MSM entered the 2011 Screwball Rally
In September 2011 MSM took part in the 2011 Screwball Rally where we drove a total of 2060 miles across 7 countries in 5 days.
One of the rules of the rally was that you couldn’t pay more than £750 for your car. After searching the classifieds and the internet we found our car. We bought an 11 year old MGF. To make it more of a challenge we decided to use good old fashioned maps rather than a sat nav. On reflection this probably wasn't the best idea. Out of 7 countries we got lost in.... 7! (Including England)
On Wednesday 14th of September we loaded up and left Reading, Berkshire in our MGF and headed 145 miles to the meeting point just outside Dover ready to depart to France the following morning. In the early hours of Thursday we filled up with fuel (and coffee) and headed to the port to catch the 5:55am ferry to Calais.
Once we landed in France we hit the road. We had a 470 mile journey to the end of day destination which was a campsite in the middle of Mannheim, Germany. Everything was going well. Just over 300 miles into the journey we arrived in Luxembourg. As we joined a motorway our little MG started over heating and we ended up in a big cloud of steam on the hard shoulder. Things weren't looking good and we thought it was all over. One of water hose split and we lost all our coolant. Thankfully at that point we were in a convoy of 4 other cars. With our hi-vis vests on and the tool kit out we got work. How many people does it take to fix an MG? Turns out, 12 and 1 person to take a photo as evidence.
After some modifications to the water hoses and several bottles of everyone's water we were back on the road and made it to Mannheim. I am so grateful for all the help everyone gave us to get us going again. I can't thank them enough. After the first days nightmare the rest of the trip ran pretty smoothly, apart from getting lost several times a day and nearly missing the ferry home.
The route we took was...
Day One
Dover - (England), Belgium, Luxembourg to Mannheim (Germany)
Day Two
Mannheim (Germany) to Prague (Czech Republic)
Day Three
Prague (Czech Republic) to Hannover (Germany)
Day Four
Hannover (Germany) to Amsterdam (Holland)
Day Five
Amsterdam (Holland) to Calais (France) to Dover (England)
It was a great adventure. We saw some beautiful places along the way and met some amazing people. Best of all, we managed to raised some money for some great charities. I would like to say a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who supported us. We managed to raise just under £700
