Classic story is given new life
MODERN-DAY adventurers Alan Rankin and Willie Gibson are to create the first re- enactment of the Robert Louis Stevenson novel Kidnapped.
The duo will relive the adventure by sailing 500 miles around Scotland then walking 260 miles across the country.
Their adventure is 130 years to the month after Stevenson’s literary classic was first published in 1886.
Mr Rankin, who lives in Carrbridge, said: ‘ We will be using wind, wave and tidal energy to sail 500 miles around Scotland. All our electrical needs at sea will be 100 per cent renewable using solar and wind generators. Once we land, the 260-mile overland will all be on foot, and walking is as green as it gets. We believe this might just be the lowest ever ‘carbon footprint’ adventure around Scotland.’
The sailing route will see the intrepid adventurers sail on their catamaran Trade Winds from South Queensferry, northwards past Aberdeen, rounding Orkney and Cape Wrath, then around Skye, south of Tiree and landing on the rocky island of Erraid, near Mull.
The walking route of 260 miles has more than 42,000ft of ascent and crosses Mull, Morvern, Appin, Glencoe, Rannoch Moor, the Trossachs, the Hillfoots and over the Forth to South Queensferry. From there the pair will head into Edinburgh to finish, as the book does, at The Pleasance.
The challenge will raise funds for three charities: Parkinson’s UK, Ocean Youth Trust Scotland and Stevenson Adventures.
Kidnapped tells the enduring tale of David Balfour’s kidnapping and subsequent adventure as he is smuggled around the coast of Scotland, surviving ship-wreck, witnesses the infamous Appin Murder then flees the Redcoats with Alan Breck Stewart across Scotland to South Queensferry and on to Edinburgh to claim his rightful fortune.
The adventure is due to start this Saturday but is subject to the weather. The challenge is expected to be completed within 18 to 20 days. Donations can be made at www. kidnapped130.com, or follow updates on Twitter at @kidnapped130 #BigSailWalk, or on Facebook.