14. AAAGGGHHHH There's still so much to do...

Clothes - check, technical gadgets - check, food, (mostly chocolate, cake and Fiona's mallow log) - check, first aid and meds - check, degus cage cleaned - well sort of, maps - check, multiple hot water bottles - check, camping gear - check; oh yes and kayak - check; paddles - check - lets not forget the important stuff.

Still to do...

print extensive list of animal husbandry requirements to help Michal deal with cat, dog, chickens, injured collard dove in our absence; water poly tunnel - what it's nearly 11pm?!; update blog - OK, OK, I'm doing it; sleep - one down, one in the bath and me at some point ...

Think I better go and get busy!

Thank you to everyone who has phoned, visited, emailed, blogged, written and wished us luck - none of us can believe we're nearly off. We're feeling excited and apprehensive - James is often good at summing things up in a nutshell so here's a transcript of a conversation earlier this evening ...

Sally, (on sponsorship spreadsheet - more clever IT stuff, Nick): "James, have a look - we've broken the £2000 mark! We've got £2083 of pledged or actual money, and there's loads of gift aid on top of that!"

James, (tired and with slightly sore back but with wry smile): "Mmm, that's good. Now all we have to do is do it."

And on that note, I'm off, the support team's work is never done... (violins play in background etc etc).

13. The countdown begins ...

Blog followers The MacTaggarts tell me that I should start a countdown on the blog ... so with only 5 days to go until departure here are a few updates.

Our ancient cat Maisie likes to wake me early these days so I made good use of the time this morning and checked up on the sponsorship situation. When we started planning this adventure we decided to set ourselves a target of raising £1000 but thanks to all the folk who have so generously sponsored us so far, our running total stands at an amazing £1613! We are really thrilled with this amount and now feel confident enough to set our sights on the £2000 mark by the end of the trip. Big thank you's to everyone who has sponsored the Brave Duo so far.

After a week of blissfully sunny, warm and calm weather on Islay, the wind has picked up and low pressure seems heading our way. We're hoping that it moves through and that elusive perfect kayak weather descends as El and James start paddling later in the week. We leave Islay on the morning of Thursday 9th September, drive to Oban and a quick stop for fortifying fish and chips, (obviously I will only have a very small portion 'cos I'm not paddling), and then straight on to Loch Linnhe. Having looked at the tides, James has decided to paddle the Loch Linnhe to Corpach section of the journey on Thursday afternoon/evening. If they waited until Friday morning the tide would be against them and we don't want that! El and James will then start on the first canal section on Friday.

But just now, we're about to pack the kayak into the car so El and James can have a last pre-trip paddle on Loch Gruinart - it's windy to say the least but ... hey ho at least no midges! Fiona, Calum and Katie are coming down too and we're taking cake - a fun Sunday afternoon!

12. Does attitude make you paddle faster?

School has started again and blog posting has taken second place to teaching, but I thought that this one should go live. With less than two weeks to go before the Brave Duo start paddling, the pile of gear in the spare room is getting sorted, sponsor money is rolling in and Eleanor goes around in her sveldt Helly Hanson gear looking like a young Lara Croft.

Also I need to give a big thank you to the pupils of P5-7 at Keills Primary School, (where I teach), who politely pointed out to me that we could take a tour of the Great Glen using Google maps - brilliant idea guys. They also informed me that Loch Ness is nearly 227m deep, (that's about 750 feet) - how comforting.

11.Capsizing at Sannaig ...

Sadly no basking sharks to add that extra excitement to capsize practice, but it was a gloriously sunny warm day, (we've had just the one this summer on Islay), and Eleanor prepares to take the plunge! We did try to point out that in an emergency she might not have time to put on goggles and hold her nose but ...

...anyway, they both enjoyed tipping each other out of the kayak. Because it is so stable it's remarkably difficult to turn it over, but because it's an inflatable it's easy to flip back the right way and to climb back in - "good" says the support team.

Thanks very much to Ian and Margaret Brooke who were our official photographers at Sannaig. For those of you who don't already know and might be interested, Ian has a bird blog where you can find out all the latest info on what's about and where on Islay.

10. Bruichladdich sponsorship.

We're really chuffed about this one - thanks to Mark Reynier of our local distillery, Bruichladdich, we are able to offer our Amber Liquid Sponsorship Opportunity, (sorry, so niaff couldn't resist it) to those of you who love your single malts! Very kindly, Mark has given the go ahead for a special 'kayak' edition case, (that's 12 bottles), of Bruichladdich Rocks featuring El, James and the kayak on the label. Bruichladdich's designer, Roddy MacEachern, has come up with a great label incorporating a brill photo taken by our friend Michal Sur, (you can check out Michal's website - he's an amazing photographer).

We are auctioning bottle 1 of 12, but other bottles are up for grabs to anyone who would like to sponsor El and James £50 or more - first come, first served. As I write, we only have four bottles remaining, so if you're interested drop us an email at grainel@googlemail.com and we'll reserve one for you. Of course if you are a collector and need to have that first bottle, 1 of 12, in your collection, then let us know and you can have the opportunity to lodge a sealed bid - the auction will close at the end of September and the bottle goes to the highest bidder.

Just to give you a taste - so to speak - of what could be yours - here are Eleanor and James, collecting the whisky at Bruichladdich distillery.

Meanwhile - the sun is out and we're off to Sannaig at the north end of Islay for capsize practice - well obviously I won't be able to get wet cos I have to take photos. We were up there yesterday with friends from Edinburgh and there was a huge basking shark cruising around in the bay so we're hoping he'll be back for capsize trials today!

9. Eleanor taking her training seriously ...

Eleanor has found a way of working on her aerobic fitness, ("Aerobic fitness training? - I was just having fun Mum.") and watching the football at the same time, in her pyjamas.

8. Eleanor enjoys some apres kayak ...

Apparently the water was really warm ... and the buoyancy aid works!

7. Training on Islay - and they're paddling ...

So what does Eleanor think? "It's good on the waves and it is really stable. It goes really fast and is easy to paddle in waves. The best bit was when it was wavy around the Port Charlotte lighthouse and along the Strand. I got a bit wet because we didn't use the spray skirts but not as wet as dad and not as wet as when I jumped in the sea at the end."

And what are James first impressions? "It paddles remarkably fast especially when I give Eleanor a kick. It tracks well and feels very safe."

Praise for the Advanced Elements Tandem Kayak!

6. Training on Islay - look what we've made!

Eleanor and James can put this thing together in about 30 minutes - and they are getting faster. First put the rigid backbone in place, then inflate the two main chambers, the floor, deck combing and deck lift valves. (I've already been doing the big sell on this kayak and promoting the trip so I can talk technical now - Sal).

5. Training on Islay - first make your kayak!

Eleanor and James had their first outing in the tandem kayak this Sunday, paddling from Uiskentuie Strand to the Port Charlotte Hotel ... and back ... into a brisk north westerly. First of all they had to put the kayak together ... which meant handing dog to the support team - sharp teeth + inflatable kayak = disaster.