We can all use some good news, and Major Mick’s story is all that while also being the most uplifting, feel-good, and motivational story of the day, to say the least.
Major Mick is an 80-year-old retired army major going by the official name of Michael Stanley, who, for the past three months, has been rowing up and down Chichester canal in West Sussex, England. If the Major’s age isn’t enough to impress you, this certainly will: during this time, he completed his own personal 100-mile (161-km) rowing challenge and has been able to raise £36,326 ($48,274) for a local hospice as of the time of writing.
More importantly, he did all this in a homemade boat he called the Tintanic. How’s that for a modern day MacGyver?
This all started in October this year when the Major set sail. That’s probably an overstatement since the Tintanic more than lives up to the name: it’s a “boat” made of two sheets of corrugated iron, wood, curtain hooks, and housepipe that travels at a hair-raising speed of… 2 mph (3.2 kph). The only creature comfort on board the Tintanic isn’t porcelain tableware or crystal chandeliers (lol at that visual only), but the garden kneeling pad the Major borrowed from his wife. “It’s how I imagine sitting in a Rolls-Royce,” he cracked.
The Major, you see, is a hilarious man.
Stanley served for 35 years in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, so his nickname is well deserved. He got the idea for the project after a trip to India, where he noticed smaller improvised boats being used on the daily. He set out to build his own during UK’s first nation-wide lockdown, thinking of turning it into an event that would raise money for St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Bosham. His initial goal was modest: £1,000 ($1,327 at today’s rate).
“The initial attempts were not good because it wasn’t stable and I was tipped into the sea twice and had total immersion,” he explained back in October. “Then I developed the buoyancy fenders on both sides and it’s now reasonably stable. The only slight problem is when I get in and out, but I think I have mastered it now.”
For three months, twice a week, he traveled back and forth on the canal, from Hunston to Chichester Basin, to raise awareness and money for his campaign. He did so including in cold weather and rain, which he says he will miss the least, talking to passers-by and explaining to them the reason he was out there in a boat that looked so silly.
He was even able to surpass his mileage goal, saying his latest calculations show he actually covered 105 miles (169 km) instead of the 100 he had originally set out for.
His efforts have paid off. As the time of going to press, his campaign raised £36,326 ($48,274), and the money is still pouring in. The hospice has also listed the Tintanic for sale, complete with a bailing bucket, so if you’re in the UK and you want to be part of this amazing story, you can bid on it. The current offer is £255 ($339), which is not a lot of cash for something that achieved this much over a relatively short period of time.
As for how the Tintanic has held up, the Major says it’s still got plenty of life in it, even if you wouldn’t be able to tell based on its looks. “The boat has done very well, it still leaks a bit but with the flexibility of the corrugated iron and wood, I am unable to completely eradicate that,” he tells the PA agency.
But for carrying the Major for 105 miles (169 km) to such an admirable goal, it’s the best (homemade) boat in the world.
More importantly, he did all this in a homemade boat he called the Tintanic. How’s that for a modern day MacGyver?
The Major, you see, is a hilarious man.
Stanley served for 35 years in the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, so his nickname is well deserved. He got the idea for the project after a trip to India, where he noticed smaller improvised boats being used on the daily. He set out to build his own during UK’s first nation-wide lockdown, thinking of turning it into an event that would raise money for St Wilfrid’s Hospice in Bosham. His initial goal was modest: £1,000 ($1,327 at today’s rate).
For three months, twice a week, he traveled back and forth on the canal, from Hunston to Chichester Basin, to raise awareness and money for his campaign. He did so including in cold weather and rain, which he says he will miss the least, talking to passers-by and explaining to them the reason he was out there in a boat that looked so silly.
He was even able to surpass his mileage goal, saying his latest calculations show he actually covered 105 miles (169 km) instead of the 100 he had originally set out for.
As for how the Tintanic has held up, the Major says it’s still got plenty of life in it, even if you wouldn’t be able to tell based on its looks. “The boat has done very well, it still leaks a bit but with the flexibility of the corrugated iron and wood, I am unable to completely eradicate that,” he tells the PA agency.
But for carrying the Major for 105 miles (169 km) to such an admirable goal, it’s the best (homemade) boat in the world.