After hearing of the theft of most of my camping equipment when the kayak was stolen in North Wales, Cotswold Outdoors in Betws-y-Coed very generously donated me a new tent, camp mat and MSR stove.
Just the following day my original gear is recovered – though amazingly Cotswold say I can keep the gear, and possibly auction off the equipment at the end of the expedition in order to raise some more money for the charities. It’s phenominally generous…
Surf Lines in Llanberis very kindly got in touch when they heard about all the gear being stolen in North Wales, and replaced or loaned almost all of the kayaking kit I was missing. Ultimately when my kayak and gear was recovered intact, most of the items were obvisouly returned, though some of the items were donated to the cause anyway: a new platypus, headtorch, lock and sandals. A huge thanks to Phil and the team at Surf Lines for stepping in so quickly!
With a couple of days sitting out the strong northerlies (Force 4-5 N veering NE today, occasionally 6, possibly 7), yesterday Guy and I popped into Howies who are based in Cardigan, a couple of miles up the river from where I landed on thursday at Poppit Sands.
Whilst waiting to speak with Anna and Ade I picked up something to read, and the Howies brochure fell open on a page about what brings people together – sports and activities which get you out into the great outdoors, allow you appreciate the natural environment more closely, and experience the thrills of being surrounded by natural forces. It seemed this was exactly what I’d hoped to experience through this kayak expedition, and it bode well for an interesting chat. From the outside the warehouse looked pretty standard – a crinkly tin shed as a former colleague of mine used to call them – but on the inside you really got an appreciation for what makes them tick, and what drives them as a business.
They kindly donated to us a few Merino wool base layers and t-shirts to help keep us warm on the water, and promised to help spread the news about our trip through some of their blogs / news features. Knowing that there were other kayakers in the room, along with boarders, climbers, surfers, bikers and many more, Guy and I came away feeling quite inspired – as the brochure I was reading put it: it’s the natural world which pulls us together, and our differences which unite us.
We didn’t didn’t take any photos there and then – but hopefully there’ll be something on the Howies website soon http://www.howies.co.uk
James
Wisdom Signs, from St Austell in Cornwall, have sponsored the cost of the artwork for the van and kayaks at the eleventh hour!
The company with whom we’d previously arranged the graphics gave us a shock at the last minute in terms of a price which was hugely inflated above the original quote. Most of the other options looked risky because of the rushed timescales and needing to make sure it was all done before the launch; the Bank Holidays over Easter weekend did not help with this. Very luckily, with pretty much no notice whatsoever, Glynn at Wisdom Signs not only agreed to do all the printing as well as the fitting, he also insisted that because it is all for charity, there would be no cost for the work. It’s quite incredible, and has saved us a massive head-ache.
Our very grateful thanks to Glynn for his generosity.
Here’s a couple of photos, though no doubt there’ll be more after the launch day shenanigans…
We have a news article on the SPOT website:
Andrew Ainsworth has agreed to sponsor our paddles for the expedition, and we’re very happy to have had the opportunity to test out a few different designs on the river. He’s currently building them to our chosen specs, but has promised they’ll be ready in good time for the launch.
McMurdo Ltd have kindly loaned us two Kannad Marine PLBs (Personal Locator Beacons) for the duration of the trip. These are safety devices which greatly speed up and assist the coastguard in the event of an emergency using GPS technology.
It’s important to remember that having a range of safety and communication measures is essential for a trip like this, rather than relying on a single device, and this is why we are keen to have Kannad Marine PLBs as well as a SPOT GPS Messenger. The more means of communication we have at our disposal, the lower the risk for us on the water.
SPOT have featured us on their website, here’s the link:
James
The Kokatat sponsored kit arrived today, all the way from the States, and oh my word it’s good: Goretex cags and trousers, pro Ronin BAs, storm cags and tow lines. Very exciting!
We’ll have to get back on the water to try them out, so check back for photos soon.
The Family Adventure Store have agreed to help out by offering us a discount on a few extra pieces of equipment – spray decks, footwear, dry bags, a helmet for Joe and a case for our GPS unit. We’re very pleased to receive help from FAS with keeping these costs as low as possible, because with so many bits and pieces of kit, the costs can quickly escalate!
It’s been a bit of a hectic couple of weeks, with various sponsorships coming to fruition.
Kokatat, RES, SPOT and Outback Trading have all confirmed involvement, adding to P&H, Thule, Adrian Flux and Inbuilt which were sorted a few weeks ago. Check out their details on the sponsors page, find out how they are each supporting our efforts, and link through to their own respective websites.
Having sent off a huge amount of emails, letters and phone calls in recent months, seeking various types of sponsorships from all sorts of companies, and having almost all of them come back negative, it’s a huge relief to see things coming together now. Most of the main pieces of equipment have been sourced, and a fair amount of funding as well, which will go towards food and fuel for the van, and will hopefully mean we won’t be living off just porridge for 5 months!
I’m sure there’ll still be time for a last minute panic – there always is with projects like this – but for now at least things seems pretty much on schedule. Which is nice.
