HOW IT ALL
STARTED!
17/11/2007
We went out for a drink
tonight and I mentioned an article I'd read in a magazine
at the dentist's about adventurous trips; the
Plymouth-Banjul Challenge was the one that had caught my
eye. I had only brought it up in conversation, but both
Ste's said, "Let's do it." So I'll be blaming the dentist
if anything goes wrong! TD
COMMITTED!
30/03/2008
Applications are now
being accepted for the Plymouth-Banjul Challenge so I've
completed the application form with our £300 entry fee and
have sent it off. I guess this means we are really going to
do it! We must be mad! TD
FOUND A CAR!
03/07/2008
Searching on eBay I've
found a car that should be perfect for us. The seller
claims to have been preparing the car for the same rally as
us, but he now can't make it. I ring Tim and tell him to
bid on the auction, but being clueless about cars he
doesn't believe I'm serious, so I start bidding myself.
There are quite a few bidders involved - they must all have
the same idea as us - but luckily I have nerves of steel
(and lots of credit) and I am determined to win!
SM
COLLECTING THE
CAR
11/07/2008
We have just arrived to
pick up the car that McGill bought on eBay. It cost us £650
and we have also given the seller an additional £400 to get
the car through an MOT and put a year's road tax on it.
£1050 of our hard earned cash - this has got to be some
motor! Now I have known Mr McGill for a long time, but I
have never seen him so dejected and disappointed (although
he did try to hide it) at the moment he first cast eyes on
the car! I don't think it helped when the seller said,
"Sorry, I haven't had time to valet it." Valet it? That's
the least of our worries. It weighs 2 tonnes and there is
no power steering. The throttle linkage has been repaired
with a rubber hose, and the description on eBay said there
was "some surface rust" which has turned out to be the
complete erosion of the rear wheel arches, along with a
number of holes in the body work! And we still have to get
the car back from Devon to Stockton-on-Tees.
SJ
THE LAUNCH
PARTY
11/07/2008
The launch party is in
a field in Devon! When we arrive with our newly purchased
car the organisers are very excited! They tell us that it
will probably see life as a taxi in the Gambia. We meet
some of the other competitors and some people who did last
year's rally and are here to do it all again! Everyone
seems taken with our car; we even meet a team who were also
bidding on it, and they ended up buying a car for £1300, so
maybe we got a bargain! We have a good drink and realise a
lot of the other competitors are a bit crazy. Its lucky
we're normal! TD
COMING
HOME
12/07/2008
On our way back from
Devon following a night of camping. First stop is Exeter
Airport to drop off the hire car we picked up at Bristol
Airport on the way down. Guess what? As soon as we stopped
the car the thing wouldn't start again! When it comes to
mechanics you could describe the three of us a dumb, dumber
and dumberer! Mr McGill, known for his love of hammers, hit
some things with a hammer, but to no avail. I then
remembered a car I used to have that wouldn't start due to
the starter motor jamming in the flywheel. So we put the
car in 2nd gear and rocked it backwards and forwards, and
hey presto - it started! On the way back I start thinking,
"there's something wrong. It must go faster than this!" The
car isn't bad on the flat, a bit better down hill, but
absolutely ridiculous uphill. Fastest speed on the way back
from Devon is 118 kph. Slowest speed with 'pedal to the
metal' (but uphill) was 49 kph. Acceleration - painful! Its
worth noting that a bit of research on the internet on our
return revealed that this might be as good as we can
expect; in fact, one enthusiast wrote, "if you want to go
fast, don't buy a Mercedes W123 240m diesel, as you will
get there faster on a 10 speed racer!" SJ
GOT TO GET THE CAR
PAINTED!
05/08/2008
As you may know, all of
the tourist taxis in the Gambia are painted green. So, if
we take over a green car, rather than a white one, then
hopefully it will raise more money, because any budding
Gambian taxi driver can buy it at auction and then pick up
a fare on the way home! I've decided I have got to buy the
paint, but its August and, true to 'bloody' British
weather, it hasn't stopped raining in weeks. Sod it, if I
buy the paint we will find a way! Then I have a 'Eureka'
moment! I'll stick up a gazebo on the drive and buy some
quick drying paint. I spend a day flattening the paint
(yes, in the sodding rain!) and its ready to paint. Gazebo
up, paint at the ready, and "Hey, what do you know?" -
STUNNING - although I wasn't expecting the Hammerite
finish. Still, a blind man on a galloping horse wouldn't
notice! SJ
EVER HAD A BROKEN
HEART?
13/08/2008
Have you ever had a
broken heart and spent too much time moping about and
drinking far too much? Its pretty much all I do at the
moment! Last week Jukesy gave me a bottle of whisky he won
in a raffle, so on Saturday I drank whisky and wine! I
suppose in my maudlin state I could have gone and jumped
off a bridge, but true to form it was still sodding
raining! So instead, I went on eBay and bought an arcade
machine! Its a bloody huge machine and tonight my friend
and I drove to Doncaster to collect it. The car managed the
weight with no problems, but I found that I couldn't see
past it (because I was in the left hand seat) so I needed
my friend to tell me when it was clear to overtake - that
was a strange feeling! I've learned a few things from the
experience: 1. The car can handle quite a lot of weight. 2.
Mixing wine and whisky is not a good idea! 3. I need to
hide my laptop whenever I am foolish enough to mix wine and
whisky (expensive mistake!) 4. Arcade machines don't fit
through standard size doors (luckily I have French doors
round the back!) TD
I KNOW WHAT THIS CAR
NEEDS!
20/08/2008
I've been using the car
for work to keep it running regularly, but its not quite
running right. It doesn't always start (have to put it in
2nd gear and rock it back and forth) and the rear axle is
leaking out oil (all over my drive - the wife's happy as
you can imagine!). I realise that I know exactly what this
car needs - a set of air horns that play La Cucaracha! I
order some immediately! SJ
POOR MAN'S
DAKAR?
22/08/2008
The idea of this rally
is that its a poor man's Paris-Dakar. I mean, only a rich
man can do the Paris-Dakar, with its back-up teams and
support crews and helicopters and stuff! But at the rate
that Jukesy is spending money (which I am committed to pay
a third!) it might have been cheaper to do the Paris-Dakar.
I already have a second job to make ends meet. I'm thinking
of getting a third! TD
DONE SOME
WORK!
25/08/2008
I've just fixed the
throttle linkage. A length of threaded bar and lots of nuts
and washers! The car is running much better as its finally
getting full throttle. It still won't win any races, but
should keep up with the heavy rush-hour
traffic! SJ
FOG IN
AFRICA?
11/09/2008
Just fitted four fog
lights (just in case its foggy in Africa!). Blown a few
fuses in the process - so that's what the relay was for! SJ
A GOOD
CAUSE!
13/09/2008
On a night out we all
discuss the charitable aspect of our trip. It will be a
great adventure for us, but there is a definite payoff in
donating the car (and our equipment) to be auctioned for
good causes in the Gambia. We decide that we should also
try and raise some additional funds for a good cause in our
local area. I have a colleague whose husband recently
passed away whilst in the Butterwick Hospice, and she has
told me that she was extremely grateful for the excellent
care he received and the dignified ending it afforded him.
We all agree that the hospice is the ideal recipient for
any funds we can raise. TD
TFM BREAKFAST
SHOW
15/10/2008
TFM Breakfast Show did
a brief slot about our trip this morning. It was all a bit
surreal really; I was sitting on the settee in my dressing
gown and Graham Mack phoned me at 7.10 am and asked me
about driving a "clapped out car across the Sahara." Not
the usual way I start my day! TD
EVENING
GAZETTE
16/10/2008
We all went to the Tees
Barrage in the Merc today to get some photos for the
Evening Gazette. There should be an article about the trip
in the next few days. Fame at last! TD
THE CAR HAS
CONKED!
17/10/2008
The car refused to
start today and is stuck at work. I called Tim to come over
at lunchtime and we tried to bump it off, but it still
refused to start. I hit things randomly with a hammer, but
no luck! Then I tried wiggling some connections and snapped
off a connector to one of the heating coils! It was ready
to fall off anyway, I think. We decided that we would have
to tow it back to my house, so after work I collected my
land rover and hooked it up. We set off in rush hour on
Friday and everything went fine for a while ... then we got
to Durham Road roundabout. I pulled out in a gap which I
thought was big enough - unfortunately, Tim didn't think
there was room so he still had his foot on the brake. I
ground to a halt and then we both rolled forward into
traffic. I couldn't get the tension back in the tow rope so
we did a couple of 'kangaroos' and stopped traffic! A few
people 'honked' encouragement! We finally made it back home
and abandoned the car outside!
THE CAR IS WORKING
AGAIN!
19/10/2008
Invited Tim for Sunday
lunch and to have a go at fixing the car. We spent about
three hours over lunch and drank a bottle of wine, then
finally had a look at the car as it was getting dark! We
repaired the broken connector to the heating coil and ...
the car started first time! We took it for a spin to put a
bit of charge back into the battery, and visited Ste J to
ask him what he had done recently towards the
trip!
CONKED
AGAIN!
20/10/08
I tried the car this
morning and it won't start. Sod it, we will tow it to
Africa!
