Whitewater Rafting - Completed!

[djanderso]

Well the Charity White-water rafting event took place at Grandtully in Perthshire on Saturday (See original post: Here) The event was split in two over a 6 mile course. The first 3 miles were in fairly calm waters and involved a sprint race. The second 3 miles were spent on the white waters. So how did we do? Well...

On arrival we were issued with a hot bacon roll - there was a slight irony in this, in that the charity benefiting from the event was Chest, Heart and Stroke :duh: Nevertheless, it provided essential fuel for the day ahead...

We immediately took the lead after a start Jensen Button would have been proud of, with gritted faces we were a raft length ahead of our the nearest competitors as we approached the first bridge. With a team of 4 guys and 4 gals and an instructor at the rear giving "instructions" we continued in the lead under the bridge, however, the second placed raft was gaining and despite the encouragement from our instructor, we just couldn't make the raft go any faster. I'm sure the girls at the back were just enjoying the ride while we at the front got our blades (to give them their official name!) stuck in to the River Tay. "In, In, In" was the constant cry from the back. But it was no use, by now after about 10 minutes the pain at the shoulders was apparet for all, but we kept at it. By now, the second placed raft was along side us (a raft full of guys!), and was gaining on us. As the now 1st placed raft powered ahead we were being closely followed by the boat behind us. Encouragement continued from the instructor and we kept pushing, now in 5th place, we approached another series of rapids, the raft ahead went in and as it emerged we could see a body in the water. Under the rules of the race we were obliged to pick him up. This also meant that the raft ahead had to stop and collect their man and now gave us the chance to dump him and get back into 4th place. We stayed in 4th place until the end of the race section. After 3 miles of constant rowing in very cold water we were now ready to start the gentle (!) cruise back to base another 3 miles downstream. This part was not a race, so off we went into the unknown. We were first to go, adrenalin pumping we head into our first rapid and emerged OK, our instructor constantly shouting "get down" when inches from them, then "back up" when we'd cleared them often emerging facing up stream. As we rounded the final bend, we could see the base where everyone's friends and family were gathered. Being first through the white waters we took great delight in the applause from the banks of the river and were quite happy to let them think we'd actually won the race However, by the time we'd gotten out of our safety gear and wet suits the winners had been announced. Never mind coming 4th was respectable - well, that is until I say there were only 5 rafts! Never mind, they say it's the taking part that counts.

So despite not getting a podium finish, everyone had a fantastic day out, and more importantly the event raised over £30000 for charity which was brilliant.

Photographs from the event are in the Gallery:

Page 1

Page 2

Matt McNally is setting up an online payment button for those that pledged to send your cash. Even if you did not originally pledge money, it's not too late - I'll forward on any donations received.

Finally, on behalf of Chest Heart and Stroke, may I thank everyone for their support with this.

David.

[Matthew_McNally]

Original Thread with pledge details here

You can use the Donation button below to make a donation to Davids charity - whether you have previously pledged or not.

The money pledged will go directly to David - not to LOC in any way.

Please note that if you use this, paypal do levy a 4% charge.

Overpaying by 4% is an extra few pence (40 pence on the ten pounds most people pledged), and by overpaying this amount, the charity is not deprived.

To pay, click on the button, then specify the amount you wish to donate.

<table width="60%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="1">

<tr bgcolor="#E1E4CE">

<td height="5" colspan="2"> <font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><b>Charity Donation from LOC</b></font></td>

</tr>

<tr>

<td>

<p><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">Donation from Lexus Owners Club Member</font><br>

</td>

<td>

<form name="_xclick" action="https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr" method="post">

<input type="hidden" name="cmd" value="_xclick">

<input type="hidden" name="business" value="djanderso@totalise.co.uk">

<input type="hidden" name="item_name" value="Donation from LOC">

<input type="hidden" name="currency_code" value="GBP">

<input type="image" src="http://www.paypal.com/en_US/i/btn/x-click-butcc-donate.gif" border="0" name="submit" alt="Make payments with PayPal - it's fast, free and secure!">

</form></td>

</tr>

</table>

If anyone is worried about paying online, then just to clarify.

LOC is not a secure server, but you are not making the payment from the LOC server. Clicking the link above will take you to the secure Paypal site.

This can easily be confirmed by checking

1 - the URL, it will begin https - signifying the secure server.

2 - your browser should display a padlock in the status bar signifying that you are on a secure server.

[Matthew_McNally]

I recommend that if you have pledged a donation that you pm david once you have paid, with the email address your paypal account is linked to, so that he can check you off the list.

On that subject- David, I'll make my donation tonight mate, cannot use secure servers on this site

[djanderso]

Brilliant, thanks Matt.

[ifraz]

Well done David for raising so much for the charity. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the thrill of White water rafting....it's great init :D

I'll also make my donation tonight.

Once again, well done ;)

[djanderso]

I've just been advised that the event raised £54000 and not £30000 as I said above!

[Claire G]

That's great news, well done! I don't have a flexible friend so need to send you a cheque. Please could you PM me with your address and who to make the cheque payable to and I'll get it off to you asap!

[Matthew_McNally]

Paid £10.40 David - my £10 pledge and the 40p paypal levy.

well done that man!

[Bazza]

£54010 :)

sorry,

might have messed up the 40p bit , think it went through as 04p

well done to all those involved

[djanderso]

Cheers mate - any cash raised over and above the original pledges from LOC members will, of course, be forwarded on to CHS.

[Zee007]

Nice one David - All paid up buddy... ;)

[djanderso]

Thanks Zee!

[ifraz]

Sorry for the delay.....all paid up! ;)