Firstly a big Thankyou to everyone who has or is going to sponsor us.
After the weather wrecked our plans to go on Sunday 20, we finally set sail at 5:30am Tuesday 22 June 2010 From Harbour
The boat motored around to Shakespear’ beach where Dan wearing speedo’s Belly flopped into the water and had to swim ashore. Once on Dry land Dan waited for the worn to blow to signal the start of this epic Crossing which started at 6:24 AM. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhMaP5Pgk_k
Dan did his 1 hour and then it was Chris’s turn to go, Chris did his hour and then Jon was off – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1fz0LA83hMt
Then it was Sarahs turn http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQzX1RM38Po
Then it was Pauls turn – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8Pj5aNPj3M
At 5 hours in we all felt good and we where secretly hoping for a finish in 13-14 hours.
The 2nd hour each of us did was across the busiest shipping lane in the world, all went swell!
Dan did his 3 hour.
Chris did his 3 hour - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKIFfS7PvNM
At 12 hours in and we are 3 miles from France Jon got in again – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMN7zJ6zI2M
At 13 hours we are still 3 miles from but heading down the coast. Sarah's in for her 3 hour and we are taking bets on whether her or Paul will Finish.
Watching Jon Shiver is keeping rest of us warm by laughing- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLUzMXiGLgA
At 14 hours we are still 2-3 miles from even further down the coast heading towards . Paul Jumps in. We are all expecting Paul to finish it.
At 14:40 It dawns on Dan that he’s got to do another swim.
At 15 hours in Dan goes in expecting to hit land before his hour is up. The sun goes down so he's swimming in the dark, with tinted goggles on - Schoolboy Error! He can only just see the boat let alone the land!
At 15:45 hours in the skipper is talking of aborting the crossing as it's looking very likely that we will end up heading into Calais port. Suddenly the tide slack’s and we make some headway. The Team talk the skipper into letting us continue, which he does under the agreement if he say’s out the water now, that’s it finished!
At 16 hours Chris jumps in wearing glow sticks so we don’t lose him.
At 16 Hours and 36 minutes (23:00 English time) Chris swims into France, he's made it back onto dry land - WE’VE DONE IT !!!!!!
Once he’s back onboard and stopped the shivering, out came the champagne!!
It’s a 22 mile straight crossing we did over 35 miles -DOH
All of us would like to thanks all our Many Sponsors massively. It wouldn’t have been worth it without you all.
Team Outrageous - Channel no 5
There's a few more Photos on Dan Butler's Facebook Page
Updated on Jun 23rd 2010 at 1:15 AM using the JustGiving iPhone app
Job done 16 hours 36
Updated on Jun 22nd 2010 at 11:01 AM using the JustGiving iPhone app
Started at 6:24
At 3.00am on 20th June 2010 Dan Butler, Sarah Dodsworth, Jon Munday, Chris Butler, Paul Hussey and Chris Ford will embark on a marathon swim from Dover to Calais in a relay team Called “Team Outrageous - Channel No 5" .
We aren't allowing ourselves to think about how far it is, how deep it is, Jellyfish, Seasickness, Sharks, Swimming in the dark, size of the waves, how cold it'll be or how we avoid Ferry waste!!
Paul's son Luke has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and we want to dedicate this swim to raise funds to find a cure for this incurable illness. We would be grateful for any donations however large or small as they all help the cause.
We each swim for an hour on a rotation until we reach France. Battling strong currents in water at 14c the English Channel is considered the most difficult open water swim in the world. The crossing covers a distance roughly 25 miles and we hope to get there in 14-15 hours which is the average time for a relay crossing of which there has been less than 500 since the 1st in the 1950's.
Team Outrageous are also sending a team of elite swimmers who will attempt to break the current record for a team relay crossing which currently stands at 6 hours 52 mins . Both Teams will make their attempts over the weekend of 19/20th June 2010, weather permitting, under the strict regulations and supervision of the Channel Swimming Association using "Pathfinder" as the Pilot boat.
The team members have previously run marathons, competed in Ironman and performed 10,000ft skydives on behalf of the charity but this will be the hardest challenge yet.
We do this because we can and to help Children like Luke who cannot. With your help it will be possible to extend the already remarkable research to find a cure for this cruel condition so please dig deep and donate now.
If you could take the time to forward the link on we'd be very grateful.
Many thanks
Team Outrageous - Channel No5
Updated on May 28th 2010 at 8:15 AM And then there where 5. Chris Ford has had to remove himself from the team as he's got a recuring back injury that has hampered his training. A sensible but hard decision. We all hope you get sorted soon mate and no we won't be doing it again!
