Hi,
 
We did it!
 
That was one of the most difficult things I have ever done, for those of you that are interested please find below a brief digest of our adventure…
 
Day One - 26 miles
The day started with a 15 mile portage of a 35Kg kayak along the Thames path. Thank goodness for the help of Dave Pullen (logistics maestro extraordinaire), John Mullen and family, Jerry, Alison and Lucy Redford who helped us carry the kayak and the local RNLI fund raisers (who did the path finding for us). By mid afternoon we were at Cricklade Bridge and into the kayak and onto the river, though no sooner in, than out, as the river was far too shallow and we had to walk down it dragging the kayak behind us. More help from one of the fund raisers who guided us in his kayak to Letchlade through the many shallows (more walking) and under the numerous fallen trees (aquatic limbo dancing anyone?) which obstructed the route.
 
In all a 26 mile day ending on the slip way at Letchlade only 194 miles to go.
 
Bill then went a bit army on me and broke out his military sleep system (a basha which turned out to be an absolute Godsend), which comprises a camouflaged tarpaulin, 8 bungees, two crash mats and two bivi bags into which we slip our sleeping bags. After 54 years it is the first time that I have ever slept outside under the stars, after the day we had I was so tired that I think I could have slept in a bucket!
 
Day Two – 34 miles
Up before first light and after a can of all-day breakfast and a cup of instant tea (don’t ask!) we were on the water at 07.00 (see, he even has me talking army now!). Shortly afterwards we came across our first lock, that was quite a shock (especially as there were another 43 to go!), the kayak, now loaded with our kit, weighed around 75Kg! After portage round the lock we found that the re-entry point was via a four foot drop, so we had to jury rig a sling (RNLI improvisation at its finest!) and turn ourselves into human davits to get the boat back in the water. Bill climbed in and when standing up in the kayak only his shoulders were visible above the pontoon!
 
The upper reaches are very beautiful and quite remote from civilisation, whilst this is perfect for an adventure it made body fuelling very hit and miss and I think that on that day I must have had four all-day breakfasts and a tin of Ambrosia Creamed rice.
 
The wild life was astonishing, the Herons and Kingfishers were beautiful and most notable. On rounding one bend we found a flock of Canada Geese (perhaps a 100, but maybe more) on the water in front of us, I banged the hull of the kayak and they took off as one, what a magnificent sight, 100s of geese at zero feet heading into the wind over our heads, we could have touched them with our paddles, truly amazing.
 
Accommodation on day two was a basha on the bank between two bushes. We were joined by an Australian girl and her English boyfriend who we had met earlier in a lock, they were fly-camping like us but in a Canadian Canoe and were carrying lots of freight. We set up our basha and I was eating (yes you guessed it) another all-day breakfast cold from the tin when they asked us if we would like some proper tea with milk, they even had a choice, Builders or Earl Grey! They then proceeded to make a delicious smelling pasta meal using fresh mince and vegetables! This put us to shame so we went to sleep and left them to it.
 
Day Three – 41 miles
Early start we were away before seven, breakfast at the first lock, do I need to say what we had or will you just guess? We really had the bit between our teeth by now and were an efficient team, portaging or taking advantage of open locks and covered some serious miles.
 
Mid afternoon we were flagging a bit when a cheery voice came from the lock side and said hello, it was Paul Tattam who then proceeded to treat us to the most marvellous high tea in Whitchurch. We had to sit outside the café as we were somewhat fragrant after three days of rough camping.
 
Bellies full and moral raised we set off like demons and continued paddling until well after it was dark.
 
We identified a perfect basha location and were just contemplating the deployment of the military sleeping system when we heard the cheery cry of the lock keeper who was walking his dog – “you can’t stay there it is private!” followed by “and where is your all round white light?” Fortunately as we were moored we didn’t need one, but Bill demonstrated it anyway – it is a life jacket light fitted by means of a Velcro patch to the top of Bills RNLI baseball cap and very effective it was to! The Lock keeper then got very unhelpful, though I am sure that I could have handled it better had I not been absolutely wrecked after 41 miles of paddling.
 
We portaged the kayak round the lock and re-entered the water and found a basha pitch across an old ferry landing stage in Wargrave and managed to get inside it just before the heavens opened and the torrential rain started.
 
Day Four – 35 miles
Away at 06.45, paddling in wet kit, the rain having done nothing to dry it.
 
I now started to experience some tingling pains in my left arm and was not quite sure what it was, perhaps repetitive strain injury (who do I sue?) or perhaps Tendonitis which when combined with the poor circulation in my fingers made paddling very uncomfortable indeed. This lead me to inadvertently (honestly) start protecting it by changing position or tickling the water rather than drawing it, something which was rapidly spotted by Bill and (quite correctly) commented upon. Not sure what I could do about it but it was very unpleasant and got gradually worse.
 
I was telling Bill what a lovely town Henley was when after passing through the beautiful bridge in the centre of town we entered the rowing course, now I don’t know how long it is but I do know that the wind was blowing straight down it relentlessly, and it was a very very hard flog up to the island and the lea of the hills.
 
On reaching Marlow the cheery lock keeper peered over at us and told us that one of our brothers - Pete - had been waiting for us but had just left. Now I don’t have a brother called Pete and I am pretty sure Bill doesn’t either but after a few minutes of gentle interrogation we discovered it was my step brother Richard Lambert who had left only a few minutes before we arrived.
 
The river is very beautiful around Marlow and Cookham and well worth a visit.
 
Onto Windsor which looks magnificent from the river and who should be waiting for us at Old Windsor Lock but my wife, Barbara, with provisions including snorkers (with mustard – proper British snack, as Mr Al Murray might say) and fairy cakes. Bellies full and morale lifted off we went again to meet Barbara at the next lock which she had set for us so a flying passage was assured.
 
After Penton lock we saw Team mate number three (AKA Dave Pullen) at the side of the river waving us in. Kayak on to the van and off to his house, poor guy the smell of Bill and I at this stage was singularly unpleasant and he had to endure it for 20 minutes or so. Once at Chez Pullen, cups of tea, hot bath (with some Oxyclean in it to get rid of the more stubborn stains) followed by fish chips and peas and an early night – sorry Bill but Dave’s place beats a basha hands down!
 
Day Five – 42 miles
After a fantastic night's sleep Dave delivered us back to Laleham Ferry and we set off on the last stage of our journey on the non-tidal Thames to Teddington. Not quite sure why but the head wind which has dogged us much of the way was back with a vengeance and we plod onto Teddington through the out skirts of suburban London. Finally after nearly four hours we see Teddington Lock and after using the boat rollers we see Malcolm (Lifeboat Operations Manager) and about a third of the Teddington Lifeboat crew standing on the pontoon waiting for us, fantastic to see them and they have brought pasta, a slab of Red Bull, Mars bars and home made sponge cake. After far too brief a fuelling stop it is back in the water, next stop Chiswick Lifeboat Station.
 
We make excellent time to Richmond half lock as we want to beat the half tide gate at two hours after high water and do so with lots of time to spare but fear we may have missed the Chiswick boat which is coming to meet us. No such worries as they have had a shout, a rowing eight have hit something and sunk and they were called out and dealt with it, everybody rescued safe and well and we return just in time for tea, cheeses and pickle sandwiches (our request) and medals. Another 40 minutes of banter and rest and we are off again; next stop our homebase, Lifeboat Pier at Waterloo.
 
Escorted by Chiswick to Chelsea we see our boat manned by Jen, Ruth and Mick coming towards us and they take over the safety boat role. Our journey down this bit of the river is really very odd as this is our home patch and we are kayaking through it, rather than powering through it in a 460 BHP jet boat, for some reason I get a bit emotional when I see Waterloo Bridge and choke, much to Bill's amusement.
 
A terrific welcome at our home station from Janet and the crew, lovely to see everybody then it is off to the Tower of London and Bill's flat for some fuel and a nap before the penultimate stage.
 
Day Six - 42 miles
After a brief one tide stop at Bill’s for a bath, grub (thanks Toni!) and a couple of hours sleep we were off at 01.00 onto the river to be escorted to Gravesend by Matt and Dave (yes him again!) in Tower LB's relief E class with tea, soup coffee and other very welcome supplies. The conditions were perfect, the spring tide was ebbing fast, the river was like a pond, no wash as everybody else had moored up and gone to sleep – sensible people. It was truly magical to pass under the centre of Tower Bridge in the dark as we bade farewell to our home and left for the coast. An hour or so later the Thames Barrier loomed up and we got permission to pass through it at speed, as we were now doing nearly 6 knots! As we went past The London Control Centre Steve Carson (Coast Guard) and the VTS controllers were flashing Morse code to us, fortunately I can’t read Morse as I think it might have been rude! The next big land mark was the QE II bridge at Dartford, we could see the towers for nearly two hours as we paddled very slowly towards it. Heaven knows what the watch officers on the freighters made of a two man kayak in the main tide way at 04.00 in the dark; they really are very big when you are in a kayak.
 
We got to Gravesend just as dawn was breaking in just 24hrs we'd covered just shy of seventy miles.  We were welcomed by their crew and took the opportunity to catch some sleep through the flooding tide and prepare ourselves for the last push to Southend.
 
When we woke at 12.00 the conditions had changed dramatically, the wind was easterly (blowing right down the river from the sea) at approximately force 5 (Moderate waves of some length, many white horses, small amounts of spray, branches of a moderate size move, small trees begin to sway) to force 6 (Long waves begin to form, white foam crests are very frequent, some airborne spray is present, large branches in motion, whistling heard in overhead wires, umbrella use becomes difficult, empty plastic garbage cans tip over) and it was touch and go if we would actually set off on that tide, until the Gravesend crew (top team) said they would accompany us until we meet the Southend boat.
 
When we started at 13.00 the wind had delayed the ebb tide by nearly an hour and when it did go out the wind created standing waves of between a half metre and one metre with occasionally much bigger ones. It was very hard work indeed and to be fair the kayak we had was not designed to cope with these conditions so we had to beach and empty the boat as the wave dump was penetrating the spray deck and filling the boat.  In the main tideway we made good progress as the wavelength suited the kayak, it rode high and there was little water ingress but we had to pull away for shipping and even with a narrow beam on aspect the wave dump was heavy; the deck came off and we filled with water; we were now unstable and capsized but were assisted by the Gravesend boat (all good training you know!) We did make sure that its engines were off so we didn’t benefit from any mechanical assistance!
 
About 16.30 we were joined by the Southend D class and its crew (fantastic guys) and we battled on into the headwinds, stopping occasionally to bail the kayak. We could see Southend Pier for hours as we slowly paddled towards it eventually reaching it at 18.30 after 5.30 hours of quite exhausting paddling.
 
In all we walked 15 miles and paddled approximately 205 miles (maybe more), as this is written we have raised nearly £6,500 plus a further £1,000 of tax relief with, we hope, more to come. Was it worth it? Sitting here in my study on Sunday afternoon, yes definitely it was, though I am not sure you would have got the same reply on Friday afternoon when we were six miles from Southend!
 
Finally all that remains is to thank everybody who has helped, contributed and encouraged us to achieve this challenge, you know who you are and so do we, we will never forget the part you played in making this adventure possible – thank you so much from Bill and I. (SW)

September 18th - The finish!

Well done guys - you did it in fantastic time, finishing 2 days ahead of schedule, despite very tricky conditions for the last leg to Southend. More fulsome update to follow from the guys themselves once they have got their land legs back.

September 18th Morning Special Update!

In the last twenty four hours we've paddled sixty-eight miles. The last twenty-four of these were from the Tower of London to Gravesend Lifeboat Station at night. This leg would not have been possible without the help of some people; the lovely Toni Scarr cooked us vegetarian lasagne and opened some Ben and Gerry's.  Thanks so much :-)  In the interests of Gender neutral reporting; the equally lovely Matt and Dave escorted us all the way to Gravesend at a sedate 6kts! We're now within a few miles of the finish and are hoping the calm weather holds we may finish today! Inshallah