This in from Chris Welsford on behalf of the Vectis Rugby Club’s under-14’s team, in his own words. Ed
At 3:50am Sunday the 19th June, 26 members of Vectis Rugby Club’s under-14’s team gathered at Ventnor Rugby Club before leaving the ground that has been their home for the last three years to walk to their new ground at Hurricanes Sandown where they are to begin the coming season as the next under-15’s team.
But why so early in the morning you may well ask?
Through the Nostrils
This was the question asked by HM Coastguard Lee-on-Solent when they were informed of the teams plan to walk to their new ground via the foreshore between Bonchurch and Shanklin and then under the 300 foot cliffs of Culver and through the caves known as the Nostrils, before heading up over the down and back to Sandown for breakfast.
The walk, known as Charybdis Passage was designed for the Walking Festival by Chris Welsford and is a race against the tide, hence the early start. The walk takes in some of the most remote parts of the Island’s coastline.
Chris said: “My son Hansi is a winger for the team and last year he and his team mates beat every team they played to be promoted from the third division to the second. This was such an achievement, that when Jerry Burch, their coach, asked me if I would be prepared to raise some money for the club, I could hardly say no.”
“There was no way they were going to accept defeat”
The team’s promotion came after two years of losing every match they played, which was a soul destroying time for the players and their coaches. But rather than giving up, Coaches Jerry Burch and Nick Partington motivated the team to train harder.
Chris said: “I watched them train in the ice and the snow and the freezing rain, twice a week. It was very impressive. There was no way they were going to accept defeat”
Battled the waves
The hardest part of the walk came as the team donned helmets to scramble under the towering cliffs at Culver and entered the water to battle the waves, which threatened to sweep them onto the rocks at the base of the massive cliffs, to gain access to the nostrils caves, usually only accessible from Whitecliff Bay on a low tide.
Mike Forsyth Caffrey, Derek Tosdevin, James Godolphin and Chris Welsford, all members of local Coastguard Search and Rescue teams, acting in a private capacity, guided the team on the walk and through the passage and everyone arrived safely at the caves. Then they climbed a ridge to enter Horseshoe Bay where wet clothes could be changed for dry.
The triumphant team arrived at the Hurricanes Ground in Sandown at 11am where they were greeted by mothers and friends with a hearty cooked breakfast.
