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Rowing for the Forget Me Not Trust
After a gruelling 140-mile cycle in 2016 that raised more than £600 for the Forget Me Not Trust, our team turned their sites away from land and onto water for our latest challenge. It had to be tough, but we decided we didn’t want to go anywhere cold so, after ruling out the North Pole, we put our heads together and decided to row Loch Ness. Because, why not?
We know what you’re thinking, the Scottish Highlands are pretty cold, and the Loch certainly won’t be warm, but on we row! Loch Ness is 26 miles in length, albeit narrow (approx. 1 mile wide), totalling a whopping 52 miles for the return journey over the course of 2.5 days – sounds like a walk in the park (or a row across an immense body of water…).
Rallying The Aura Print Troops
After some silver-tongued selling, we managed to confirm 5/13 of our awesome printing team for the expedition, hitting the road on June 3rd. Canoes were hired, training was complete, and bags were packed – no going back!
After we started spreading the word and raising money once again for the ever deserving Forget Me Not Trust , our team grew from 5 to a grand total of 14 rowers. With many of us having young children, the Forget Me Not Trust is a charity extremely close to our hearts, so choosing them as our beneficiary was a no-brainer.
As our early sponsors began flooding in, it was important that our team got as much training in as possible, taking regular rowing trips out to Pugneys, a reservoir 10 miles from the Aura Print office in Huddersfield. It wasn’t easy, and I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to a few canoe-flips… but practice makes perfect, right?
Scotland, Here We Come!
By the time June came around we looked like seasoned athletes and absolutely nothing could stop us. On Thursday 2nd June, the Aura Print team set off on the 8-hour long drive from Huddersfield to Inverness, where we made camp at Dores – right next to a pub as luck would have it (we’re from Yorkshire, after all). The next morning, with a few sore heads, we cast-off.
The first 10 miles were easy going, with plenty of chat, smuggled grog (vodka), and plenty of laughs. The first real challenge of the row presented itself approximately 12 miles down the Loch (the approximate half-way point), as the Loch narrowed, and the waves picked up. Over the course of an hour and a single-mile stretch, we steadily made our way past Foyers Hydro Station, about 500 metres into open water and through 2-foot-tall waves. Tough stuff!
Tired, wet, and sunburnt from the unusually hot Highland weather, we crept on down the Loch and made it another 6 miles to the ¾ point before pitching up for our second nights’ wild camp. Having only chipped away at 18 miles instead of the targeted 24 to Fort Augustus, there was talk of failing to complete the full distance, knowing full well we’d have to complete the remaining 6-miles in the morning before rowing all the way back up to Dores.
The Second Leg Of Our Journey
Hopping into our canoes at 8am, the next morning we managed to complete the final 6 miles to Fort Augustus in a record time of 2 hours! Following a much-deserved breakfast at the halfway point where we joked about how easy it was going to be to finish the event, we returned to our canoes to find that the wind had changed direction and 2ft waves were crashing toward us at Fort Augustus. Typical.
Headstrong, we soldiered on. On the journey back up the loch, battling high waves and strong winds, the mornings 2-hour, 6-mile journey turned into a 5-hour return. With fatigue riddled sulky-sailor-syndrome setting in, once again there was chatter of failing to complete the 52 mile row in time. Putting our heads together, we decided that if we could just get passed the Hydro Station, it would leave less than 12 miles the following morning to the chequered flag.
As The Sun Sets
We all urged each other on (it’s amazing what you can do with willpower and energy tablets), and the miles came down quickly. As the sun began to set over Loch Ness, we passed the Hydro Station and, with the thought of another day’s rowing proving exhausting, we decided to row on with nothing but willpower spurring us on. ‘We’ll row ‘til it’s done’, we all agreed.
As the sky got darker, the weather turned cooler and the waves got gentler, creating the stunning illusion of rowing on glass. Throughout the serene final stretch, we joked about how easy it would be to spot old Nessie in such clear, calm water, and just like that we could see the lights of Dores.
With just 6 miles left to go, the lights of our start-point and the Dores Inn pub beckoned. With the thought of a fried breakfast and a pint of lager spurring us on, at 2am our team docked back at Dores in the black of night – what a journey!
Thank you to everyone who took part and donated, helping us raise over £4,000! Stay tuned, our team will be back with another wild challenge before you know it.
