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It’s not the winning…

Last night our team of intrepid marketeers took to the high seas (River Thames) to swashbuckle their way to glory - and booty - for a truly noble cause, WaterAid.

As soon as we arrived at the Reading Rowing Club it became apparent that not all rafts are created equal; we’d gone for the home-made, mostly recycled/could actually have been cobbled together when shipwrecked approach…

Our competitiors went for something a tad more professional, the scurvy dogs!

Clearly we should’ve spent more than 4 hours on our design/build!

But we’re not lily-livered landlubbers so we hoisted the Jolly Roger and headed for water, sure that our trusty, battered old Furner would do us proud.

To complete the look, we sported a mix of ‘normal’ oars and some exciting new paddling accessories; two handmade oars crafted by Stephen out of old floor boards, and … a plank. Instead of shivering timbers, we were rowing with them!

Remarkably we weren’t one of the teams that sank(!) and we made it to the finish line in one piece, coming 23rd in a race of 29.

Imagine what we could’ve done with proper equipment!

Thanks to WaterAid, Reading Rowing Club, Thames Water and everyone else who turned up yesterday, either to compete or cheer us all on (less thanks to the kids on the bridge who egged us. Filthy scallywags!) It was fantastic fun, for a great cause - even the rain didn’t spoil it!

Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate’s life for me! Well done team!

But it’s not over yet - we’re still trying to meet our fundraising target so WaterAid get even more money for their projects in Bangladesh. You can be supportin’ our efforts on our JustGiving page.

Cheers, me hearties!

Build, build, build your boat

You may remember a recent post on our efforts to build and race a raft to raise money for WaterAid.

On Monday night the build began in earnest. And the rain. 

   

It may not look very sea-worthy yet but let’s hope by the time the guys are finished tonight we’ll be able to float merrily down the river tomorrow.

Stephen’s even gone DIY on our oars, with these inspired bits of recycling! -

The ‘Wacky Rafters’ Race starts at 6.15pm tomorrow, starting line is on the Thames, by the Reading Rowing Club. Please come cheer us on or give us a donation for WaterAid, if you can.

Check our more photos of the build - and we’ll update with a snap of the finished raft - on our Facebook Page

Thanks!