Just to let you know Graham Fairweather and I managed to complete the DW the other weekend in the Senior Doubles class.
We would not have got to the start line had it not been for the support from the club loaning us the 'Barracuda' and the 'nothing was too much trouble' support from both Trevor Monk and Jonathon Shepherd. Many thanks to you both for all the tips and gear.
The first time we had a go in the Barracuda was on a not-so-calm Ullswater a couple of weeks before the race and we were a little shaky to say the least...we ended up in the drink after been so proud of ourselves surviving the steamer wash. The waters on the DW with good weather were a lot kinder, although we did get swamped just before dark by an inconsiderate motor cruiser blasting up the Thames.
Taking the seats out and putting in our own 'Tibetan-terrace' seats made out of old karrimats glued together in layers was a God-send. Other tips like ''Have you practised going under low bridges?'' to which we replied ''What low bridges?'' were invaluable. ''Set off as early as you can'' was another good one.
The night before the race and after some last minute planning at the B&B we went out to a great French restaurant [good for support crew morale!] and had got to bed around 11.30pm with a stomach full of good food and a couple of pints of the local brew. We were up at 4.30am and were pleased that our landlady had insisted on cooking us a full English breakfast.
We'd got to the start at Devizes Wharf in good time to be registered and go through the necessary kit checks. We were ready to go and waiting for someone to start us... what we didn't realise is that when you are ready you just get in the water and start paddling up the river to a marshal who stops you and starts you there. So we set off with about 20 boats ahead of us which gave us something to aim for although we were paddling our own race to just finish. This relaxed start was good for us because I was still finding it difficult to steer in a straight line!
We took it steady-away negotiating the tunnel and jogging the mile
or so along a series of locks too close together to make it worth while
putting the boat back in the water.
By halfway through the race we felt quite good, the video on forward paddling we'd watched a few weeks earlier seemed to be paying dividends minimising stress injuries giving us reasonable boat speed. We were surprised to be over-taken by only one boat on the water the entire race [we finished 3rd boat across the line] but our portages could have been better as a number of crews went passed us at these points as Graham and I grappled with this unfamiliar exercise of climbing in and out of the boat while not falling in. We had expected to be overtaken by an Armada of faster crews who were setting off later than us, but they timed it better to make maximum use of the tidal flow from Teddington Lock to finish after us but with faster times.
We, however, were pleased to have made it through the night. I had had a low point early in the night section but was boosted by a concoction of hot tea and lemon-flavoured carbo powder [makes great lemon tea -- but nobody else seems to like it!]; coupled with a bar of '85% cocoa' chocolate -- my secret weapon against falling asleep. Graham seemed to be suffering later on, as he started to shiver particularly when we stopped paddling at the portages, he accidentally dropped his paddle in the middle of the river [in the dark] so it was a good job we had white paddle blades and we were doing the double class!
We'd made sufficient progress to get to the tidal estuary just after high-water [04.20 hrs]. This gave us maximum time to get to Westminster before the tide turned but not the optimum use of the maximum flow. We were conscious of this as we fought to finish under our secret target of 24hrs.
What made it the hardest event I've ever done was the sustained effort over the last two and a half hours to cover the last 17 miles [at about 7mph] to try to get under the 24 hour barrier. We had initially not dared think this could be possible and would have been more than happy just to finish in one piece. We now dared to think this might be possible, but the only problem was we had no real idea of the effect, the estuary tidal flow would have on increasing our boat speed over the ground and so didn't know whether we were fighting a lost cause. Not only that, being a couple of northern country bumpkins we also didn't know the geography of the river [you don't see Big Ben until the very last minute!], so mentally it was difficult to keep the effort going. All we could focus on was the clock ticking away with the end nowhere in sight!
Graham had made a padded foam back-rest fitted to the back of his
cockpit and suffered for the last 40 miles with a 4in x 10in weeping
blister across his lower back. He only mentioned it in passing so it
was a monumental effort by him of mind over pain that saw us at the
finish in 23hrs 55mins 13secs. 
I don't mind admitting that on the steps at the finish, I couldn't help a tear of emotion roll down my cheek -- a stream of pure relief diluted in a cocktail of sweat and Thames.
For the record we came 33rd/120 starters [88finishers] and 11th in the Veteran Class. I was also chuffed to beat the great, Sir Ranulph Fiennes [25hrs28mins] but he's probably knocking on for 60yrs old now! Don't hold your breath -- the winners beat us by 7hrs!
Finally, you can't do this event without a switched on, and dedicated support crew and we were both lucky enough to have our respective partners muck in for the full 28hrs without sleep as well. This included repairing my car halfway through the event on an Easter Saturday.
Cheers
Martin Barratt & Graham Fairweather
For anybody else thinking of doing it next year here are some more top tips:
It was the hardest thing I've ever done.
Martin D Barratt martin@thorneythwaite.demon.co.uk Tel & Fax [ring first]: 44 [0] 17684 82349