After a few delays, they started their trip last Friday, November 16th, on the custom-shaped boards by Abel (17’ long, 30.5” wide) which were specifically designed to carry the 60kg of luggage. The water level is low as it hasn’t rained for weeks so the trip is slower than expected and yes, it’s cold, -3°C during the day, much colder at night when they camp out in the wilderness close to the river.

After 4 days out in the cold and wilderness they made it to Barcs in Hungary where they were welcomed by the Police and had to pay a 70 EUR fine for illegal paddling on river Drau. They got out of the water lugging around their 100kg of equipment on trolleys through the village center and found a place to stay, to warm up, rest and relax (and email us photos).

They were considering aborting the mission due to the extreme cold and trouble with the police but decided to continue for now, leaving Barcs in the middle of the night (to avoid another encounter with the police)  from Tuesday to Wednesday (23rd). They are now en route to Osijek, Croatia and we expect to hear back in 2-3 days. We wish them good luck and are sending lots of warmth and sunshine from London!

UPDATE 30.11.2011. “We made it to Belgrade, Serbia. We invested a lot of money in Police fines. It was never as warm as at the (freezing) Chiemsee race”

UPDATE 1.12.2011: “It was not possible to continue the journey, we are on our way home”

 

 


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