Under a week to go before the launch of the 300 KM paddle from Nova Pec to Charles Bridge in support of the Czech ex RAF Veterans. The paddle starts on Friday 8 May and finishes at 1100 on Friday 22 May at Charles Bridge in Prague. Preparations are nearly complete, with today seeing the finalising of the maps that will be needed and lots of little bags of food being gathered together so that the trip will also be a culinary feast. If this fails to happen when they are extracted from the depths of the kayak then no doubt the facilities of the odd Czech water-side hostelry will be used!

The project is now an officially registered UK company which goes by the name of THE CZECH FEW LIMITED. We have applied for charity status from the UK Charity Commissioners but the bureaucracy drags on and we still await the registration number. The good news is that those who donate to the project will be able to claim a tax refund on the donation whether they are UK or Czech based. A UK bank account specifically for the project has been opened and a Czech account will be opened next week. Full details of the Charity registration and the account numbers will be published as soon as we get them.

For those who have forgotten why we are doing this, I should just like to remind you of the brave Czech airmen who came to Great Britain at the start of the Second World War to fight as members of the RAF. On return to the Czech Republic and during the communist regime they were persecuted and imprisoned. Although their conditions improved after 1989 they are still not adequately compensated for their sacrifice. The Czech Defence Ministry pays pensions to some but not all of the Veterans and the RAF Benevelont Fund contributes significant money every year to support the Veterans. The State clearly can not do every thing and charitable efforts like this one attempt to close the gap. In the UK we have a profusion of charities through which the public can support their veterans. This is not the case in the Czech Republic where the old mind set is understandably taking time to wither and die. A number of Czech firms and individuals have however been extremely helpful and generous. Interlink cs, TNP Laminex, HG Sports to name but three.

You may also ask how the money will be used? In essence three Trustees will control the dispersal of funds for veteran charitable purposes. This is required by the relevant Charity Laws. However a veteran in need will, as is currently the case, seek support from the UK Defence Attache in Prague. He will then decide whether the case can be answered by the RAF Benevolnet Fund or whether it is a cause for immediate support from THE CZECH FEW LIMITED. If it is, the case will be presented to the three Trustess who will authorise payment.

During the trip I will make a report every night at about 1800 which will then be put on this blog by the support team- Jerry Hermansky and Petra Mohylova. As the Vltava flows North I should not get lost however the planned daily progress might be affected by the weather and my ablitity to leave a warm sleeping bag in the morning! A route plan will be added to the blog soon for any Czech paddlers who would like to join the cavalcade traveling North. You will be very welcome.

It would be worth calling Petra on 00420603254728/email petra_mohylova@yahoo.com and she should know the state of progress.

Finally we should like to thank all our family, friends and kayak shop owners who have given their advice and listened to the endless yaking stories over the last few months. Your patience has been admirable!

Now off to IDET, the Czech Defence Equipment exhibition to seek more pledges for this hugely worthwhile project.

Zkoumáme hlubiny

V polovině února dva z týmu Prague Yakers vyrazili do Pardubic, aby se v kurzech pořádaných CVOKem v místním plaveckém bazému pokusili pokořit eskimácký obrat. Úspěšní jsme byli prozatím ze 75%, ale věříme, že po další lekci už budeme rotovat jako zdatní Inuité.

Trénink byl tedy zahájen se vší vážností a úsilím. Jakmile odhalíme záhady informační technologie, jak přesunout data z GPS do počítače, rádi bychom propojili náš blog s Google Earth, aby naše obecenstvo mohlo prakticky v reálném čase sledovat naše snažení. Není nad motivační prostředky, které koncentrují mysl Prague Yakers na řádný trénink!

Exploring the Depths

Over this last weekend two of the Prague Yakers went to Pardubice to be taught how to eskimo roll at the local swimming pool. We were 75% successful and are very confident that the next lesson will see us rolling just like an Inuit.

Training starts in earnest this week! Once we work out how to download the data from the GPS to the computer it will shown on the Blog via Goggle Earth. This will certainly concentrate the Yakers minds so that they train properly!

Novinky: Pádlujeme kupředu!

Od zveřejnění posledního blogu se toho zase změnilo moc. Z Anglie dorazil kajak, Valley Aquanaut HV, a Richard ho zkušebně prověřil v ledové tříšti na Vltavě - a s velkým úspěchem, je to skvělý člun.

Jerry Hermansky začal usilovně pracovat na založení dvou charitativních registrací pro náš projekt - v Británii i České republice. Všechny náležitosti s tím spojené by měly být vyřízeny zhruba s koncem února a právě tento krok by měl zatraktivnit náš projekt pro hlavní sponzory, kteří čekají jen na to, aby mohli na tuto skvělou věc přispět.

V nejbližší době by také měla dorazit 2 pádla, za která velmi děkujeme firmě TNP Laminex, a HG Sport z Prahy nám laskavě nabídli, že můžeme náš kajak ponechat v jejich loděnici v Bráníku, což výrazně ulehčí složité pendlování během tréninku v jarních měsících. Prahu v poslední době totiž stíhá jedna sněhová nadílka za druhou - to sice přidává městu na atmosféře, ale přepravovat několikrát do týdne kajak přes půl města není zrovna velká libůstka. Kromě přístřeší pro naše plavidlo nám HG Sports také přislíbili věnovat "kolečka" usnadňující transport kajaku. Ještě jednou tedy VELKÝ DÍK firmám TNP Laminex a HG Sport!

A ta nejzajímavější zpráva nakonec: Náš projekt dostal konečně své jméno. Od nynějška se jmenuje "TĚCH NĚKOLIK ČECHŮ" - kdo pravidelně sledujete náš blog, si jistě připomenete drobný exkurz do historie a projev WInstona Churchilla, který tímto přízviskem označil účastníky bitvy o Anglii během druhé světové války.

Je toho hodně, o tom není sporu - ale máme dobře nastartováno a jakmile bude náš charitativní projekt zaregistrován, věříme, že sponzoří prokáží TĚM NĚKOLIKA ČECHŮM svou štědrost.

Update: We Are Paddling Forward!

A great deal has happened since the last blog. We have received the kayak, a Valley Aquanaut HV, and had a test paddle in the ice and snow on the River Vltava- it is a wonderful boat.

Jerry Hermansky has set in motion the formation two charitable accounts, one in the UK and one in the Czech Republic which should be up and running by the end of February. I know that this will be very attractive to the major sponsors who are just waiting to contribute to our excellent cause.
We are shortly to receive 2 paddles very kindly donated by TNP Laminex in the Czech Republic and HG Sports in Prague have agreed that the kayak can be stored on their river side premises, which will ease the travel difficulties during the training period. Prague is getting one large dump of snow after another - that is attractive and adds to the city's romantic nature but does not make traveling and transfering the boat several times a week across half of Prague very easy. HG Sports have also offered to provide trailers. A very big thank you to TNP Laminex and HG Sports!

The most interesting news is revealed at the end of this post. Our project has finally got its name! It is now called "THE CZECH FEW" - those who follow our blog regularly will understand the reference to the brief history of the Battle of Britain and Winston Churchill's speech that described the airmen participating in what was to be one of the turning points of the WWII.

A busy period for sure but we are now very much up and running and once the charitable accounts are established we know that our sponsors will be showing their generosity for THE CZECH FEW.

Just Watch / Jen se podívejte

Tohle všechno nás čeká.

All This Awaits Us.

Dějiny: Churchill a piloti RAF / History: Churchill and RAF Pilots

Churchill ve svém legendárním projevu pronesl 20. srpna před Dolní sněmovnou nesmrtelnou větu: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few!" (Ještě nikdy na poli lidských konfliktů tolik nevděčil tak velký počet lidí tak nemnohým.). 

Bitva o Británii probíhala od 10. července do 31. října 1940. Nejsložitější a nejnebezpečnější období Bitvy nastalo mezi 24. srpnem 6. zářím, kdy se útoky německé Luftwaffe soustředily na letiště a zázemí RAF na jihu země a dosahovaly značných úspěchů. Ve svém projevu Churchill poprvé označil bojové piloty RAF jako "těch několik nemnohých" ("the Few"). Označení se uchytilo.

"Těch nemnohých" bylo 2353 mladých mužů z Velké Británie a 574 z ostaních zemí, pilotů a příslušníků bojových posádek, kteří jsou oficiálně uznáváni jako účastníci bojů o Británii. Každý z nich absolvoval alespoň jeden operační let u jedné z jedenasedmdesáti akreditovaných jednotek v období 10. července - 31. října 1940. 

544 z nich v Bitvě padlo. 

Dalších 791 položilo život v akci do konce války. 

Mezi "the few", tedy "nemnohými", bylo a je i 89 československých pilotů, kteří létali za RAF. 

Výňatek z proslovu: "Vděčnost každého domova na našem Ostrově, v našem impériu a v celém světě, vyjma příbytků viníků, směřuje k britským pilotům, kteří nezlomeni protivenstvím, nezdolně tváří v tvář stálé výzvě a smrtelnému nebezpečí svou statečností a odhodláním obrací průběh Světové války. Ještě nikdy na poli lidských konfliktů tolik nevděčil tak velký počet lidí tak nemnohým."

Churchill delivered a legendary speech on August 20, 1940 at the height of the Battle of Britain. This speech contains an immortal message: "Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few!"

On August 15, the crisis of the battle of Britain was reached. All the resources of Fighter Command in the South were used. The most difficult and dangerous period of the Battle of Britain was between August 24 and September 6, when the German attack was directed against the R.A.F airfields in the South of England with considerable success. In this speech Churchill coined the phrase "The Few" to describe the R.A.F fighter-pilots. The phrase stuck. 

"The Few" were 2353 young men from Great Britain and 574 from overseas, pilots and other aircrew, who are officially recognised as having taken part in the Battle of Britain. Each flew at least one authorised operational sortie with an eligible unit of the Royal Air Force or Fleet Air Arm during the period 10 July to 31 October 1940.

544 lost their lives during the period of the Battle. 

A further 791 were killed in action or died in the course of their duties before the war's end. Among these "Few" were and are the 89 Czechoslovak pilots that flew for RAF. 

Excerpt: "The gratitude of every home in our Island, in our Empire, and indeed throughout the world, except in the abodes of the guilty, goes out to the British airmen who, undaunted by odds, unwearied in their constant challenge and mortal danger, are turning the tide of the World War by their prowess and by their devotion. Never in the field of human conflict was so much owed by so many to so few."