I cycled the Dunwich Dynamo: 112 miles overnight!

What am I going to do?

On July 20th I was among several hundred people setting off from Hackney in east London to cycle non-stop overnight 112 miles to Dunwich on the Suffolk coast, coincidentally near Lowestoft where Sam and Vicki Samuels first came across Britannia, the 108 year old East Coast Sailing Smack which they have been battling to save and restore. The aim was to arrive in one piece (fortunately accomplished!) and in the process to raise some much-needed funds for the Britannia Sailing Trust.

Why am I doing this?

I first sailed on Britannia in the Western Isles of Scotland nearly 40 years ago and fell in love with her then. She is the last of her kind, built in 1915 as an east coast fishing vessel and lovingly restored by Sam and Vicki in the 1970s, when she was their family home. Sadly she fell on hard times after Sam and Vicki sold her in 1996, but after she was discovered in a near-derelict state in 2013 incredibly they came out of retirement to take on the task of restoring her once more, forming the Britannia Sailing Trust and using Sam's extensive skills as a shipwright and the enthusiasm of numerous volunteers to meet the huge challenge of rebuilding her using traditional skills and materials. They've made enormous progress and the end is almost in sight, but restoring a boat of this kind is a lengthy and expensive process and funds are desperately needed to ensure their devoted hard work can be completed.

If they're successful, what happens next?

Britannia will be operated by the Britannia Sailing Trust, a charity that supports disadvantaged young people, fostering moments of triumph and self-discovery, through boatbuilding and sailing. She will offer the opportunity to get stuck in, engage with the natural world and forge meaningful relationships, while empowering people to reach their full potential. Just as importantly she will provide opportunities to pass on the ancient traditions and endangered heritage skills of wooden boatbuilding and seafaring to a new generation, as well as raising awareness of the environmental threats to our oceans and seas at a time when 12 million tonnes of plastic finds its way into the ocean every single year.

Please give generously so I'll know it was worth the effort!

Thank you!!!