12 members of Yarmouth Gig Rowing Club will carry a 12ft wooden oar 26.5 miles across the Island during this weekend’s Walk the Wight.
What started as a tongue-in-cheek comment after a Sunday morning training session has turned into a full-scale fundraising effort, with the team taking on the gruelling Walk the Wight this weekend.
Setting off from Bembridge at 06:00 on Sunday, the group will tackle the ‘challenging’ 26.5-mile route to Alum Bay — all while transporting a heavy gig rowing oar across the Island.
After much debate during training, members settled on a straightforward approach to the task, with the oar carried on the shoulder by pairs, rotating every 20 minutes throughout the day.
Despite the added difficulty, the team are determined to complete the unique endurance challenge, which they have dubbed an “oar-some” effort.
So far, more than £1,300 has been raised, with the group closing in on their £1,500 target in support of Mountbatten Isle of Wight.
Keith Campbell, Chairman of Yarmouth Gig Rowing Club, has said:
“Walk the Wight has always captured peoples’ imagination and as a club based in Yarmouth we are delighted to not only take part with this slightly ‘off the wall’ challenge but also have the opportunity to try and put something back into something that is so important to our Island community.”
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Let’s carry a stick for charity! Wow.