A statement from our intrepid crew
Ahoy there
We are the Kennet and Avon Seagull Appreciation Society, otherwise known as Iolo, Toby and Ted. we were reading about the British Seagull engine and discovered that during the 2nd world war the Admiralty required an outboard motor that would require virtually no maintenance, could be sunk and still run when raised back out, and would run non stop for 24 hours.The Wiltshire Air Ambulance requires £6,850 per day to stay in the Air
Well, we know many who have tried the first two intentionaly or not, but to our knowledge no one has tried to achieve the last, ie run it non stop for 24 hours.
So this is our challenge.
We will be using a 12 foot dinghy with a Silver Century; 102cc, 3hp, clutched, 55 year old British Seagull. though they are reputedly reliable and bomb proof, there are many who disrgard them and think of them as a heap of junk that takes more time to fix than you will ever have them running for. We disagree!! and we are out to prove them wrong, try running any other 50- 60 year old engine non stop under load for 24 hours!
Our plan is to start in reading at 12 noon on Friday the 8th of March, traveling the entire 86 miles and 106 locks or the Kennet and Avon Canal, that normally takes a week to cruise. in a nearly impossible 24 hours! are we mad ? Yes i think so. we will be aiming to arrive in Bath at noon on Saturday the 9th. to a huge cheering crowd going wild, throwing money into our collection buckets, and squirting us with champagne. Hurrah!!
We aim to raise £6,850 by noon on Saturday the 9th. this is the amount it costs the Wiltshire Air Ambulance Service per day!!! So, with our 24 hours of endurance, we aim to be able to support them for 24 hours. After all they save lives and wouldn’t you be just a bit annoyed if you needed them to airlift you to hospital one day but they didn’t have enough money to keep their helicopter in the air.
Time trials at Cow Bridge, Claverton on Saturday 4th March at 10am
Tags: charity event, dinghy, outboard, Seagull, Wiltshire Air Ambulance
What a magnificent piece of waterway wackiness! I hope somebody will be filming this enterprising example of boatie whimsicality so that it’s recorded for posterity! I’m sure the three intrepid adventurers will raise masses of money for the Wiltshire Air Ambulance.