Footage of the crossing

I have put together some clips from the camera we had on board:

Click here to view video

Woo hoo! We’ve made it!

Finally made it into Portpatrick harbour. 6 hours 58 minutes. Feel absolutely shattered. The Pink Avenger did us proud in some quite big seas. Luckily the wind was never head on. Thanks so much to everyones support and help, it has been amazing. Going to eat and drink and stretch!

Follow us live!

We are setting off at 0530 tomorrow. Forecast looking ok until mid afternoon when wind picks up from north west. Let’s hope we can make good way before then! This is the big one!

Follow this link to see our progress live:
http://www.instamapper.com/ext?key=17223092106911186358

Travelling north

Travelling up to Portpatrick in the rain before the launch tomorrow morning. The team in good spirits! Although some concern about the force 5 northerly forecast for tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully an earlier start will be enough!

All set for launch on Saturday

Everything is looking good for the Irish channel attempt on Saturday! The weather is looking calm with a gentle Westerly wind and clear skies. For this reason we are aiming to depart from Donaghadee in Ireland . heading over to Portpatrick, Scotland.  The pedalo is primed and bristling with anticipation, much like its pedalees! Thank you so much for all the support given so far, although we hope to continue raising funds for a while yet. We will be joined by the support boat on Friday night in Ireland and will make a final decision early on Saturday morning.

Click to read forecast

If the A-Team made a pedalo…

There have been some further modifications made to the mighty Pink Avenger. It is now looking pretty seafaring.

Hand grips

Dashboard of compass, radio speaker and satnav

Spanner holster

Pedalo splash guards

Training video of the pedalo in action

Check out a video of the mighty Pink Avenger in action during a recent training run:

The French say ‘Non’

The French authorities have ruled that we cannot cross the Channel (see Unorthodox Crossingsv1.4 ). We wrote them a polite letter in French explaining how seaworthy our pedal powered catamaran is and they have said ‘Non’, or to be completely factual they have not replied.

Initially we decided just to go for it anyway but have been advised that the chances of being caught are high; the boat would be impounded and we would receive a £7k fine which would wipe out our fundraising to date. Very sadly we have reached the conclusion that the Channel is unlikely to happen. Big apologies to those of you who feel let down, hopefully you will feel the back up plan is challenging enough!

So we started searching for an alternative route – and the best option we have found is Scotland to Ireland. It is slightly further and more tidal but we can handle it. The plan is to cross from Portpatrick to Donaghadee (or vice-versa dependant on weather) – the Irish are looking forward to seeing us!

Due to the change of route and having to re-plan all our logistics we have set a range of new dates in August and September, giving us more time to reach our £16k target. Help us by sponsoring now on Just Giving.

Garmin and Neptune Navigation help us find our way

The two companies have very kindly supported us with their navigation products to help us complete our trip safely and in the shortest time possible.

Neptune Navigation (see http://www.neptune-navigation.com/) have loaned us a copy of their software and the appropriate maps in order to plan the route. The software comes with built in tidal data so allows us to plan the best date and time to set off. It will also let us see how long the trip is likely to take us if we slip below our target minimum speed of 2mph (over 12hours!!).

The other sponsor helping us to safely complete the crossing is Garmin. Anthony Chmarney of Garmin has kindly loaned us one of their Oregon 450 handheld GPS devices. This will be invaluable on the trip as it will help us ensure we are following our planned route and not drifting off course with the tide.

So no excuses for getting lost!

High Wind Test on the Orwell

First salt water test on the River Orwell

On Sunday we took the pedalo for a longer test in salt water. We launched at Pinmill on the River Orwell and paddled upstream into about 20kts of wind. It was tough going; if we had not had my 81 yr old New Zealand cousin pedalling like fury, I doubt we would have made headway upstream at all.

After about 35mins we turned around and flew back downriver with the wind and waves, making it very much easier. The weather conditions are definitely going to be a very important factor in deciding when we set of!