Barry Ballard
Brendon & Barry are taking on the Yukon!
Fundraising for Dreams Come True
Story
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Donating through this site is simple, fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor me: Dreams Come True Charity will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
UPDATE 20/07/06: WE'VE FINISHED!! After 50 days of rowing, we've done it!! Probably a good job as we have had no cooker for the last two days! We were greeted by the local Yupik people (they don't like to be called Eskimos as that actually means 'raw meat eaters'). The local village paper did a little piece on us. We've donated our first aid kit to the local boys & girls club and our surplus supplies were bought by the locals. The local school is storing our kit for us and we're staying with one of the teachers who took us in. The family have 10 children - 5 of them adopted. They made us moose soup. They're taking us out on a boat to see whales & seals tomorrow and we've been invited to 'join them for steam' (a 'muckquie'). Well, it's all done. All we have to do now is wait for a flight out of here so that we can start making our way home. See you all soon! Barry & Brendon
I would like to say a BIG thank you to all the people listed below, without whom this journey would not have been as easy as it was (not that it was easy!):-
SCOTT AT KANOE PEOPLE, WHITEHORSE
DEB, GORDON, TIFFANY & KAREN AT TOTAL NORTH
DOUG PHILLIPS AT MARSH LAKE
CHRISTIAN OF GERMANY
DALE & SAMANTHA AT COAL MINE CAMP GROUNDS, CARMACKS
HAROLD & CYNTHIA, RUBY
ROGER HUNTINGTON, GALENA
SGT LOWELL & SUE, GALENA
DAWSON TOURIST OFFICE STAFF
ANNA AT THE BUNK HOUSE HOTEL, DAWSON
TEXAS SCOUT LEADERS ON THE RIVER YUKON
TONY PETERS, FORT YUKON
OFFICER AARON, BEAVER
WILLIAM & FAMILY, MARSHALL
PILOT STATION ALASKAN FISH & GAME
HOLLY CARROL & CREW MIKE, RENEE, NAOMI, GABO, DONALD & DOONER THE DOG (BAG EATER!)
BARRY WHITEHILL, ALASKAN FISH & GAME
BILL, DIANE & JIM, EMMONAK
ATS AIRFREIGHT. EMMONAK
LYNDEN INTERNATIONAL, ANCHORAGE
LUPPRINS, HEATHROW
A huge thank you to Total North Communications of Whitehorse, Yukon for donating a large proportion of the cost of the Globalstar satellite phone provided for the trip. Total North is happy to sponsor this invaluable venture and wish Barry and Brendon every success and a safe and unforgettable journey! www.totalnorth.ca
Globalstar is pleased to support the Dreams Come True Yukon Challenge.
The Globalstar portfolio of quality products can help you maintain productivity and keep in contact from remote locations or worksites. Globalstar products and accessories connect you today in places where cellular and landline are unavailable. Wherever your business or life takes you, you'll have the benefit of reliable, affordable and dependable communications virtually anywhere and anytime. www.globalstar.ca.
We would like to thank Global Star, without whom, all our updates to our website would not have been possible and I am sure Dreams Come True thanks you as well.
UPDATE 08/08/06: We did, in 50 days, what most people claimed would take between 70 and 80. Although I lost a stone and a half, hopefully I came back a fitter and better person. It was a team effort and without Brendon I couldn’t have done it. Hopefully he’ll say the same about me! 2,000 miles seems like a hop, skip and a jump now, although after the first 1,000 miles we weren’t saying that! At times, the weather was really bad, the seas were really high and with the wind in your face a canoe does not go forward very fast!! On our best day, we covered 78 miles, our worst, 11! It was at times like this that we almost felt like quitting but we didn’t. There’s a saying I use, ‘It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit’. This I kept reminding myself of. We’ve raised quite a bit of money for a fantastic charity and hopefully, with the help of the three freight companies, we will be able to bring the canoe back to the UK and use it at various functions to raise further awareness of the good work carried out by this charity. The site is still open for donations and we plan to hold a dinner, talk and photos soon.
Watch this space for dates…
Regards
Barry P Ballard
GREAT NEWS!! We've got the canoe back home, as promised. It felt really strange seeing it again and I wonder how we managed to do the whole trip in such a small boat, but we did.
DINNER & TALK:- Barry will be sharing his experience with a few sponsors and friends on Friday 29th September at The Half Moon Pub, Petersfield. Tickets are only available by contacting Barry on (07836) 339664. Let's hope on the night we can tip the total amount raised over the £10,000 mark!! Not bad for an old man 'ey?!