Frequently Flying Fang

The rally car, AKA Fang, left by container ship in early July bound for Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, to take the start of Rallyround  Africa on October 1. Plenty of time, right? Then Fang’s tracker warned us of a very long stay in Singapore. Only when the tracker pinged Schiphol Airport, did we discover that he missed his ship.

You may recall high drama on the eve of Inca Rally 2016 when Fang lost ship connections because of a hurricane and arrived in Buenos Aires at the very last moment by multiple cargo planes from Panama via Miami. 

Same shipper, now familiar with Fang’s wily ways, and remembering the last debacle, unzipped his ship container, air mailed him to Amsterdam and hence on to Dar es Salaam where he awaits our arrival next week.

Stay tuned for more from your navigator as she attempts to persuade half her possessions to miraculously jump into a carry-on suitcase.

Log Update

Your navigator spent the morning pouring over the Africa rally route in a giant, and very heavy, atlas. Africa looks to be quite a different experience from South America. Of course, we are missing the key element for success and evening fun, our beloved driver Chuck.
Most notable will be our adherence, in the early days, to tarmac instead of gravel and dirt. This is due to the nature of African roads which generally just bump along to a village and stop. Additionally, unlike in speed crazed South America, there are few race tracks to test the mettle of our more than qualified new driver, Laurie Lyford.
Laurie managed to sharpen her skills last weekend on the racetrack in Portland, between boating, board membering, airplane camping, and gardening, as well as attending to dog Thor, who’s backend went out and has yet to return.
Fang, our ride, rides along at sea somewhere past Singapore, hopefully arriving in Dar es Salaam soon, very soon.
Later, Your Nav

ERA no more

Sad to announce the demise of our beloved Endurance Rally Association. Phillip Young’s love of old cars going at speed died with  him . Time will tell how the new umbrella organization, Hero, will carry the ERA vision forward.

Fang, locked and loaded, currently voyages toward East Africa. Laurie works at building up her driving muscles while I look for my glasses and sharpen pencils. Soon we start anti malaria meds.
The Navigator.

Team Lyford

Team Lyford: 

Driver: Laurie Lyford

Navigator: Pam Lyford 

Crew Chief: Charlie Lyford, T-Zero Racing 

Communications: Kim Lyford Bishop, 8th Sense Productions
20 Below Fang Club: Ginny Lyford
Always with us in Spirit: Chuck Lyford