On Saturday, Bryce Alford our Fundraising Manager, took on the never before attempted feat of circumnavigating the 32 mile coast of Jersey by sea on a pedalo and aiming to raise £10,000 to help us with our therapeutic group and one to one exercise sessions, that can be life changing for our members.
He is currently at £4,700 and would really value your support to help him achieve his goal.
You can sponsor him on the link below
Below is his story of this epic challenge.
“It felt like we were pawns in a game played by the Greek gods.
Setting off from Elizabeth Castle as the sun was rising around 6.15a.m with my #PedaloStrong TEAM by my side and on the support board, expertly captained by Alex Scott and assisted by Gabriel Raimondo who both shared the entire journey with me, we headed out on the #RoundTheIslandPedaloChallenge
Soon, Gabriel was guiding us out past the rocks that tower up like a lunar landscape and we would be looking across at the coastline of the South East of our beautiful island home of Jersey, more than a mile out at sea.
I felt insignificant, but the challenge ahead was immense.
Blessed with a good forecast for the morning we made steady progress, but the weather and the sea can be unforgiving and must be treated with great respect.
Do you remember the excitement you felt thinking about taking out a pedalo as you looked at it bobbing gently on the sea shore or moored up on the lake?
Now picture yourself faced by an increasing swell and the water breaking over the front.
This is what faced us now as we made our way along the North Coast passing Bouley Bay with Grosnez pointing the way ahead.
The effort required here was unlike anything else I have felt before and I had to keep checking we were still making progress by looking back, as we slowly but surely left Bonne Buit Bay behind us.
With the vast experience of Alex our Captain, he navigated us perfectly past Plemont and our nemesis Grosnez.
Being told the conditions would be in our favour as we turned the headland toward St. Ouen’s Bay offered some semblance of hope.
Indeed, by now I had come to trust Alex implicitly, reading his facial expressions to guide me as equally as his verbal instructions.
It was like a different world and quite surreal to experience the calmness of the longest bay in Jersey in contrast to the relentlessness of the North Coast.
It becomes comforting to pass the iconic monuments that define Jersey, especially seeing them from a radically different view point and soon Corbiere Lighthouse became another beacon of hope, knowing another achievement was reached as something caught my eye and looking up I took inspiration from seeing a small group of people waving wildly. raising my spirits.
Despite knowing we had broken the back of the most challenging conditions, by now my body was telling me I was pushing myself to the limits.
The uncompromising position of pedalling a craft like this offers no room for error and my left knee had started to become noticeably delicate and susceptible to any unusual movement.
For the remaining couple of hours my focus would be on keeping my knee perfectly aligned with my foot. Any deviation could mean the end of the challenge.
As the black and white markers appeared to signify the end of Elizabeth Castle pier, our starting and finishing point, I knew my body would carry me those final 3 miles, but no more.
Finishing in 10 hours and 30 minutes it felt comparable to the Triple Jersey 144 miles I shared with Harry Mcalinden, who I was honoured to have by my side once again.
Thank you to everyone who has donated so far.
Both I and Headway Jersey, who are celebrating 25 years of helping those affected by brain injury would really appreciate your support in helping me reach my £10,000 fundraising goal.
You can sponsor me on the link below
Thank you
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