Oldest Boat in the Fleet?

Hello, again

Many thanks for the generous donations for my 70 Wild Miles adventure.
The www.justgiving.com/joefaulkner webpage is up and running well , attracting lots of attention. Apparently, in one of the links I may have circulated by email there are a few extra blank characters that may be causing a glitch, sorry.

I’m astounded by people's generosity – having set a pretty high target, I was hoping to get half way there, but I reckon we might reach the £1000 target. Please keep spreading the word.

Some have asked about the event and in particular, how long it will take? The answer to that is, that I'm not sure, and it doesn't really matter. It's going to be a great day .... whatever! It does make you wonder we we do these things; you question your motivation and reward, and how and why, we aproach such adventures.

Adventure has been defined in many diferent ways ...it intrigues me, and I'll come back to that in a later blog, when I've got a more thoughtful head on.

Other prep is going well; I'm feeling strong on the bike and whilst I haven't ridden that far for a while I've no worries about pacing the whole thing well. I’ve even been for a training paddle, and was relieved to find the boat is water tight and 'sound'. My kayak may also possibly be the oldest in the race fleet and hasn't been on the water much in the last few years. Our combined ages may well be about 80 years of age. It is an old glass-fibre sea kayak. The model is a 'Baidarka' which is a classic design, and sleek and pretty fast. This particular boat was made exceptionally light and doesn't have hatches cut, or bulkheads fitted. The shape is a real classic and it was passed onto by John Bunch, a few years ago, (thanks John). I used to paddle it regularly when training on Lake Ullswater and should prove ideal as long as the weather and sea conditions are reasonably favourable. It is in remarkably good condition and cleaned up well (no jokes about cracks and crinkles, required please) and whilst I was going to replace some decklines, and the like, it seems rather inappropriate now.

My bike is somewhat younger ... I only wish my legs were, too.
It will be fun.

Joe