Rowing the Atlantic

Being called professional adventurers and getting asked to write for magazines!!!...

2011-10-19T10:14:00.000-07:00

Story for Much Better Adventures:

We are the two man team Christian Howard and Tom Dignum, individually we are a Pensions Administrator and School Residence coordinator from Cambridge but together we are the Oar Raisers. In November this year (2011)
we intend to row the Atlantic from Gran Canaria to Barbados completely unsupported and alone. This means everything we need we take with us, we are expecting the crossing to take 60 days or less.

Unlike most organised Ocean Rowing events that have a governing body or official coordinator our challenge is solely reliant on hard work, team work and our knowledge of survival and each other. Why do it?.. Many reasons but it is our objective to raise money and awareness for Parkinson’s Disease, that said we are adventurers and if we can help a cause in someway whilst being that then we will. The Oar Raisers was set up last year with the idea of using not just rowing but all manner of endurance disciplines to help raise money and awareness.

It occurred to us that adventures we read about as kids, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Shackleton and Edmund Hilary etc had explored it all and that with the recent surge of celebrity expeditions something on this scale had become unachievable for an average man. Thinking that we had to prove ourselves to each other first we set about planning a training regime and pushed each others physical limits. Realising we could physically rely on each other we began to figure out ways of getting things donated from kit to costs and decided to put a corporate proposal together and approach as many people as possible, it worked and we got some of our cost paid for but more importantly we were offered the use of fully sea worthy boat.

It should never be felt that because it has already been done it shouldn’t be done again. Whilst the Atlantic has been rowed successfully in the past it has also been attempted unsuccessfully and claimed the lives of nearly a third of all those that have tried. The point we want people never to forget is that they are capable and they can achieve anything they want to with the right drive and attitude. Adventure need not be a wealthy persons playground, it’s about getting organised, making decisions and survival.

We are excited about our voyage and hope others will be inspired to do the same or similar, by cutting out middle men and organisers you can do things cheaper and more efficiently without sacrificing safety. The World is a big outdoor playground and we spend most of our lives locked in offices, chained to desks. No matter how many times something is done, no matter how much is explored or uncovered you cannot know the experience unless you do it.

The discovery of oneself and figuring out how you react under different pressures presents you in a new light, confronting your fears, embracing the emotions and going into the eye of storm is one thing but coming out unscathed is another.

The greatest adventure lies not in landscapes and horizons but in the eyes of your team mates. Trusting each other to make the right decisions, depending on each other to pull through, improvising, adapting and overcoming everything together.

busy, busy...busy.

2011-09-10T01:55:00.001-07:00

Well it’s been a while since our last update but as I’m sure you can all imagine we’ve been busy busy busy...

Our boat has had the electronics system fitted, the new GPS repeater mounted, ships compass placed, Desalinator is being serviced and we are almost ready to fit the runners and seat pad’s. Quite excitingly we we’ve even had some our very own sponsors logos put on which makes her even more beautiful to look at. So Deritend Industries, HeaterMEALS, Lodestar festival, Row Perfect you are all on and our others are being printed this week.

Speaking of Sponsors special thanks must go out to Karen at TEVApharma for convincing her sponsorship committee to sign up to our bronze package with a whopping £1500!!! Thank you kindly - at this stage we appreciate everything we can get so this is an enormous help.

Displaying the boat at Lode star was a great experience and very beneficial from an exposure point of view. We had a Star Radio interview pre-recorded which will go out sometime next week, then a live radio interview on the Sue Marchant show BBC Radio Cambridgeshire - very nice woman indeed, asked all the right questions and hopefully got the answers I wanted to give, mentioned some of our sponsors and talked about the potential hazards of the trip.

Abi has been working tirelessly on kit donation and has secured sun glasses, microfiber towels, hot water cannister, eating utensils and most impressively two GPS watches worth £180 a piece!... Necessary in the event we have to abandon ship or our GPS repeater fails. Well done Abi keep up the good work.

Wills written, provision made for the worst scenario.

Twelve weeks to go and we are still working hard harder than ever actually, sourcing kit, getting the donations in and still hunting the funding. We get tired but when we’re tired there’s still more to be done so perhaps in a way the busier we are the better prepared we’ll be... its certainly good practice and belief building in that we know we can rely on each other to get things done.

Tonight is our farewell ball in conjunction with Charlie Wall and Cambridge boot camps to whom we owe a great deal - thank you Wally. To all of you that couldn’t make it, you will be missed and we hope to see you soon, here’s hoping for a great night of fun, friends, and fundraising....

out - R2.

Boat Brunch, benefit gig and swelling...

2011-06-27T09:14:00.001-07:00

The last month has been incredibly busy, fraught with tension and mounting hard work in the search for corporate sponsors. Having entered talks with two potentially big sponsors based in Cambridge only to be told this week that they could not support our endeavour at this time... Our hopes had risen only to fall again, we have now become somewhat thick skinned about matters such as these and therefore try to move on fairly quickly in order to keep ourselves confident and ready to approach new companies.

The boat has now had a few former sponsor stickers removed and has plenty of space for advertising by companies willing to support and help us either financially or with products and services, this week R1 successfully managed to get some new Oarlocks (gates) donated, they're specialist gates and actually seem be a lot more efficient and practical than most standard gates. Well done R1...

Last weekend The Oar Raisers held a fathers day boat brunch aboard the river boat Georgina. Organised by Abigail Smith our Fundraising Manager. Approximately forty people endured the cruise up river & attentively listened to our presentation about the Atlantic and things we have to think about before leaving and whilst on the water. This is a presentation designed to give information about the trip and it is the exact pitch we give to other groups such as companies and schools - for this reason it is fairly flexible in it's delivery so we can tailor to each individual audience. It is always interesting to see people's reactions at certain things we mention or slides we show... sharks tending to take the lime light on every occasion.

Aside of the presentation we held a raffle which had one large hamper prize... Large in this case was actually close to enormous. We had a plethora of exciting foods from Atlantic smoked salmon and Salami's to some of the most fantastic cheeses I'd ever tried. Due to Abigail' persistence and brilliant efforts at working on donations for the event we were supplied with a veritable smorgasbord of Sausages, Jams, chutneys and croissants... a really stunning effort on her part and well worth it, the boat brunch would not have been as successful without her commitment and focus. Thank you and well done Abigail.

The Day before the brunch we actually took Papa Delta on the Cam and rowed her for the first time although on slightly calmer waters than we can expect to experience later this year. Saturday 18th June the last day of the bumps and we rowed ahead of the mens division five 8's crew, mooring up outside the plough in Fen Ditton and talking to people about our trip - even managing a long overdue catch up with some of the former CCat's R1 rowed with.

The following week consisted of R1 having wisdom teeth removed and affecting a Desperate Dan style swollen face and R2 has had a popeyesque swollen arm due to some mild ligament damage... SOunding a lot more serious than I think it actually is, we are both on the road to recovery thankfully.

Friday 1st of July The Oar Raisers benefit gig at the Haymakers Cambridge in conjunction with Nein Sushi promotions -four bands and a comedian for £5!!!... talk about value for money and what a way to help a charity...come on down and bring your friends, that's all for now - keep reading guys.

R2

Paris to Cambridge cycle post event report:

2011-05-31T09:17:00.000-07:00

The Oar Raisers 300 mile Paris to Cambs cycle challenge took place at approximately 15:30 on the 26/05/2011.

The day before the Oar Raisers held two events in order to boost the funds raised and hopefully gain some encouragement from the attendants of a school in Bucks that had a visit from R1 and Papa Delta UK (our boat) and a school in Cambridge that sang at a concert named music on the mound at CCC where R2 works. The simultaneous events have yet to confirm the amounts raised but we are hopeful that it will be a surprising amount.

Leaving Gard du Nord Paris and heading down the Avenue des Champs-Élysées toward the Arc de Triomphe with some trepidation about cycling in the worlds most crazy driving city (description courtesy of many folk the world over) we set out and kept our wits about us only experiencing five or six near death moments. Having said that we Oar Raisers are a little insane at the best of times and we like a challenge, thankfully our three friends also participating found the whole thing utterly bonkers and therefore hilarious!.... good one guys, it was a pleasure haha

The road from Paris to Calais is undulating with some long drawn out hill rises that punish your legs and will power with every revolution. The only good thing about going up these hills is knowing eventually you will need to come down again and when you come down on a road bike as light as the ones we'd taken - well that's when you reap the rewards... clocking up speeds we couldn't believe (increasing risk of death). These speedy descents didn't just help physically but it actually provided a great moral boost.

Getting out of the built up areas and leaving behind the outskirts of Paris took longer than expected due to the amount traffic lights we had to stop at, I am reliably informed by our two support drivers (Clive & Berni - many heart felt thanks) that it took them even longer to get out than us and in fact we reached our first checkpoint before they did. Continuing on through the most picturesque countryside we gained some speed on the long straight road to the next check point some sixty miles in. We refuelled, filled our camelBak's and ate some chocolate, setting out with High Vis tops and reflective gear, lights and an extra layer. The dark set in quite quickly and the temperature dropped but to our surprise so did the wind. It was an utterly surreal experience cycling at 25mph through dark French ghost towns, deserted streets and blackened rural lanes with nothing but the collective lights of the bikes and the low whirring hum of our wheels, it was completely zonal and concentrated as if we had become one unit, a kafkaesque realisation in my mind, had I woken up from a day dream to realise I was a five man sized fire fly zipping through the French fields?!... I wasn't sure but I had begun to lose focus and drift off into a world of distraction, safety was becoming an issue.

At the next check point we had a bit of rest, my core temperature had dropped dramatically and I need hot food and energy, HeaterMeals on the go at a Macdonalds car park in the dark, coffee was brewed by the support guys in the van and we somewhere around the 100 mile in mark, one third of the way through and people were starting to feel low. However no one wanted to stop, everyone kept going and the van stopped somewhere just short of Amiens awaiting the next cyclist feed and watering. Going into morning one of our participants had the misfortune of pulling a hamstring, this left him unable to continue and emotionally let down by his own sense of failure - He failed nothing and achieved something most people could not, further more he impressed the Oar Raisers a great deal and they're very grateful to him for his efforts and his commitment to the cause, chin up old son there'll be plenty of other things we can do together in the future but for now just know that we will never forget doing this with you.

The morning stayed cold for some time, we had 82 miles to go in little under 12 hours, we were pushing it and running close to the mark, cracking on and steaming through to Doullen, then Lillers and Saint Omer everyone pushed out their best efforts and dug deep into their reserves. Monsoons like down pour lasting roughly one hour had not helped matters, fatigued, emotional and hungry we now had a serious deadline that started to look out of sight. Powering through the next 34 kilometers I came to a round about, anticipating the bus taking the roundabout first I held back slightly and then put the power down to fly straight over without losing speed and efficiency.... all had gone to plan until the bus ejected some fluids from it's rear (it could have been water, brake fluid, anything but my guess is it was piss...) whatever it was it turned the road into a sudden grease pan, I went down - sliding round the way on my left buttock and fore arm, a surprising distance actually. Knowing I was going dow my first thought was SHIT, I don't want to scuff my new bike up!... my second thought was I hope the car behind me has enough time to stop. Having studied the falling techniques of pro riders and watching you tube clips I managed to execute the perfect textbook fall and recovery, I stayed with the bike and held her up with my legs... to both mine and Tom' utter disbelief my stunning new Felt bike had not a mark on her!... but my arse and arm are still paying for it.

Unperturbed and not even phased just pleased by the lack of damage to my beast I carried on and got to the next check point. we ate and now I needed extra fuel in the form of SIS powder sachets mixed into my water, I swear by the electrolyte Lemon&Lime pack - it's brilliant.

Still racing to Calais we had little time and much ground to cover... in the last hour we pulled out some amazing cycling and got to with roughly kilometers from Calais, the Van picked us up here and drove us in as we couldn't cycle on the Motorway strip into port. Check in and passport control, everyone zombified and tired as you can get we waited in the holding area and answered questions from customs officials that were curious about our John Wayne style walks. We knew we were well on our way now and the UK leg would be a breeze in comparison. It was not. In fact From Dover to kent and then on to Cambridge was the worst part of the journey, the roads are poor and dangerous, the majority of drivers here have nothing but contempt for cyclists and often turns into violent abuse, that's if they even see you. Whereas the roads in France are smoother than marble, they have dedicated cycle lanes than don't go off at crossings where you have to dismount and walk half a mile and the drivers love all cyclists - often tooting and waving, asking questions etc even the Gendamerie were inquisitive and happy to talk to us about our trip...

So Dover to Kent by night a slightly disconcerting and mildly unamusing affair altogether. Stopping at the Frog and Toad Pub n Gillingham for a well earned rest and bowls full of Chilli, we bedded down for four hours to ensure people were rested enough to carry on to Cambridge. Early star then on to Gravesend where just like the walk event in February, we boarded the Tilbury ferry service and from there cycled straight through to Brentwood and making quite good time - I think we were all much happier about cycling the UK in the light, at night the risk was just too great. Taking roughly the same route as we had with the walk we headed to Bishops Stortford and Stanstead Mountfitchet way then the final leg was within our grasp and we stopped to refuel once more at Hatfield Heath, water and energy bars, snikers, and a banana... this was it the final push and all any of us could think about was that beautiful black pint of guinness waiting for us. (that is without doubt the only thing that kept me going at that point)

Shelford, Sawston, the back of Addenbrookes in the distance... a pleasant warm and sun glazed Cambridge sky welcomed us home, Perne Road roundabouts fell away like sweet nuggets of nothingness and suddenly turning onto Mill road the sun blinding us like the gates of heaven streaming light upon us, we rode that last two minutes sedately and calm, not through lack of energy and tiredness but because it was ending... we knew the=is was it and wanted to savour those last glorious moments as the Empress came up to us with cheers of celebration and congratulating claps...

We did it!... We'd cycled 300 miles and all for Parkinson's UK the total amount raised is to be confirmed but we had achieved something ridiculous, absurd and utterly inspiring. Well done to you all and thank you everyone who helped to raise money and support this event - thank you all.

Keep reading and come see us at Strawberry Fair on the 04/06/11 where we'll be exhibiting our boat.

Event success, special thanks to R1 for pulling off an amazing fete of organisation too, good work dude.

out, R2

Busy, Boat, Busy...

2011-05-11T12:15:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, Sorry for the lack of communication this last month - the Oar Raisers have been mighty busy. Up's and downs with many things (getting used to being tossed about by 8meter waves) firstly the cycle ride on the 26th May from Paris to Cambridge is essentially fully planned and organised. Ferry, trains and support van booked. Route still being looked into and bikes almost sorted. The realisation that my bright yellow racer is not fit for purpose has come as a last minute irritation but at least we found out now as opposed to half way between Paris and Calais...

So one bike still needed, looking into loans and or cycle to work scheme... A personal cost I had not wished factor into my life at this stage, however needs must etc - it's for charity! ( I keep shouting this at myself in the hope I come to accept how much I'm spending in order to achieve our ultimate goal...) Destination arranged for late afternoon/early evening on Saturday 28th May at the Empress Pub Cambridge - BBQ and beers for our arrival so we hope to see all our friends and if possible some family too, all support is appreciated and if you haven't sponsored us yet please get involved now and contact us before it's too late.

19th June, Father Day - the Oar Raisers boat brunch on River Cam in conjunction with river boat Georgina, tickets on sale now for £25 please see the facebook events page and get you fill, there are limited places for this event so get in quick!... should be a lovely little cruise.

Our biggest and perhaps most exciting news comes in the form of Papa Delta Uniform Kilo... (confused..?) Today the Oar Raisers met face to face with Matt & Chris Cleghorn to finalise the use of our the boat. All being well and finding the storage space we pick her up on the 21st May in just two weeks. Both Tom & I are more excited than we can express and very grateful to the Cleghorn Bros for their help and support in our adventure. So PD UK is her name - as in Parkinson's Disease UK and she is soon to be seen in around Cambridge. If you have any ideas of companies that would like to use her as a temporary exhibit on their site, or any big public events such as festivals or schools that would like a visit from us then please get in touch and help raise that extra bit of cash for the charity!... It is suddenly really and far more achievable than we had realised until now.

That's all for now folks, so get in touch find out you can help us - do something amazing and climb aboard the charity boat!...

Chris.

Bleeding, Booting, Courses...

2011-03-29T04:13:00.000-07:00

The blood we give as individuals is precious, despite the corny taglines of
TV adverts and poster propaganda found in hospital corridors your blood is
Amazing and very valuable to you but it's even more valuable to someone
Else. I'm not going to lecture on this because the truth is people that want
To give will give, you've had years of opportunity and now it's easier than ever.
I give blood regularly and believe it is one of the few completely altruistic acts
You can engage in today. Find out everything you need to know at -

http://www.blood.co.uk/

Go on bleed for someone.

Boot Camp with Charlie Wall and friends. A successful event with a lot of
Panting and muscle making. A stunning morning at Cherry Hinton Hall Park
With a fantastic turn out of 26 participants and one Mike Power from Optimise-
Fitness providing professional massages. Without having met the troupe before
It was difficult to guage what kind of level we were working with and to what degree
We could beast them. Turns out they were all very good, and enjoyed the pain even
Giving requests for less rest breaks and more cardio!... Well next time I personally
Will be shouting the pain into them and making sure the feel something a little more
Punishing (Charlie, Amy and Ed - I'm targeting you, so be prepared...)

All in all it was a very fun morning and we were pleased to have met such a great bunch of people, Both Tom & I are hoping to stay in touch and keep you updated with our progress on our all our challenges. Just a quick note; The Prize of an official Oar Raisers T-shirt went to the person that worked the hardest and deserved it the most - Well done Lavinia for completing the whole session in wellington boots and still smiling at the end!...

http://www.purplefitness.co.uk/

http://www.optimise-fitness.com/

This weekend The Oar Riasers were in Gosport, a small and interesting place between
Southampton and Portsmouth. Arriving on Friday evening and staying at a place called
Jim & Joan' B&B (thank you for being so friendly and accomodating). Saturday involved a full day of First aid at sea and Defibularator training. Highly intense and vey interesting, Remarkably easy to use and hugely important!... People that have an electrical heart failure have a 5% survival rate without a Defib but getting one in time can increase chances of survival
To 50%....!!!

Sunday was our VHF radio course and exam to get the license. I think we both underestimated just how hard this test would be. I for one was sweating and very anxious about the exam, something I am normally quite good at and capable of as I am - this was tough. Both Tom & I spent the day learning the theory and proceedures, having practical experience with the radio sets and going through all kinds of scenarios. This was a lot of fun and very interesting - people think as long as you know the phonetic alphabet that using Radio comms would be easy…
It's not, and there are specific proceedurs and protocals for good reason. Finally after a day's training we sat down to an exam sheet on opposite sides of the room we nervously picked up Our pens. The examiner went through our papers together a little while later and the suspense was agonising… I hadn't felt like this since my finals at uni. Torturing us that bit longer the examiner made a few disconcerting grumbles as he looked over things, finally delivering the lines -
" well, you've both passed" Extatic I felt relief that I hadn’t let Tom down and I think that feeling was returned in Tom for me…. What is weird is that we both only got one question wrong and bizarrely it was the same one!... Two courses down we were homeward bound and very pleased with ouselves, progress comes in all kinds of ways right now and this was brilliant!..

Stay tuned folks.

Cycling, fundraising and Networking...

2011-03-14T13:04:00.000-07:00

This is a brief but important entry, whilst The Oar Raisers have been very busy the last few weeks we'd like it to be known that our current thought are with those devastated by the recent natural events in Japan. HeaterMeals our primary food sponsor has shipped an enormous quantity of aid to assist the one million or more homeless - suffice to say The Oar Raisers are truly grateful and priviledged to be working with such kind and caring people.

To business then, last week the Kent contingent from the Frog & Toad Pub Gillingham pulled in a collection from the walk of around £1200. Adding to their previous efforts this is an absolutely astounding contribution and goes a long way to aiding our cause. We' like to thank everyone of you fantastic individuals that completed the last twelve miles of the walk event and we want to express our fondest gratitudes... Thank you all.

The weekend just gone saw both rowers and Abigail up at the changing of the light for a car boot sale - something we hope to make a fairly regular money maker (so all donations of old junk or good no longer needed are appreciated, we can use anything and everything). Making over £100 pound for a mornings work is successful enough in our position as every little helps.

The cycle event is coming along and approaching faster than we thought it would, training for it is really very enjoyable as the cardio is challenging, working different muscles to those we're used to and shockingly painful at points - endurance is king and we beast the bikes!... bring on Paris, if you want to get involved their is still time please get in touch for full details.

Extending our network and sharing it with other causes we have a soft spot for, we have agreed to help in any way we can with a project called 'Save The Falcon', for those of you that know us well enough you'll probably have assumed that The Falcon in question is actually a Pub not the Great British bird of prey.... This grade II listed building is in need of serious restoration - a public interest and a decent campaign to bring the world of Cromwellian era debauchery back to live. The guys working on this project are very passionate and need all the help we can give them so anyone that wants the chance to do a little restoration of a very old building should get in touch with me in the usual fashion - Let's not see another pub fall victim to our financial climate and negligence, we all have the power to stand up for the things we want to see thrive so come stand with us.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/SAVE-the-Falcon-Huntingdon/183647998342774

finally this coming Saturday is the Oar raisers bootcamp session at Cherry Hinton Hall Park - 10:00 AM £10 minimum donation in conjunction with Charlie Wall and Cambridge Boot Camps.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cambridge-Boot-Camps/103641436378297
http://www.purplefitness.co.uk
http://www.cambridgebootcamps.co.uk

ok that's all folk, be well and keep those chins up.
R2.

Washing Cars, Boat Show and cycling...

2011-03-02T02:41:00.000-08:00

The last week has been a tough one with a little fundraising and a lot of hard work...

Recently funds have been coming in dribble and we are putting in a lot of effort and work for what seems like very little pay off, however each £100 pound raised counts for an awful lot when you consider the total fund we have to raise. Now into March we are looking at new ways of raising larger sums with events and still pursuing the corporate sponsor route - we need help, as much as ever. So new strategies have been drawn up and ideas formulated for potential sponsors, although the existing packages are still in place, our negotiations and presentations have taken a new twist. to be revealed in good time.

On Friday 25th Feb myself and one very special volunteer ran a car wash day at Cambridgeshire County Council... I never realised just how big and dirty some cars could be. By the end of the day a total of 22 cars were washed at a minimum donation of £4.50 I actually had to turn cars away at one point, a situation I did not want to be in but had the extra volunteers perhaps we could have accommodated more vehicles. Despite this failing I was pleased with the funds raised and must make my very sincere thanks known to Berni who helped on this event tirelessly from start to finish.

On Saturday 26th February Tom & I attended the Birmingham NEC Boat show, winning free tickets from Star radio Cambridge we took advantage of the day parading the halls in our Oar Raisers T-shirts and buttering up potential sponsors and suppliers. We made some very positive connections and hopefully a few good working relationships may come of it.

Having posted the next big event on Face book, we've been training a more sport specific regime for an endurance cycle ride. The Oar Raisers Paris to Cambridge cycle challenge is open to all and will take place at the end of May, details are on Face book and various posters but are also available by email on request. This is a really tough event requiring massive amounts of organising where logistics are concerned so any help is appreciated and greatly needed...

That's all for now gang, keep following and hopefully March will bring some good news for all of us!...

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=193009884052405

Conference, Resurrection & a tipping boat

2011-02-20T03:50:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks have passed with varying degrees of emotion ranging from joy to dread.

Firstly I'd like to wish our darling fundraising manager, Abigail, the very happiest of Birthday's
I hope it was all she wanted and more, she deserves far more - always.

Rower 1 has been visiting family in Abu Dhabi and has also been working on a new business proposal
for our potential corporate sponsors, taking full advantage of his Father' experience in such matters. I
look forward to reading it and seeing ourselves as a product a new. Safe trip home R2 you have been
missed mainly by me I suspect as Abi has probably enjoyed having me to herself for a while, honestly
though - training feels like empty achievements without you...

This week I have had time to write up our schools program and seek advice on the ways to approach it
with local schools in mind. The idea is that we go in for an afternoon to explain what we're doing, why
and how... engaging children in an educational format with a cross subject emphasis and hoping to
encourage young people with the idea that anything is achievable with hard work and determination.
We are also intending to do a cool bit about ocean preservation and sea life, Education and Fun! most
importantly...

I have also organised a charity car wash day next Friday (25/02/11) at Shire hall Cambridge, there is a
booking system via email or phone, alternatively people can turn up on the day... any volunteers welcome.

Being separated from my shadow (Tom) this week has also given me time to enjoy a little bit of something
I once had a lot of, time alone. I have indulged in various forms of entertainment and some of which I feel
I absolutely must recommend - number the film BRONSON the dramatisation of the Eponymous and notorious
British prisoner, this film is brilliant. Tom Hardy in his first major lead is astoundingly good as the menacing
and brooding time bomb, what a talent - I urge you to see it!...

Number two, something I have been meaning to catch for years and missed it at the arts cinema is a film
called HEIMA from the ethereal icelandic band Sigur Ros. This is beautifully and simply shot in a landscape that
is palpably wonderous, it is easy to see how the music from a great band has been influence by this surrounding
habitat, it is quite literally captivating, please watch it as soon as you can. It's Phenomenal!

Ok so lastly I also want to send out our best wishes to the two guys rowing Papa Delta on the Atlantic at the moment,
they've had a pretty tough few weeks with several capsizings, emergency food drops and a whale following them. If you
haven't seen them in the news this last week you can find them through our face book page, they have been great to
us so far with advice and help on certain aspects of our campaign, we are also hoping to use their boat on their safe
return... Good luck guys, keep up the hard work and we're thinking of you. (Please follow them, find them at Matt&Chris
Cleghorn through our Facebook page).

Ok folks that's it for now, keep following and supporting, we're truly humbled by all your efforts with us so far.

Over & out, R2.

The Oar Raisers Cambridge to Kent post walk report:

2011-02-08T14:08:00.000-08:00

Post Even Report:

The Oar Raiser Cambridge to Kent walk

As you’re all no doubt aware, last weekend saw the Oar Raisers and some dedicated friends went for an 80 mile stroll down to Gillingham Kent. For Tom & I this was both a fundraiser and training exercise, it was intended to test our physical and mental endurance at this stage in our Atlantic campaign.

At 07:00 Friday morning we left Cambridge City centre waved off by the Mayor, ten participant in total. We set off with the route heading to Saffron Walden intending to make this our first big rest stop. This first leg of the journey felt upbeat, exciting and quite swift. It took around six hours even though we stopped a few times to grap supplies and speak to local press. It was really important that we motivated everyone on this leg as it was the first and completing it with ease would make the rest seem much more achievable. Finding a nice Cafe we took just over 30 minutes rest to change our socks, eat and get ready to move out.

Next leg was on to Stanstead Mountfitchet, we were less three people. Our two female companions had only intended to do the first leg as they had prior engagements later that day - nonetheless both Maria and Lisa walked their part with ease and kept following our progress throughout the weekend, well done gals you were great!... James unfortunately damaged his foot and made the decision to stop before exacerbating - I’m certain he could have gone all the way if not for the foot. The problem was it could have been ligament damage and not worth the risk - so well done James for getting as far as our first checkpoint, it was the right decision to stop. Seven lads set out to stop through to checkpoint two.

High spirits helped us really pound the pavement and make really good ground, arriving in Stanstead Mountfitchet early evening we bunked down between the support car and oddly high pavement. Tom & I went in for the tasty HeaterMeals we were using, Lamb Curry and Chunky Chili Chicken, they provided a welcome source of energy and warmth, Tom Amor cooked up some rations in his Hexamine army stove which must have been quite a sight for onlooking high street lingerers. At this point pretty much everyone had to participate in what was soon to become a frequent foot care ritual, airing our feet for a few minutes, talc and zinc tape where necessary, fresh dry socks, boots back on and some light stretching to warm the legs back up. It seemed that as the dark set in so did the cold, sitting still for forty minutes to rest meant our legs were starting to stiffen - this was the first sign of any physical problems but unperturbed by situation we got out the hats and gloves put on Hi-vis tops and pushed on.

Rather than stop at Bishop’s Stortford we decided to push straight through to a Petrol Station near Sawbridgeworth, it had seemed to make sense that we keep making the progress we had been. However by the time we got to the support car waiting at a petrol station just outside a small town full of curry houses we were exhausted and beginning to realise the scale of our challenge.

There’s something quite interesting about sitting in a brightly lit petrol station in the dead of night with six other guys all looking as though we’d just clambered from the grave. Our newly arrived second support car provided tea, coffee and much to my delight Peanut butter cream cakes - Debs, I love you for this...Thank you, you most brilliant woman. Foot ritual, food and this time pain killers, I was on particularly low psychological ground by this point. Ordinarily I am not just a strong motivator for myself but for others around me, I had had a steady decline in my belief that what we were doing was actually worthwhile. Over the last few hours I began to have some really quite depressing thoughts and unusually for me I could find a way of getting myself out of that mindset, I spiraled down further and further until my head hung limp on my shoulders as I dragged my feet. Knowing I had to do something about the situation I rang Abigail for some semblance of familiarity... I was tired, drained physically and mentally, in need of food and desperate not to give up. Abigail assured me that everyone was following our progress on the web tracker we’d set up, she told me how well we were all doing, I found it hard to respond but hearing that comforting voice lifted me just high enough to think about what we were doing. Suddenly I realised that if Tom or I could not complete this walk then we did not deserve the privilege of Rowing across the Atlantic. I guzzled an energy sachet, took two pain killers, ate a banana, rubbed deep heat into my tightening leg muscles, swigged a large swig of whiskey and told myself to move.

Shortly after moving off it became obvious that one of the group (one of my oldest friends) was starting to suffer, his long strong stride had beed reduced to a step and hop then limp and a wince and finally a hobble. I had to call it and tell him enough was enough, there was no shame in stopping - though disappointed I think he knew it was the right thing to do. Some two hours later we’d made little progress but many people in pub windows began to look out at us in disbelief as the 60mph winds battered us along the unlit B roads, head torches were our only source of light. Meeting the support car and a fresh face that intended to finish the walk with us from Harlow, we rested for a few minutes refilling our Camelbaks and snacking on chocolate. A bit of friendly laddish and often rude banter goes a long way at point like this, Our newby was most welcome and my injured friend had taken care of his feet, strapped them up and felt worlds better - he got out of the car and said “I’m finishing this walk”.

The twelve hours of darkness had left us demotivated and fed up, walking was no longer a friendly adventure but a bitterly twisted torture. There was no time to take in the villages and no light for us to see the natural beauty of this landscape, this trip had slowly become bereft of anything that felt even remotely good. We’d Pushed through a ford and chanced a way through instead of going around and taking more time going back on ourselves, the support car behind us crawled along to light the way which was precarious to say the least. Once through like a madman possessed I marched on dangerously without a head torch, hoping to just get to the next checkpoint and not think about what was behind, angry at the road I was pounding, angry at everything I dug deep and sped through the last mile to a point just eighteen miles from Tilbury and the Ferry.

It seemed the end was in sight but we actually fifteen miles to the ferry and then twelve from there to the pub in Gillingham. We were all suffering to varying degrees, Blisters, strains and lack of sleep were all taking their toll. As the dawn broke and we began walking into daylight our task appeared to reveal itself in easier sections, roads were better, there were footpaths and long stretches of straight asphalt - making small goals easy to achieve. Our speed in the night had dropped dramatically to a mere one mile an hour, now we were gaining momentum again and kicking out three, four and sometimes more as if quite metaphorically the sun reinvigorated us. Then before we had time to think about it Tilbury was in sight and we were on course to meet the time frame we’d previously estimated.

Saturday midday all aboard and Kent bound, the water was choppy and the winds were still gale force all down the line. The whole unit was happy and relieved to have got this far and in the time we had especially when everything had looked so bleak only six hours before. As we crossed the river and the Gravesend dock came into sight we saw and heard the cheers of about thirty people in Oar Raisers T-shirts and Parkinson’s charity boxes. This was a moving and incredibly welcome moment as we had arrived at our final furlong, stepping off the boat and into the crowd it was hard to reciprocate the joy and emotion that everyone was demonstrating. I hope These kind and wonderful people appreciate just how much that meant to us all even if we had no energy to show them.

The final twelve came in long and lasting inclines, each step shot a pain through your legs like you were walking on crucifixion nails, I’m not exaggerating here - this was the hardest and most challenging end to an intensely difficult journey. After a while the sign came “Welcome to Medway” I knew the first pint and end point was in sight, everything felt achievable now and we really dug in, finding energy reserves depleted but still pushing and pushing only four miles to go. ROchester fell beneath our feet with ease and Tom and I decided to take some pressure off our feet by jogging half a mile or so through Chatham. These old familiar towns held memories for me but I’d never felt like this coming home before. Gillingham and ten minutes from the pub, everything fell quiet as the blue light of early night crept over us. We’d lost three walkers, been through four county’s, spent twelve hours in isolated dark, nursed each others blistered feet, walked for thirty five hours without sleep, crossed the estuary on ferry and arrived at our final destination. The Frog & Toad Pub held throngs of supporters clapping and cheering directing us to cross a ribboned line. The smell of hot food and the sight of freshly poured Guinness twinkled in all our eyes, every small detail was lapped up by the senses as we rolled in and found ourselves elated. We had completed the eighty mile Oar Raisers Cambridge to Kent walk and now we had to party...

Certified, Preparation and exhaustion...

2011-01-30T10:40:00.000-08:00

This week the Oar Raisers have been raising sponsorship for the 80 mile walk to Kent on the 4th of Feb.
So far so good, we have raised well over £100 each and expect to receive a healthy whack from our courages
friends also participating, Anyone taking on this challenge should know how truly grateful and inspired we are
by your efforts. Completing even a small part of this walk will be a big achievement, so we hope you're all ready
and as excited/nervous as we are...

With only four days to event day we should almost certainly be ready, however a few snags have exploded onto
the stage and in typical Oar Raiser form we are seeking out ways (kind friends) to resolve the problems. The official
red Oar Raisers fiesta that was to provide support and back up on this event has sadly passed away to the great
scrapheap in the sky to the sound of a blown catalytic converter and eroded manifold. I share the sorrow and loss
of my first car with Colin John Bowles, a man decent enough to have been my car sharing buddy...

I'd just like to say a few words in memory of Trouble (our cars nickname) -

Carry we who die in battle
Over land and sea
Across the rainbow bridge
To Valhalla
Odin's waiting for me

the loss of Trouble actually might make life quite difficult for us in the near future - so if anyone would like to donate a car of working order, it would be gratefully received haha

Ok to Tom then, Congratulations brother... Tom passed his trailer test this week which means he can now pull a boat behind his car, a massive benefit for us obviously, although nervous and with only half the generally required training R1 passed the test with flying colours and we wish to thank Peter Sutton of the Norwich trailer training company for his donation of the training sessions and all his help. Well done Tom.

All final preparations in place for the walk the Mayor of Cambridge will be waving us off at 07:00 am on Friday morning from the Guildhall, I am hopeful we will find another vehicle in time to provide support along the way. All those taking part, please don't forget your contact sheets on the day and don't be late, although we're not expecting a marching pace we do have a vague schedule to stick to.

As with most Sunday evenings, I am tired and almost unable to move my legs due to another weeks exhausting training and running around organising things, the sensation is less like pain but more like the warmth and satisfaction of knowing the hard work you've put in. It's hard to express in words without it sounding horrible but I have grown to quite like the feeling of my pulverised muscle meat clinging to my bones. The body is a remarkable thing and capable of enduring incredible punishment, I just hope our minds are as fortified.

For now, enjoy your first week of February and look out for us on Friday, any offers of support or services are still welcome,

keep reading,

Chris.

Walking, Pictures and Dog...ing (not the sexy kind)

2011-01-16T13:20:00.000-08:00

Firstly hello everyone, hope you're all well and have had a perfectly acceptable start to the NY...

As you are all no doubt aware on the 4th of Feb we intend to walk approximately 80 miles from Cambridge to Kent,
plans for said walk are well under way and shaping up to be fairly interesting, with 14 people confirmed to do part of
or the entire stretch we are hoping to raise a tidy sum for our cause and chosen charity... participants you know who
you are so do us proud as land crew and pull in that sponsorship!...

On Saturday myself and work colleague walked 11 miles as a trial run on the beginning route of the actual walk, Joseph
Anderton had never walked that far in one hit and completed with a good time of just over 3 hours, this is the pace I intend
to keep en route to Kent... Well done Joseph a real solid effort mate, little Abington is lovely!

Sunday saw 5 of the Kent walkers set off to Clayhithe near Water beach, There and back is almost 10 miles so well done everyone, I for one had a lot of fun and the pit/pint stop at the bridge was a particularly nice highlight. I (Rower 2) felt quite vulnerable to the wind and lack of heat around my ears and head, mainly due to the fact that I have decided to go very short up top and the once lustrous locks I had no longer provide the comfort and protection against the elements I am used to... However it has made training considerably easier!... This last week has seen both of push our lifting capacity on the decline Bench press to 6 sets of 8 reps 80 kilos, an incredible amount of weight and muscular endurance - it is just a shame we cannot walk to Kent on our hands...

So then, to the intrigue of 'Dog...ing' Today our friend Sophie is off to see her husband for the first time in ages, so we are taking Elvis (The King) quadruped until she returns, it's funny - Elvis has stayed with us before and is a pleasure to have, he looks at me sometimes as if to say 'don't worry mate, I don't think ya an idiot' This is affirmed by his sympathetic cocking of his head and friendly attentive stare... Black as night and strong as a horse it's easy to see why people think these guys are man's best friends, I don't think he could row the Atlantic but I think he'd give a good attempt at eating it.

for now, Over and out.

Cambridge to Kent:

2011-01-04T11:59:00.000-08:00

One month from today we embark on an 80 mile walk from Cambridge to Kent, This is a mini challenge in the lead up to the epic adventure, this will be challenging for us and give us both an idea of where we are physically and mentally...

People are welcome to attempt the journey with getting sponsored as individuals, so far we have around 8 people confirmed to participate so thank you guys I'm sure you'll enjoy it and get a great sense of achievement on completion of your chosen distance.
You can do it in teams as a relay, or with a friend, partner, dog or hamster it's entirely up to you but if you do want to be involved please contact us and let us know as soon as possible so we can send you a kit list, contact sheet and sponsor form - you'll also get T-shirts for your trouble!...

As a training run you could be walking a few long distance weekend walk such as Cambridge to Ely along the river or perhaps to Fordham...it's down to you to train and down to you do something amazing so why not join us and burn of some of those festive pounds?!... this is a great opportunity for you to contribute directly to a charity and achieve a personal goal, go on give it a go.

Festivities over, a long break and now for the torture:

2011-01-04T11:48:00.000-08:00

It's been a long festive season for the Oar Raisers what with travelling to various places visiting friends and family between training and fundraising etc but now the new year has begun and we intend to rise with new vigour, taking the world by storm with our fundraising schemes and hellish training challenges...

Firstly we hope everyone has had a great Christmas and New year - we've been luck enough not only to see our families but to spend real quality time with our friends - Men, Women, and Elvis the quadriped

The Oar Raisers black tie post report:

2010-11-28T04:57:00.000-08:00

Success!... to some degree at least, the evening of the 27th November saw the Oar Raisers first large scale event. After two months of stress and an incredible amount leg work the night arrived with little to no hiccups - noticeable or not there were a few but in true Oar Raiser style we 'got it done'.

Ordering people around and directing the general operation (meticulously I might add) has become the new order of the day for Rower 2 and as such the proof came with the pudding as the night unfolded a creamy, silk smooth schedule bar the cock ups out of his hands. Even in the face of the last minute alterations, necessary changes and unpredictable scenarios R2 kept calm and carried on.

The attendees thronged into the lobby for their mulled wine and pleasantries to the subtle sounds of jazz piano and a roaring open fire, 136 guests took their places at the tables and were informed of the events about to take place. Seated, starters issued and some classical guitar drifted over the chit chat and clinky clinking of cutlery and wine receptacles - it was a decadent and charming affair with a great dynamic. The courses came and went fluidly with smiles and praise for the food. The top table looked on in anticipation of something going wrong but it never seemed to, a relief.

Food done, a spat of comedy leading into the auction which lasted far longer than predicted but raised far more than we originally thought it would. Auction lots came and went with varying degrees of interest and bids, There were some tremendously generous people and the kindness lasted the entire evening with over £500 being raised separately on raffle tickets!...
Truly the people around us are very supportive and we are privileged to have such wonderfully kind friends and family - if you had asked me a month a go if I thought this event would be a success - I would have said absolutely not, too little too late but to have seen everyone glammed up and prepared to spend their money on a charity auction the way did - I am proud, shocked but proud to call these people my friends. I thank you all and I am sure Parkinson's UK will be delighted with our result.

Total count for the night is a staggering £2821 plus some money to come from the Land Lady of The Alexander Arms Cambridge who kindly did shuttle runs in her car to the hotel for a donation, thank you to you Caroline - you wonderful woman.

A further addition to this months fundraising came in the form of a race night at the Frog and Toad pub Gillingham Kent - David, Glenda and Sophie managed to raise a brilliant £300 - a massive thank you family!...

The band (run for cover) played everyone out with great cover songs from the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and many more artists, a fantastic performance and one to be remembered not least for the dancing Black tie wearers, Rhod Davies put on a particularly good display of Welsh revelry.

All in all with donations from the table boxes and everything else we have reached over £3K which is to my mind a huge success, owed mainly to you guys that cam and supported us, so thank you all, I am utterly over awed (oared) by you...

The Auction over, we made a few speeches kicked of by Master Auctioneer Sir Colin of Johnny Bowles (I would like to convey my personal thanks to him for his hard work and terrific effort) Speeches of thanks from both R1 and R2 accompanied by a welcome message to bright shiny new baby James - Congrats Bill and Jayne!...(still wish you'd had the baby at the auction the publicity would have been great!) haha

And one last but by no means least thanks, to Abigail for her enormous patience, her dedication to our cause and her ability to keep me on track when all else seems to be falling apart - thank you my darling little toe.

Keep up to date with our progress and we will endeavour to put on some large events in the new year, but from now until Christmas I am training and concentrating only on much smaller fundraisers and sponsorship... If you want to get involved by running an event for us please just ask and we'll get something sorted, don't forget you can also hire us for a days labour at anytime in return for a donation....

We do hope you all had a great time and thank you all once again!

R2.

Testing times and custom Converse!...

2010-11-16T13:32:00.000-08:00

The last two weeks have had us at highs and lows much like an Atlantic tide Ebbs and flows....................................

So Rower 1 has been doing his trailer license training in Norfolk, provided free by a very kind gentleman from www.suttondriving.co.uk

This has been a necessary part of our progression as without the trailer license we cannot move the boat ourselves and although the training ordinarily might incur a large cost we have managed to do a great deal on getting the training free - we will have to cover the cost of the test fee but that is a much smaller sum. R1 claims to have enjoyed the training a great deal and was pleased to have been doing it with an instructor that put him at ease, So from both the Oar Raisers thank you to Sutton driving.

The next trip for R1 saw him going back school, giving talks and lessons to year 8, 9 and 10 of a school in South Bucks... To his amazement the response was brilliant and the children were really engaged by everything he had to say. The school have agreed to do some fundraising for us which is very positive indeed.

Publicity this week includes a feature in Deritend Industries in house magazine and County wide the County Council employee information paper (article entitled 5 minutes with Chris Howard) Lastly as I'm sure you've all seen on our face book page, Sandira Reddy an artist form Canvas Warriors has customised our very own Oar Raiser Converse trainers and kindly donated them to us, she is also going to donate a voucher for one pair of custom trainers painted trainers that will be a lot in our up and coming auction event on the 27th November. The Black tie dinner and auction is well under way and there are now very few tickets left so get in quick if you have a friend or another person interested in coming. Tickets can now also be purchased from The Alexander Arms Cambridge (The Landlord and Landlady have been very supportive -thank you Charlie and Caroline...

You can also catch a short time lapse film of our trainers being painted on you tube - just type in Canvas warriors painting a shoe!... it's actually amazing!

That's all for now folks so please keep reading as we have news breaking daily like eggs rolling off a table top.

2010-11-10T09:48:00.001-08:00

Stress, Fundraising and Negotiating:

2010-10-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

Before anything else please let me just say a big welcome to Olivia Grace May Tann, she entered the world at 00:40 Monday morning she is another God child for me to add to my collection. She is, however, the first girl 6lb 4 and brilliant!!!... welcome, welcome, welcome...

Since our last blog update we have had a rather chaotic time attempting to organise a Black Tie Dinner and Auction evening...

For those of you with tickets, many thanks - your official tickets will be with you shortly and all the necessary info will be sent to you along with your opportunity to tell us of any special dietary requirements.

We still have seats to fill and would like to really push the numbers up on this event in order not just to produce more funds but in order that everybody really has a good time... So if you have a friend that would be interested or family member you'd like to bring please let us know as soon as you can. Auction prizes now include works from a local artist as well as hot air balloon ride and horse riding session. Get a table of 10 and we will consider giving one ticket for free!

We ran a Crazy Hat Party at Nusha bar Cambridge on the 23rd of October, it was a lot of fun, and many people were impressed with the impromptu Brazillian girls booty shaking contest! including both the oar raisers (photo's available on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone that attended we raised a fair amount of money given the lack of hats, a good time was had by all as the music pumped into the late hours and the fancy costumed Salon Rouge goers passed in and out to have their photo's taken with us - an interesting way to raise funds...

This week has also seen the County Council social reporting team make a short video about the Oar Raisers to post on YouTube and Facebook - as soon as we have the link we will post it for people to see.

please keep reading and following our progress, we will be Halloween quizing in the Alexander Arms Cambridge this Sunday.

All at once...

2010-10-04T12:33:00.000-07:00

Well now, what a brilliant last weeks the Oar Raisers have had...

Firstly a thank you to Cambridgeshire County Council Pensions, HR and
Legal departments for their efforts at a fundraising raffle on behalf of
Parkinson's UK - you've all been incredibly supportive thus far and it
is greatly appreciated.

On Sunday 26th of October both the Oar Raisers went down to Richmond to
attend the Woodvale seminar, arriving some four hours later than
intended (traffic was appalling) we were hacked off, tired, hungry and
somewhat disheartened. However, finding that the other competitors had
left and the remaining faces were all the event organisers from Woodvale
we took the opportunity to go over every concern we had. It actually
ended up working in our favour as we had valuable time with people we're
going to be dealing with over the next 14 months. They proved to be a
fantastic source of information and were very friendly and welcoming,
they even showed us a Hungarian designed ocean rowing boat that they
were moving to a harbour. It is difficult to convey any understanding of
just how exciting it is to see a boat similar to one which you are going
to live on for up to three months but she was a beautiful and aggressive
looking boat as though built to spear through steal - I ran my had along
the surface, tentative and electric.

On Monday 27th of October Rower 2 closed the HeaterMeals deal and
secured food supplies from the company with the potential for some
financial support later. A big thank you to Mr Jeffry Fox at HeaterMeals
we both look forward to working closely with him on our campaign.

The Saturday 2nd of October arrived and at 8 am we began our second
twelve hour row at Dw Fitness, I was not looking forward to this session
as I felt under prepared physically but setting up and watching Tom
glide through his first shift put me at ease a little. By the end of the
day we were both coaching each other through and motivating one another.
Tom sustained major glute spasms and a few heal blisters - the pain was
obvious from the discolouration in his face let alone the look of a man
about to break... But he pushed through and completed and that is what
this challenge is really about, it's a battle against yourself as much
as anything else, the metal aspect begins to grind you and convince you
that you have no more to give, that everything you had wasn't good
enough and that you just have to stop... but if you're an Oar Raiser you
will not be beaten, and he wasn't. Pushing yourself beyond your physical
capability is essential training and conquering your own will to give up
is vital in surviving. Rower 1 I applaud you!...

Please also note that the deadline for tickets to our Black tie dinner event
is this Friday (08/10/10) we are still looking to fill a fair number of places
so if you have friends family or colleagues that would be interested then
please invite them and confirm with us...

Also visit www.oarraisers.co.uk

Latest and first long Row:

2010-09-21T05:14:00.001-07:00

Ok guys, it's competition time... As you know we are now branded as the Oar Raisers and have T-shirts for sale, If you buy a T-shirt from us we want you to take a photo of yourselves wearing it at a location of your choice... So far we have one picture from the lovely British seaside town of Wells-next-the-sea but there are photos to come from Ireland, Scotland, India, Thialand and Afghanistan!... There is a great priz for the best picture (judged by us) and there is also a boobie prize for the most boring or mundane...

So please please please send us your pics which we upload here and to a flikr stream - by doing this you are helping to promote us and our cause and help the charity, it's global social network advertising campaign with you guys driving it!... so as I always say "Get it Done!...

Ok that bit done, I also have to tell you that we survived our first long row on Sunday, We arrived at the gym at 7:30 am and set ourselves up for the day - side by side we waited patiently for the first shift to begin. At 8:00 am I began the first 2 hour slog, the longest either of has rowed continuosly. It was clear to me that I would have to keep a steady but realistic pace, concentrating on technique and making sure I wasn't exerting any unnecessary energy, with this in mind I manged to keep my thoughts active and push through the first few barries of pain, only to look up and realise I had another 1hour 40 minutes ahead!... as I kept my movement smooth and constant Tom and I talked and made sure of how we felt about this next 12 hours... A real help actually is talking to each other, no matter the subject even if at times we both had to talk drivel. Had we not I'm not sure i could have completed the row without dying from an overpowering sense of boredom.

Rowing on water is a gloriously exhilerating feeling and conjures all manner of thought trains but sitting in front of a mirror on an Ergo is quite the antithesis... So much so that we summoned a laptop and DVD's to get us through, delivered by the dutiful Abigail who also sat for sometime boosting our morale and making sure we had enough food. On a row that long we were burning in the region of 5000 calories and we are still supposed to be gaining weight, so as not to be eating at a defecit we literally devoured a whole chicken, one loaf of bread, one pack of cookies, four chicken breats wrapped in bacon, some chicken skeweres and two bowls of pasta with four fish cakes oh and a pack of beef jerky!... I was also lucky enough to come home to a massive roast beef dinner (thank you Abi).

This was a particularly hard training session both physically and mentally, post game I think we both felt quite drained and somewhat subdued. There was no nicer feeling than getting into a bath that evening, except of course the problem with getting into a bath is you adopt a certain mode of entry (I am sure this is standard for much of the bathing world) - using both arms on the sides of the bath you lower yourself feet first then legs fully submerged your rump slowly takes the strain and pressure from the arms as you lie back and drift off into warm comforting serenity. This is not as simple as all that for us, any amount of pressure on the backside, no matter how small, is just not an option. Sitting on the floor is no good, sitting up in bed in the middle of the night and yelping like a smacked puppy is a shameful occurance I think we will both have to learn to live with... walking is also not that easy. Surprisingly though cycling is a good option on the way to work Monday morning as I can stand up and just coast down the path with no real effort...

We have no sent out the invtes for our November black tie do, so if you have one please respond by the 8th of October as per your invitation. This week sees The Oar Raisers back on the river, doing their weight lifting session and ever so slightly sore...

Mega Busy, Massive Excitement, Hard Work...

2010-09-08T10:43:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone and sorry for the delay in our latest update, the last few weeks have been hectic to say the very least...
Firstly the apology is necessary due a technical problem with my Macbook which annoying took far longer to sort than originally anticipated. As a result of the uncharacteristic bad customer service displayed by the Apple store I have been incommunicado, I must say, however, that after a talk with the store manager and an apple Genius my irritation has been quelled. I now have a brand new Macbook with a full 1 year warranty and half a year more to transfer from my old cover, further to this the new model is far more advance and the processor of a much higher spec... At no charge to myself!... That is customer service!

So thank you very much Miss V. and Mr D. at the GA Apple store, you have been truly wonderful today.

Now down to Oar Raiser business, firstly I have had the most fortuitous conversation with a man that owns HeaterMeals - I contacted him with the objective of getting some kinda of product/services sponsorship for our trip - I had not realised at the time that he himself suffers from Parkinson's. He called to ask if we were genuine and if we would like to meet as he has a particular interest in us as we are doing this in aid of Parkinson's UK... The thing that is really amazing is that he actually sponsored the food supplies for the Ben Fogel and James Cracknell team a few years ago - further to which he wants to help us and has set up a meeting for the end of September in London the day after our first Woodvale seminar. Actually quite a moving and very motivational conversation was had between us and I am more proud to be involved in this everyday ...

We now have two official corporate sponsors, although we are still ten's of thousand's of pounds from our target it is at least looking more realistic and it has instilled in us a new thirst - knowing that people have faith in us drives us harder, better, faster and stronger each day (not to quote DaftPunk)...

So a heartfelt thank you goes out to Deritend Industries this week on behalf of the Oar Raisers.

Several new fundraisers to be announced in the coming weeks, our new Fundraising Manager (Abigail Smith) has removed some of the pressure from us by organising things and getting stuck into some of the admin side of the Oar Raisers glamourous world... It is a hard job for anyone especially someone who has never taken up a challenge on this scale, she has taken to it very well and seems to be making good headway so far - So a thank you from both of us to Abigail.

A new training program this week has been drawn up for the next three months, tomorrow is our first 10k Row on the Concept 2 machines... The program was devised off the cuff and completely out of the goodness of his heart by a PT Instructor (Ben Simons from DW Fitness) massive massive thanks and respect to him for all his help and support.

We will endeavour, now, to keep the updates more regular, especially seeing as I have this new Mac I have no excuse... So please keep reading and following us and if you do have any suggestions, advice or queries please just drop us a line by phone or email. Thank you all and good night.

First week on the water:

2010-08-22T12:21:00.000-07:00

It's now August 22nd and we are not only well under way with our training program but also officially registered entrants to the Woodvale 2011 Atlantic Rowing challenge. There is no going back now, we have been working harder than ever this week in order to secure corporate sponsors and raise extra cash for the charity... We are still to arrange the next big event but I'd like to thank everyone around us this week for their support and encouragement, I would also like say a very special thank you to the People that dressed up in beach wear and donated to the charity in my office last week - so to all of you, Thank you so much for your efforts.

The training although hard is going well and becoming easier on the body everyday, we have measured interval training sessions that highlight our progress on a daily basis this means we are pushing our selves and each other harder, faster and for longer every day. The arrival of our "breathable Parkinson's Vests" has increased our out put too as they are so much easier to train in for long periods... Thank you Sarah Collard and Carol Stork at Parkinson's UK.

Also this week we registered and paid our membership fees to Cambridge City boat club (who, so far have been brilliant and very supportive despite my capsizing the single skull - I would like to point out that it was my first time in a boat that is literally no wider than a piece of A4 paper, and because you sit above the water every millimeter shift in weight counts... It is much harder than I'd anticipated) From the moment I got changed in the Boat shed to the moment we finished, sopping wet and freezing, I loved it!..

There is so much more going on that we can actually keep up with at the moment it's crazy, we have our Branded official Oar Raisers T's printed which are available to buy from one of us so please ask... they're very stylish and quite high quality. The website has gone live and looks immense but need a little tweaking, check it out at www.oarraisers.co.uk

that's all for now but the updates will be coming thick and fast as we get out on the water even more, so keep reading folks and please please spread the word!...

Beach Party Fundraising event:

2010-08-09T12:50:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 7th 2010, saw the second of the Oar Raiser's charity fundraising night at Nusha Bar Cambridge.
Although slow to start the masses began to appear and many were happy to give generously, the night was a big
success and raised almost £700 for Parkinson's UK.... That is pretty amazing when you consider that most of the
organising for the actual event took place some 3 hours before hand on Saturday afternoon.

All in all people seemed to enjoy themselves and by 22:30 the party was in full swing with particularly trendy dance
moves being displayed and cocktails being made by some incredibly talented bar staff throwing, spinning and catching
bottles, glasses and all sorts of iced treats - it was truly a skillful sight and a terrific night.

I'd like to add a special thanks to a few local businesses who donated gifts to cause that were raffled off at the end of
the evening, helping to raise even more money....

So thank you very much indeed to Cocoa Belle for their wonderful cupcakes and The Fudge Kitchen who gave a very weighty
gift box, along with Pizza hut, Frankie and Bennies, Nando's and Chiquito's who all gave meal vouchers at the last minute.

Most of all we should like to thank the management and staff at Nusha Bar itself, you are wonderful people and your
support so far has been unmatched - Thank you all for everything we hope we can continue to have as much fun with
you as we have had already.

Please keep following us and checking for new events, we have a few in planning stages but cannot yet confirm dates..
watch this space, there's 16 more months of fun to be had!...

2010-08-07T03:36:00.000-07:00

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2010-08-02T02:06:00.000-07:00

A slight delay in our training regime, this week has seen rower 2 aka Chris Howard/me struck down with food poisoning and sever dehydration. After much medical attention and a drip in a tent administered by a paramedic I had recognised from the gym - I am well on the way to recovery, thankfully. Six whole weeks without smoking and going strong, I am fit and well to start full training from the 3rd of August... However I would like to make special mention of rower 1 today, as this week sees him "go under" for a much needed ear operation, we shall be caring for him on his departure from Addenbrookes this Wednesday evening (good luck buddy and enjoy the ride).

Tuesday of this week the Oar raiser's have their first meeting with the regional Parkinson's UK fundraising team, we are hoping to gain the wisdom of their experience and the support of the knowledge in our area.

Saturday the 7th August is the second of our fantastic fundraising event nights at NUSHA bar Cambridge where a beach themed party night will help us not only raise money for the charity but hopefully promote our massive challenge of crossing the Atlantic in 2011. Yes, we are aware that it sounds it long way off but actually most teams spend more than two years preparing and more people have successfully climbed Everest - it truly is a mammoth task!...

We are hoping our blog updates will start becoming more regular as the momentum builds, so please keep following and sending us any comments, advice or sponsorship support - it is all gratefully appreciated.

Off to a wedding in Derby now, So a quick Congrats to the Bride and Groom - Sue and Stuart (soon to be) Smith!...