PLEASE PAY YOUR PLEDGES NOW IF YOU CAN -10 Mile Row in Aid of Ken Strong

Lets hope by then you have a good enough tide to Gweek.

Otherwise you'll have to circle a couple of times between Port Navas and Durgan to make the 10 miles.

Good luck !

Many thanks Paul for your contribution, much appreciated! Nice one mate.

It's a pleasure to be helping him Harlan.

I'll be taking along my camera and taking plenty of shots en route, even get some short video clips captured too which I'll post up online and provide a link to, to act as proof.

Kindest regards,


Mark Andrews

PS Local weather forecast...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather/2635412

Okay, well truth be told I've hit on a bit of a problem which I've been trying to fix all afternoon. Driving me up the wall. Only just got back in the door a few minutes ago at 10pm.

Pretty much everything is good to go except for the boat. Mine is still out of the water, so this afternoon I shot down to Port Navas Creek where I used to keep one of my boats (now sold that one a year ago) to check out some of the other boats there.

Every single one bar one, is unsuitable for the task. Either the rowlock broken on the gunwale or like most of them on this creek, either one or the other gunwale completely rotten. As in completely had it.

I had a good chat with my mate Pete who lives on one of the boats down there and asked him about the boat on the far end of the beach. Bloody typical, I spent an hour emptying the hull of rainwater this afternoon (it was 3/4 full) with the intention of nicking it (borrowing it for the day) for this fundraiser.

Trust me, of all the boats on the bloody creek, who does this one belong to but the local bobby in Mawnan Smith. (Local policeman).

So whilst I'm tempted - lol, it might be stretching things a bit far borrowing this particular craft without first seeking his direct permission to use it. So in effect, I'm scuppered.

Had a look at Pete's aluminium dinghy but the rivets in that thing, well, let's just say it leaks like a sieve. Not too much of a problem because I've got a bailer made out of a 4 pint plastic milk bottle cut in half but still, a bit of a risk.

Next drove down to the Ferryboat Inn at Helford Passage to see if I could see the old boy Arthur walking his dog at 5pm. Old Cornish boy in his late 70's, used to be a boat builder. Nice bloke. Salt of the earth. As down to earth as they come.

Caught up with him, asked, "Got a boat for me Authur?" Explained the situation to him but the only thing he's got available, an 11' fibreglass dinghy is up at his farm and again, no bloody trailer. So now...

I'm scratching my head a little bit, perplexed and feeling a mite embarrassed. Sure something will turn up in the next few days but for now it's looking like I might have to put this off tomorrow.

Weathers not brilliant at the moment either. Can hardly ever rely on the forecast here, not even at the best of times. They can only accurately forecast the weather max' about 3 days ahead.

At the moment it's still raining (when according to the forecast it's supposed to be dry) and the wind is still blowing force 4 (westerly) when it's been forecast force 2. That's by and by though. I've been out rowing before in a force 6 (30mph winds in a 7' swell) with the water coming over the transom. Doesn't bother me too much.

It's this boat thing which is the bugger to sort out. Of course, this time of the year, most of the better boats in good shape are all laid up ashore on the hard standing under lock and key. Not much of any use is still tied to the trees on the river bank.

As a last resort tomorrow morning, I'll pop down to Port Navas Yacht Club (very posh) and see if they've got anything they can lend me for a few hours. Only need a bloody 10 footer, got two sets of oars in the van, rowlocks, lifejacket - everything else.

Sorry folks but you're going to have to bear with me for a few days on this one. Again I'm going to be dependent on local weather conditions and day time tide times.

I'm ever so sorry and apologise most profusely but thought I should update you all, keep you in the loop, the picture.


Mark Andrews

PS What'll do (sorry I'm talking Cornish in the local lingo here)... what'll do tomorrow morning is see if Port Navas Yacht Club is open, have a chat with them, explain the situation, ask them for a dinghy and leave my van keys and documents with them as a deposit so they'll know I'll bring the dinghy back to them at the end of the day.

Got to be worth a shot.

http://pnyc.co.uk/

https://www.justgiving.com/donation/...AwADkAMAA5ADcA

^ These guys are rowing 62 miles from the Isles of Scilly (28 miles off Lands End in the Atlantic Ocean back to the Helford River) I just donated to their good cause too.

More details here...

http://www.justgiving.com/islesofscillytohelfordrow

Edward Gleadowe says: http://pnyc.co.uk/message-board/
Friday July 15, 2011 at 7:46 pm

We are a crew of Cornish Pilot Gig Rowers aged 17-19 and we are currently training for a row from the Isles of Scilly to the Helford River.

This is a total distance of 62 miles and will include a large stretch of Atlantic rowing.

We are doing this as a charity event for the Cornwall Hospice Care trust.

One of our crew has a close link to the Mount Edgecombe branch of the trust, so the chosen cause is close to our hearts. Our target is to raise ten thousand pounds and raise awareness for the Trust throughout the county.

If anyone wishes to help us achieve this by donating then we have a justgiving account which can be accessed at http://www.justgiving.com/​islesofscillytohelfordrow

Thanks


Yours Sincerely
Isles of Scilly to Helford Row - Freddie Gleadowe, Will Eustice, George Wilson, Liam Dury, Rory Flutter, Treave Winfrey, Patrick Hopson and Ed Gleadowe.

The charity being helped by these guys...

http://www.cornish-hospices.co.uk/

The 62 mile row will be in one of these boats...

Mark,

You big wuss! Put me down for $50 but ONLY if you promise to go out and get wasted on New Years eve... and we want photos! :-)

But seriously, put me down for $50.

As Paul pointed out, it's easy for us to sit behind our computers and donate products and put together special offers at times like these but it takes a different kind of person to actually take some physical action and do something like this.

Have a safe new year everyone! Now, I'm off to get sloshed!!

Why don't you just call the whole thing off and we pay for Ken's care already.

Unfortunately, this has gotten like a soap opera and it's taking away from getting Ken healthy.

You have a boat. You don't have a boat.

It's a storm. It's a gale. It's the Titanic.

Probably not a good idea under the weather conditions.

I just paid Ken so thanks for trying.

Ken: Get Well Soon.