Why Do It?
Why
does a man in his 80th
year want to row / drag / portage or otherwise lug a coracle some
1300 kms, through, over or around just under 200 locks and sleep for
perhaps three months in a tiny flip top VW camper? Why also would
Sara, my wife take on the possibly more testing task of providing
back up and support by van or bike, through some of the more remote
regions of Central France, ably assisted by Sally, our 10 months old
Malshi puppy.
Put simply
it is because we can. As we get older bits drop off such as a dead
left leg for me following a skiing accident nine years ago, or Sara's
brush with cancer six years ago, but with a proper diet and plenty of
exercise, age really does not become a problem and we continue to
walk, bike and ski as before.
Having
rowed all my life in many craft from whalers to light weight racing
shells and then 25 years of working life in the Thames River Police,
I gained a wide range of marine experience. I was fortunate enough to
be able to retire at an early age. To celebrate my 50th
birthday my wife and I sold up everything in 1988 to sail around the
world. For my 60th
birthday we started long distance cycling, commencing with a 4500
mile unsupported camping tour across the USA from Seattle to Orlando,
Florida. Then on my 70th
a similar distance was cycled through several European countries.
2018
sees the start of my 80th
year. The 80th
birthday itself will be spent in the French Alps skiing, however as a
first challenge, the idea of being the first recorded non commercial
person to row this route and perhaps enter the record books appealed.
Hence, we spent the past 18 months researching the route, mainly on
bikes, and gaining the several necessary permissions from various
French Authorities.
Choosing a
boat also provided a challenge. It needs to be able to face
everything from wide sea estuaries with big ships down to narrow
canal waterways. It needs to be light enough to portage and drag up
steep river banks, but sturdy enough to face the rigours of weather
from the top to bottom of France. Above all it must be easily and
comfortably rowed. Some problem! Finally, I decided on a coracle. Not
an egg shaped thing with a paddle that always seems to be everyone's
idea of a coracle. Coracles around the world come in many shapes and
are simply a skin stretched across wooden strakes, and are usually
collapsible.
This one
is made by Nautiraid ( https://www.nautiraid.com/en/coracles.html ) a
French company that hand builds folding craft at their factory near
Le Mans. It is dinghy shaped and rowed with oars. After testing one
on Lac du Bourget at Aix les Bains, and above all after hearing that
the elite British military use these and Nautiraid's sea going
kayaks, I was convinced it would suit my challenge.
At
2.5metres and weighing just 32 kgs (plus equipment) it is made of
hypalon (an almost indestructible material) stretched over ash
stringers. The timber is grown in the mountains of Savoie where the
trees grow slowly and straight for greater strengh. Inflatable panels
down each side provide positive buoyancy and it is floor boarded
throughout. I have made several modifications to fit my purpose and
have converted a kayak trolley to permit any longer portages, and
last year I performed trials on the Kennet and Avon, Grand Union and
Bridgewater Taunton Canals in the UK.
Finally
the time has come to blister hands and bum and pray for not too much
more rain to fall in Northern France, so that when Oggi (named after
Oglers, the rowing policemen of yesteryear) is launched into the
River Somme on 15th
June when we will be hoping the flow of the river is not too strong to row against to
start the long pull to the Med.
