I met Chris and George when playing hockey for Hampstead and Westminster ‘Thirsts’ team. It may sound like ‘Firsts’ but that, I assure you, is where the similarity ends. I didn’t know much about them other than what position they played but recently got a message in my inbox asking would I like to sponsor them to paddle a kayak to France? Well, yes!
Not only did they make it across the Channel and raise a lot of money for charity but they also wrote a nice piece for my website. Here is Christopher Turner’s account of his recent adventure with George Armitage:
“Yeah, we made it! We managed to cross from Dover to Calais using a tandem kayak in 5 hrs 32 mins. We reckon that we went about 22 miles. We had to have an escort boat as this is a requirement, a very expensive requirement! Weather was great to start with but the nearer we got to France the worse the conditions became. Eventually we were submerged in thick fog with visibility of just a couple of hundred metres and we also experienced something close to Force 4 winds but that was quite manageable once we had a bit of experience under our belts.
We have been training for a number of months and our final piece was a rather gruelling 6 day paddle down the Thames, from close to its source, near Cricklade, to Tower Bridge. In total we covered about 140 miles and this was almost as hard as doing the Channel as our average daily mileage was the equivalent distance!
It was a great trip. It is expensive and required quite a lot of admin but it was a worthy challenge. I have had a lot of really positive responses from people which has made it even easier to raise money for our chosen charity, Prostate Cancer.”
You can make donations here.
(no subject)
|
|
|
|
|
| Inbox |
| X |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| TNC |
| X |
|
|
|
|
|
|  Reply to allForwardReply by chat
Filter messages like this
Print
Add to Contacts list
Delete this message
Report phishing
Report not phishing
Show original
Show in fixed width font
Show in variable width font
Message text garbled?
Why is this spam/non-spam?
Reply
Tim
Yeah, we made it! We managed to cross from Dover to Calais using a tandem kayak in 5 hrs 32 mins. We reckon that we went about 22 miles. We had to have an escort boat as this is a requirement, a very expensive requirement! Weather was great to start with but the nearer we got to France the worse the conditions became. Eventually we were submerged in thick fog with visibility of just a couple of hundred meters and we also experienced something c. Force 4 winds but that was quite manageable once you have a bit of experience under your belt.
We have been training for a number of months which included joining Putney Bridge Canoe Club. The guys there are great. We did a sea kayaking skill weekend as part of our training which really paid off when the conditions began to deteriorate. The conditions down in Portsmouth probably got to Force 5 although George reckons it got to Force 6! We did this with Portsmouth Canoe Club. Our final piece of training was a rather gruelling 6 day paddle down the Thames, from close to its source, near Cricklade, to Tower Bridge. In total we covered about 140 miles and this was almost as hard as doing the Channel as our average daily mileage was equivalent to crossing the Channel!
Here are some picture of George and me looking fresh-faced before leaving Dover beach, looking cheerful in the sun will Dover behind us just out of site and finally looking pretty knackered once we arrived in France.
It was a great trip. It is expensive and required quite a lot of admin but I worthy challenge. I have had a lot of really positive responses from people which has made it even easier to raise money for our chosen Charity, Prostate Cancer.
Let me know if you would like anything else.
Christopher
Ps. If you wanted details of other interesting challenges have a look at my (actually my cousin built it but I helped write it – he wrote all the funny bits) website called Battlestar Africa, www.battlestarafrica.com, which followed my trip to Africa on the Africa Rally (The Adventurists) with some mates. We went last year. It was awesome!
Christopher Turner Associate Director
DTZ Tel: +44 (0)20 3296 2242 Mobile: +44(0)79 1279 8555
From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Tim Moss – Show quoted text –
Chris, George, Did you make it??? Awesome idea. If you send me some info and photos when you’re back, I’d like to stick something about it on my website. Cheers, — 2009/6/26 Christopher Turner/GBR/DTZ <[email protected]> Guys The time has come! On Saturday, after four months of big chat and a healthy portion of training (which included us remaking certain ‘key’ scenes from the cult canoe movie Deliverance as we paddled the Thames from its source) George and I are ready to set off in our trusty vessel, the Calais Burgher, on our slightly daring journey across the English Channel in a two-man kayak with the hope of capturing France. Given the reputation of those cheeky Surrender Monkeys I envisage we will be done by mid afternoon Saturday and back in time for tea! George and I have been working hard to prepare for this trip and we would be really grateful for any support you can show us by donating money to our chosen charity Prostate Cancer. To sponsor us please visit our just giving site is: http://www.justgiving.com/cricklade2calais. All that is left to say is please wish us luck for good weather and a speedy crossing and if anyone wants to see previews to Thames Deliverance, the Final Squeal, please email me directly. Thanks boys. See you on tour in August. Christopher and George Christopher Turner DTZ
3 attachments — Download all attachments View all images
|
