Up a creek without a paddle? It appears not.

 

Bumped into Steve yesterday evening (13th December 2012) and he informed me that he has been given two more kayaking paddles for our fundraising event. Brilliant!

Details and pics to come soon to thank the donor. Kind reminder Steve.

This means we now have 4 paddles which have been given to us and hence we now have enough paddles for both kayak’s. All we need to do now is collect the rest of the gear we need, get some preliminary safety training and then its all go on the water.

Its odd how things start to come together so quickly once word gets out. I’m impressed so far. Until I get the details of who has given these to us, we all say thanks!

From the team….

P.S. We are still looking for at least a couple more single kayak’s if anybody has some.

East Cheshire Hospice gets in contact, its all official now

East Cheshire Hospice got in contact with me on 12th December 2012. This means they are aware of our efforts and makes the whole event a lot more official. This is the email from Faye Coombs who I guess will be our initial contact there.

Hello John, I hope this email finds you well.

I am writing in response to recent notification that you have created a JustGiving page to fundraise for East Cheshire Hospice. The challenge that you and your friends have set yourselves is a very unique and exciting one, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for fundraising to make everyday count for our patients and their loved ones.

I have attached an electronic copy of our sponsor form for you to print off, for those donors who may not wish to donate online. Would you like me to send you an East Cheshire Hospice t-shirt to wear on the day of your challenge and whenever you may be doing any training? If so just let me know what size you will require.  

If you have any questions or need any assistance with your fundraising please do not hesitate to get in touch. I look forward to hearing from you.  

Best Wishes,

Faye Coombs

I informed Faye that we would delay tee-shirts on the basis that we may purchase more closer to the time (or may simply not need them). Thought this was information worth passing on.

These kayaks are brilliant but they are not 4m in length!

After we finally got the Kayak’s back to Macclesfield I thought I ought to take some pictures for the team so we can all see what we have purchased. While having a good look over them they are in fact in mint condition but I also noticed a sticker on the side:

So out with the tape measure and the length of the kayaks is indeed 5.15 meters, not 4 meters as advertised. This is why they did not fit in the van so all is forgiven Steve 🙂

Anyway folks, this is what they look like….

So who is going to collect the kayaks?

The weekend of Saturday 8th December 2012 comes around fast. Steve volunteered the use of his van for picking up the kayak’s and trailer with the bright idea that we could fit the trailer and both 4m kayak’s in the back. We take this option as the trailer has been tossed into the sale “for free” and was described as “needing some work” so we were nervous about towing it up the motorway. Sounded like a great idea so we go with this plan.

Will, Stuart and John agree to drive down to Birmingham (~100 miles) to collect the gear on Sunday. Steve regrettably had to work on Sunday to finish off a plastering job (well – that is his story). It was a tough start to say the least….

John was sick in the depths of a bad cold and came armed with Lemsip dissolved in a bottle of orange juice and some ground paracetamol (my own special mixture for those special moments). Will and Stuart had been to the Jolly along with others the night before and did not make it home until 4:00am after what might be called “a few drinks”. They were slightly suffering the after effects (ho ho). It was agreed we would leave by 10:00am! I was impressed when the van turned up at my house with what can only be described as two homeless looking people inside with big cheeky grins. Excellent chaps!

None-the-less off we headed to Birmingham in torrential rain.

We found the eBay sellers house quite quickly and he (Steve) was preparing the gear for our pick-up. When we hopped out of the van and introduced ourselves the first thing he asked was; “is there anybody else?” as he glanced at the van and noticed no tow bar. We explained our cunning plan to put everything in the back of the van. He looked sceptical. We all simply looked rough.

Still in good spirits Will opened up the back of the van and Stuart and John’s reaction was “oh s**t”! Steve’s van has a tool rack built into it full length and about half a meter wide. Hmm. We soon came to the conclusion that there was no way we were going to get the trailer and kayak’s into the van. After some tense discussion (amongst ourselves) and a few phone calls we eventually agree with Steve (eBay seller) that we would leave the trailer for now and just take the kayak’s. But even those did not fit by any means…. We eventually managed to tie them in but sticking out the back by a meter and a half. Hmm, hope we do not get pulled.

Steve (the eBay seller) just charged us £300 and threw in a couple of paddles for free. Thanks mate, that £9 will go to the fundraising and also thanks for the high visibility jacket!

Kayak’s are found, lets go for them!

Kayak’s are found, lets go for them!

Ben heard about our adventure via big ears and finds some time to peruse eBay on Friday 30th November 2012. Somehow by pure luck Ben manages to find two double kayak’s (and a free trailer) on a private short term eBay auction ending in 6 days time. Brilliant! They looked perfect for our needs so he informs Steve. On Saturday 1st December in preparation for Max’s 21st party Steve brings up this sale with Stuart and John and the three of us agree to put in some cash to have a go at purchasing them. It is agreed that Aggy, with his copious spare time will watch the bidding for us keeping all informed while we worked in real jobs (ho ho). By Tuesday 4th December they are still hovering around the £100 mark which is an unbelievable bargain! One more day to go…. Could we possibly get them for that price?

On the Wednesday 5th December (auction end day) after work and yet again in the local boozer we agree to put in a realistic max bid for the kayaks. The current bid had increased to £215 so we decided to put in a max bid of £309. The price immediately jumps to £247 but we are now the highest bidder! We figured that £9 more than a round £100 would work well when the last few seconds came about. eBay can be like a poker game at times. You need to think what the other bidders are going to do if you really want something and often people bid £1 more than a round figure.

After a couple more beers and some more discussion we decided to increase this max to £409! We were excited now and getting nervous. With 2 hours to go before the end of auction we all headed home….

At 8:30pm the mobile texts start. Everyone is watching the bidding and the price has not yet changed.

At 8:55pm the mobiles start to ring. Steve informs a friend that they are not watching TV, that there is no music on and everyone is watching eBay at his house! Don’t you mean Bay Watch his friends asks? Nope, eBay! A new bidder had come into the fold and raised the price to £247.55. Eek, now there are two others are interested, but we are still the highest bidder….

At 8:57pm the price suddenly jumps and by 8:58:03 our main competing bidder ends his bid with £301.75! The eBay automatic bidding system puts our bid up to £309 and they are ours…. we can’t believe it! No need to have put that extra £100 on after all, phew!

I have to admit I have not been so excited about an eBay auction before and our logic for £309 worked perfectly. It was brilliant fun and we came in on the original budget!

John contacts the seller and it is agreed that we pick up the gear on Sunday 9th December. Another story to follow….

Great find Ben and well done everyone! No going back now chaps.

So what is this all about then?

Local people fund-raising for a local charity. East Cheshire Hospice.

A bunch of us are kayaking the “Cheshire Ring” (Cheshire_Ring) within a 24 hour period some time in late June/early July 2013 (precise date coming soon). The route has 92 locks and is 97 miles (156 km) long.

Apart from the fun we expect to have, our main purpose is to raise money for a critical organization to which we all have an affinity with.

The East Cheshire Hospice provides special care for adults suffering from life-limiting illnesses for which there is no cure. They care for the whole person, aiming to meet all their needs, whether they are medical, emotional or spiritual or around the challenges of daily living. They also support families and carers throughout what is often a difficult period.

Their mission is to make every day count for their patients and those important to them. The hospice is full of laughter and a place where life is celebrated.

The idea to raise money by kayaking the Cheshire Ring culminated over a number of weeks amongst a group of friends during October/November 2012. Although the main team members doing the kayaking have the challenge of paddling in a twin kayak for 8 hours each, there are many other supporters behind the scenes helping to make this happen.

To donate money, you can either contact one of us in person or use our JustGiving donation page:

http://www.justgiving.com/kayaking-for-care

If you want to join in or volunteer, there is still plenty to do. If you have equipment which you think we may find useful, we are indeed interested.

We hope you enjoy these pages.

From the team……

Damn fools, who’s idea was this anyway!

Its all Steve’s fault!

The idea of the kayaking the Cheshire Ring in 2013 for charity culminated from a number of peoples motivations, discussions and eventually action. I thought I’d highlight the main events as it fascinates me how ideas evolve into action.

All of the people involved are regular customers at a particular pub in Macclesfield. Surprise surprise for people that know me!

Some time in late 2009 Ecky decided to do a fundraiser for “Pathways PTSD Treatment Service”. He had been discussing this with Steve who at the time suggested kayaking the Cheshire Ring (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheshire_Ring) as the fundraising event. In the end, Ecky decided to walk the West Highland Way (http://www.west-highland-way.co.uk) for his fundraising event instead (http://www.justgiving.com/Gary-Eccleston).

A couple of years go by but a seed is planted….

Around comes August 2012 and John (kiwi) decides to sell his windsurfing gear after a disappointing week attempting to windsurfing in various places in Wales. He decides to take up kayaking instead as kayaking is far more accessible from Cheshire, not to mention his personal fitness!

September rolls on and John manages to sell his windsurfing gear. Ironically the person who arrived to pick up the gear was Dave Clarke, a local Macclesfield business man who rowed across the Atlantic in 2008 (http://www.daveclarkesolo.com/rowing.html). Inspired by Dave and the fact that Dave had never rowed anything before taking on the Atlantic, John was all go on the kayaking front.

During October 2012 after a few bevies in the local and in chatting to Stuart (an avid paragliding enthusiast), John mentions about definitely purchasing a couple of kayaks and doing some kayaking courses to white water level. It turns out that that Stuart is also an experienced kayak-er and hence there is a common interest. Big ears Steve happens to over hear this conversation, ho ho, is anyone surprised? A week or so latter Steve eventually brings up the idea of kayaking the Cheshire Ring and some enthusiasm entails. I have to admit that I had no idea what the Cheshire Ring was when Steve mentioned it to me. Some sort of Cheshire illness in the nether regions after a hot curry perhaps?

In early November 2012, Steve mentions the idea of doing the Cheshire Ring to Stuart and Dan who immediately respond with enthusiastic interest. A team had started to formulate. The idea then started to spread and things started to happen….