by Katie on March 11, 2010
After meeting two Venezuelan fishing boats in the same day, I played it safe and did my evening shift with the nav-light on (I usually only leave it on while sleeping, as it can be difficult to watch for waves with it on). The light seemed to attract a different kind of visitor: a bird. It was flying rather awkwardly, almost like a bat, and found itself a spot in the cockpit.
Midnight … 2AM … 6AM … 8AM … it was still there. Most other birds leave by sunrise so I knew something must be up. And then it did it. It hobbled around, unable to fly with perhaps a broken wing. With a cockpit about 4-feet long, I debated whether or not this was the right place for an injured bird. I couldn’t bear to put “Hobs” overboard, so I let him stay.
After 10 minutes of rowing, I feared running him over with the sliding seat, so I fenced him in the corner of the cockpit with some snacks; they remained uneaten. Humans can have three days without water and possibly 10 without food; if that is the standard for birds too, I’m afraid Hobs’ days may be numbered.
With less than 150 miles to go, it’s now my personal mission to do what I can to save Hobs.
Katie is now within the final 150nm of her epic voyage across the Atlantic Ocean. Normally, that would still be a massive distance to row but, when you’ve already covered the best part of 3,000 miles (if you include all the wiggly bits!), it becomes the final straight. As many of you will know, one of Katie’s main goals with this expedition was to raise money in order to provide clean drinking water to thousands of people worldwide. This is a cause that Katie believes in passionately, as you can see from the blog she wrote a month ago, which you can read here.
Katie has currently set a target of raising $60,000, which would enable 2,000 people to get access to clean water for life. At the moment, the total stands at $54,100. I now have a challenge for you…
In just a few days’ time (probably Saturday or Sunday), Katie will set foot on land for the first time in over 10 weeks. Let’s hit the target before then so one of the first things she can hear is: “You’ve raised $60,000″.
But there’s an added incentive as well. We have received a very generous offer from an unnamed donor whereby, for every dollar over $60,000 that has been raised by the moment Katie arrives, that will be matched (up to a total of $5,000). This means that, if we can get the fundraising total right up to $65,000 by that time, it will instantly jump to $70,000. How would that be for a welcoming gift?!
You can donate now by clicking here and going through a few simple steps.
This is undoubtedly an ambitious goal and will take some effort. But hopefully a little bit of Katie has rubbed off on all of us these past few months – challenges are there to be met. After all, isn’t that what Katie’s about to do?
[For further information about why every single donation is invaluable, please look at the Guest Blog by Lisa Nash and the Blue Planet Run Foundation website. Please pass this to as many people as you can. It's amazing what can be achieved when we all get involved!]
