursday in March, two days before we go. Thank you, Eamonn.

More kit has arrived

Posted by NAtalie in Preparations

Things are getting serious. For long it only seemed as a dream. We have spent five months planning, writing emails, wondering and hoping. Now, it’s all coming together. On Friday, just when we were leaving to go to Penrith, a parcel arrived.

It was from OverBoard. This company that makes cool dry bags agreed to support us. We realised that in order to be able to pursue our aim of running an interactive “online” trip around Britain we will have to take with us kit that is not water friendly. And OverBoard had the solution we needed. Have a look.

BABIES ARE HOME

Posted by Michal in Preparations

It is a long story involving lots of driving up and down the country. Natalie is going to write it all latter.

The main thing is, we just arrived back home with two shinny boats thanks to Aled, Dave and Alice, all from Tiderace. Now, we only have to choose their names.

home-LESS-home

Posted by Michal in Preparations

 

Today, just before we had supper we reached another milestone.

From the first day we have started to plan our trip there was one big worry. We knew that we cannot afford to pay the rent while not working and sleeping rough along British coast but we also love our flat. So we always wanted to have it back.

Rob from Olympic Committee signed contract and made us homeless from 1st April for five months.

And so tent it is with all possessions in the boats.

FINISHING PHASE ONE, MOVING ONTO PHASE TWO

Posted by Michal in Preparations

The last few months before and after announcement of the expedition we have been working on the first preparation phase: looking for sponsors.

Now it is time to move on onto the second part.  However it does not mean that we have all the kit sorted but we are getting there.

Since one of the reasons, why we decided to undertake this challenge is to raise money, we are now focusing more on the fundraising part. We know that we won’t be able to achieve our target staying invisible; so we are in the process of communicating with various media. It is a very exciting part of our preparation phase. So far we had one phone interview and one face to face interview. The journalists wanted to take our photos, but having faith in Michal’s skills and knowing how useless we are in front of a camera, we have produced several photos ourselves.

At this moment it looks like the first article should be out tomorrow in The Wharf, following with Docklands and City in February and East End Life in March.

You can read more about our causes and fundraising in the section CAUSES and if you would like to help, don’t hesitate to click on DONATE button in the menu.