CLC | Battling nature and the elements to raise £80,000 for OnSide Youth Charity

Last week on April 8^th, 28 brave participants battled nature and the elements, pushing themselves physically and mentally in aid of youth charity, OnSide. The 28  took part in the Caledonian Canoe Trip; Sixty miles of rowing from Fort William to Inverness, Scotland

This challenging charitable effort was made even more outstanding by being attempted in just three days, with the ‘standard’ being a five-day effort to complete the mammoth journey.

The OnSide charity sets out to help young people aged 8-19 years old, and OnSide Youth Zones are there for young people in deprived areas, where the alternative for many is spending their evenings on the streets, or isolated at home.

With many of the canoeists never having stepped foot in a canoe before, the scale of the task at hand was great.

The trip saw the participants stripped of comfort and luxury throughout, exemplified by nightly camps in the wild along the canals and Lochs of Scotland. With biting temperatures and not a pillow in sight, this was a challenge as mental as it was physical.

Day one saw a number of safety briefings, canoes being loaded with the next 3 days essentials, the men into boats and finally, oars in the water. The crew were on their way.

As day one drew to a close the crew set up camp beside Loch Lochy and tents also absent from the trip, their tarpaulin bivouac shelters embedded amongst the vivid green of the wild around them. The beautiful, remote setting certainly didn’t offer anything in terms of warmth or comfort for the 28 canoeists as they set down for the night amongst the trees.

As the sun rose on day two, so did the CLC canoe crew. On the water by 8am, there was serious ground to be made as the crew embarked on a 20+ mile effort to the mouth of Loch Ness in Fort Augustus.

Day two saw some ups and downs with the elements, with a loch and canal row relatively tranquil compared to a less than straightforward stint of rowing along the River Oich.

The river is home to some rather aggressive rapids, which saw a number of canoes fall victim to their strike.

It was more onslaught than OnSide as multiple boats were capsized, leaving some of the canoeists in the bitterly cold river in addition to their vacant canoes and supply barrels being taken away with the current.

As the team rallied to recover their comrades, day two was coming to an end with a battle against both the river current and remaining daylight to recover all the vital supplies and canoes that could be lost.

Fortunately, nobody was  injured apart from pride, and all essentials were skilfully recovered, but the trials and tribulations of the River Oich certainly reminded the crew that this was no easy challenge.

As the team closed out day two, they were at the mercy of the whipping winds of Fort Augustus as they camped in an open field at the mouth of Loch Ness.

As the sun rose on day 3, and the crew facing a 21-mile final push, the 28 men took to the water with the aim of rowing into Inverness victorious in their mission.

The weather was kind, the sun shone, and the notorious Loch looked relatively calm- a watery kind of red carpet to the finish without a monster in sight.

Unfortunately, 11 miles into Loch Ness, disaster struck as the elements stepped up to monster status.

Extremely high headwinds and vigorous choppy waters caused some serious problems.

The canoeists took shelter against the bank of Loch Ness, and after some deliberation by their guides, they were forced to turn around and cover their 11-mile trip back to the safety of land. As the wind started to roar, the canoeists were at the mercy of the conditions as they headed for safety.

With all 28 of the canoeists finally safe, and 60 miles of rowing completed, the crew came together for a debrief and celebration of what they had achieved.

Beaten only by the extremely dangerous elements, the canoeists – even with their 180 degree turn on Loch Ness – rowed their intended target of 60 miles.

Unfortunately, the last 11 miles were not the last 11 miles they intended to cover, as their mission of rowing into Inverness was scuppered by the monstrous conditions.

Upon finishing, we spoke to Adam Garner, Social Value Manager for Kier, who told us:

“If I’m honest, I think all the guys are a bit gutted that we were scuppered – especially this late on in the trip.

“Two and a half days of graft and sleeping in the rough has been a real challenge and for us to have to turn around on Loch Ness isn’t what any of us wanted. However, we understand the guides have to be safe – at the end of the day we all preach safe working in our own companies don’t we!

“Seeing the water suddenly start to whip up the way it was got quite alarming, and if we had a tail wind perhaps we could have gone for it- but with that head wind we have to respect the decisions of the guides as experts on these bodies of water.

“All that being said, all of us are really proud at what we’ve done. We’ve rowed 60 miles, we have some great memories, the teamwork has been fantastic, and we’ve seen some beautiful scenery along the way.

“Topping it all off, to do it all in aid of OnSide and raise over £80,000 for under privileged young people is the real victory for all of us here.”