Getting to London and Heathrow

A place to discuss How we are going to get to Heathrow with 6 boats by 18.45ish 21.45 on the 2nd August.
Also discuss things that will need to be done during the day of the 2nd, and how to pack within the weight limit.
Niamh - how much weight do we have? Is it 23Kgs for the Kayak + Kit then 8kgs in Hand Luggage?
So for a 19kg boat, 12kgs of stuff?

Will, Tom - will you have a pad in London at this time?
Do you know anyone in London who could offer lifts to the Airport?
Could you hire the Union Minibus for a 'Club Trip', and get a favour (for many beers) from an ICC Member who is in London??
Niamhs Ma has offered her house out but it may be easier doing it in Beit Quad where we can spread out, and may be less hassle if it was at your houses.
There is also a chance Niamhs mum and a friend could take us over. But this would be a big favour (time off work etc).
A mini bus from Stratford (Niamhs house) to Heathrow will probably be ~£100. But we're not sure about boats.
How much would it be to leave 2 cars for just under a month?


A few other things to consider:
It would be useful to meet up earlier - packing stuff into boats can take longer than expected!
Hopefully we wone have any repeat bits of kit because Sean is making a spread sheet to see what people have (see To-Do-List).
For previous trips I have shared big bags with other people. Ie, for space and weight
I'm not sure if this is possible if we're just using Hand Luggage size bags.

The two options that seem best to me and are worth looking into are:

1) As Dave said hire a union minibus for the afternoon which would cost ~£30. This relies on someone being around and willing to drive us but I'm sure that's negotiable.

2) Failing that, hire a van for half a day to get all of the boats and kit to the airport driven by a friend/parent and then the rest of us get the tube there.

Re: car parking at Heathrow it would cost ~£80 per car (not as much as i thought but still pretty price) I don't really know of anywhere or anyone where you could leave a car unfortunately.

£80/car - guess thats not so bad. ~£26 each.
Obviously the ideal thing would be to hire the union minibus though. Having said that, that'll still require getting everyone and everyones kayaks to Beit Quad (Impreial Campus).
Do you know if there are any drivers who'll be around London on the 2nd?? (And I guess the 29th)

Do you or Will have a place in London? Just to try and work out where it would be best to meet.

Sean - how are you planning on getting to London?

hmmmmm, well if I get my bateau sent to your parents house, how will we get it to Londbum? If you can get it there I'll head straight to the big smoke. If not, or if you want a driving buddy or whatever then I can travel to where you are... I'm easy!

hmmmmm, well if I get my bateau sent to your parents house, how will we get it to Londbum? If you can get it there I'll head straight to the big smoke. If not, or if you want a driving buddy or whatever then I can travel to where you are... I'm easy!

think I will be coming for Wales, will probably be able to talk the parentals or the brother if he has passed by then in to driving me up, if not could drive, but parking would be steep

Tom, any more news on how this first part of the trip is going to go?
Just thinking if you're going to be without internet in Norway from Friday it would be good to have something sorted.

Sean, we can get your kayak to London (...which is pretty good news, since it arrived yesterday)
Will you be able to meet up beforehand in London (South Ken I think is where Imperial is) to sort out or shoite?

Same goes for you Nick?

Tom - I take it there's no where decent for us to park for a month at Imperial?
If not...Kind of thinking for us (one car, with me & Niamh in & anyone else) it may be easier to leave our car there? that way we'd be able to meet up in Imperial before too (if everyone is). But that would leave 3 others in a massive minibus.
Aaaah pesh! Unneccissarily complicated!

I still think it'd be good if we could meet before during the afternoon of Monday 2nd

Yep this is pretty much sorted, well we have willing drivers at least. Just need to book the bus which will get done tomorrow.

you could drop stuff at imperial then leave the car somewhere in london (any free spaces near niamh's parents house for example?) and tube back to imperial. I might not be free untill 12 on the second but will check and the more time on the 2nd the better really as any spare time can be spent checking out the maps etc. The guy who organises the buses has just walked in so will confirm we have the bus in a mo

although i won't be heading back with you guys i m guessing you will want pickup with a minibus organised too?

should be able to get dropped off whenever, no way back would we have access to imperial boat shed?

Tom could get out the keys though if boats need to be left for any length of time they will need to be dropped at the paddington stores rather than overfill the south ken stores but if you want this booked tom and i are leaving for norway on friday evening so let one of us know

Chances are that i will be going from heathrow stright home to my house nsomerset so probably wouldnt be able to open up stores unfortunately. However it is possible one of the PhD students in the club that would be around may be able to open it up.

Hey hey!

Nice one Dave, glad to know the boat is here and will get there! Just trying to work out what to do with myself though...will aim to get to London on the night of the 1st. My big question is what to do with my boat after we arrive back...doesn't seem like much point in dragging it all the way back to the Isle of Lewis when I'm hoping to get another trip this winter...anyone know of anywhere I could store it?

Sean

...to add to the above...I just remembered that my flight back is the day after everyone elses (shunned;-)

Just realised that that is going to leave me stuck at Heathrow with a kayak! I know its a lot to ask, but does anyone know of a way that I can get to wherever I need to go for onward travel, If theres nowhere in London to store my boat I will probably need to get to Gatwick or Luton for an Easyjet flight to Edinburgh....not fancying a creekboat on the tube!

Thanks Sean

PS Im prefectly open to bribing people with cars:-)