THE BOYS DONE GOOD
Well folks, on Saturday 30th june 2007 the lads decided there was no alternative but to go for it. We had managed to get all the crew together for that date and there was little possibility of this being the case again for the forseeable future. Unfortunately, this was when things started to go a bit "Pete Tong"! The safety boat we had intended using was unavailable and the search for a replacement proved fruitless. However, oor wee Nadine made a couple of phone calls and Gerry Lapsley of Westin Turnberry Resort came to the rescue, providing us with his 36ft 5star luxury cabin cruiser "Seabiscuit". This new arrangement certainly suited one of the Project Managers!
Then the weather intervened! On Friday afternoon we were told that the forecast sea conditions would make the original route to Ireland much too dangerous. We were offered an alternative though, Girvan to Arran worked out to about the same distance. After consulting the pedallers, we decided we had little choice.
On Saturday morning at 0728hrs we cast off and set sail for Arran, Derek and Chris taking the first spell. It amazed all on board the speed with which the boat managed to cut through the water. True testament to the fantastic job the guys at Chattan Ltd and Fairlie Quay Marina had done building her.
The sea conditions were certainly less than ideal, very choppy and big swells. The pedalo handled these better than the rest of us, and within a couple of hours our lack of "sea legs" became apparent, a greener faced bunch you've never seen! The contents of a few stomachs made an unwelcome appearance but the prize for the "best performance in a seasick adventure" must go to Gerry from Pedals cycle shop. As he lay in a heap, we thought we'd killed him!
The boys carried on though and after 8 hours of constant pedalling, only interrupted by extremely difficult crew changes, we made it to the south end of Whiting Bay, Arran.
It was only on the way home that utter disaster struck, the tow rope attached to the pedalo for the return journey sliced into one of her hulls and she slipped slowly beneath the waves accompanied by massed salutes and Rambo on his version of the trumpet. A fitting end? We don't think she'd have wanted it any other way.
So we did it. 20 miles across the open sea. We apologise for the change of route but felt we had no alternative under the circumstances. We've been overwhelmed with the support we've had from so many people over the last year and the total raised to date reflects the amount of very hard work put in by all the team. Keep the money coming though, it's a very worthy cause.
Now, we hear you ask, what about the next challenge? Derek is obviously distraught that the loss of our gallant vessel scuppers his plans to set the pedalo world land speed record, but all we can say is:
"WE SHALL RETURN"