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Off at last
Sunrise Friday 11th December
Blimey, what a 24 hours that was; a real mix bag of emotions. We had a terrific send-off from Rubicon Marina in Lanzarote with friends and family following us out of the harbour on a spectator boat and staying with us for half an hour or so. The penny really dropped though when they turned and headed back, their shouts of "good luck" getting feinter and being blown away on the breeze - the last thing I heard was Timmy shouting "I love you daddy" which caught me unawares and brought a lump to my throat. We set the genoa and the staysail and had a really good sail for several hours down between Fueteventura and Gran Canaria before the wind died and we have been lolloping along at 4 knots ever since. At this rate, we won't be arriving in the Caribbean until next year - don't panic Colin and my BVI followers, it's a turn of phrase, we will do what we can to make the 27th..!!
I'm guessing many of you either saw our departure on the news, heard about it on the radio or read about it in the press; Lucy's telephone was almost on fire as she moved from one media call to the next. I did 4 BBC radio interviews including World Service, Radio Scotland and 5 Live, plus 2 live TV feeds, several pre-recorded TV clips and spoke to 5 different newspaper journo's - it was really full-on, whilst all the time trying to concentrate on the enormous undertaking ahead and deal with the emotion of it all. It's hardly surprising then that I have barely slept, I guess it is the adrenalin still coursing through my veins from the emotion of it all.
Digby has been filming, editing and sending back his reports so he is pretty wiped out too. He's also shown himself to be a dab hand in the galley which is great news for us - he certainly has enough ingredients to choose from, you would not believe the quantities of food on this boat. Susana, despite her fears of seasickness is doing surprising well. She is not out of the woods yet and gave the fishes a light snack at tea time yesterday but, despite how she is feeling, she has not faultered once in anything she has done, they obviously build then tough in NZ.
Just as I completed my last TV interview of the day and as the sun was going down, we suddenly spotted a large pod of Pilot whales making their way north - we diverted course and past straight through them, what a great end to the day.
Although I didn't get much sleep, I did lay down on my bunk in the saloon to stretch my back (it gets pretty uncomfortable sat in a wheelchair for 18 hours a day). I could see through the window above and the sky was stuffed full of the brightest stars, exactly how I remembered it all those years ago last time I sailed this Ocean. And then to see a perfect sunrise this morning, it made me realise that we are well and truly under way. As I write this, Gran Canaria is disappearing into the haze behind, it's the last time we'll see land for a long time - the huge, long, Atlantic swells are just beginning to roll in too, a sign that we are well and truly on our way.
How times of changed. I'm smiling to myself right now as I type my blog and reply to emails, ready for upload via satellite. I know I'm showing my age, but the only thing I wrote on my last crossing was my blog, in pen, on paper - do you remember those days? How technology has changed. In fact, part of the reason for this voyage was to get away from civilisation and the continual "access" of internet, mobile phone and email and yet, here I am doing just that, sat inside with a beautiful ocean outside - right, decision made, I'm signing off, I have a yacht to sail.
24 Hours and counting....
Wednesday 9th December
Well, this time tomorrow morning, we will be untying our mooring ropes for the last time in Lanzarote, saying our goodbye's and sailing off into the Atlantic on this great adventure.
Julian & Geoffy recounting wild tales of their youth
As I type, Susana is on her way to Arricife (capital of Lanzarote) with our new friend Kerr to pick up all of the fruit and vegetables for the trip - crikey, that's an excercise - exactly how many apples, oranges and potatoes do you take for 3 people on a three week voyage (factoring in built-in obselescence (aka, rotting))? The answer we came up with was "lots" so time will tell. Thank you Kerr for everything you have done for us, you have been most kind and generous and we all really appreciate it.
Julian giving Timothy dinghy lessons
Yesterday saw the arrival of yet more family and friends, some planned, some unplanned. First up was my wife and son, Elaine & Timothy - it had been 15 days since we'd said goodbye at the airport, the longest we had been apart so it was great to see them again although coming straight from an English winter, it looked as though they had been eating ghosts, I've never seen anyone look so white - a few days sun here should give them a useful shot of Vitimin D and a bit of colour. They were joined by my PR manager, the lovely Lucy from KTB, who was on the same flight. The reason I'm getting such fab worldwide publicity is due to Lucy and her team at KTB. Heh, talking of which, did you hear the interview I did on the Chris Evans show on Radio 2 on Monday night? It was great. Sadly I think it is now off iPlayer. The big surprise of the day, for Digby at least, was the unexpected arrival of his mum and step-dad who have flown out to be here for his departure. And whilst we were in the mood for receiving visitors, the Lanzarote Rotary club sent along a small delegation to have a look at Impossible Dream and grab a few photographic memories, what a great surprise it was to see them again - and between my pidgin Spanish and their pidgin English, I think we all understood each other. Who'd have thought it, Rotarians and photos..!!
The sad moment yesterday was saying farewell to Mark. Mark holds a senior position in the BBC and is a communications engineer extrordinaire!! Since his arrival on Saturday, he has been glued (or should that be soldered) to his seat on ID and to his telephone whilst he has installed, set up and double-checked each of the communications systems on the boat. If you heard my interview on Radio 2 on Monday, I was doing that live, via satellite, using the ISDN link on the ships communications systems. We also practised sending back live streaming film to the BBC which worked perfectly. If any of you dare grumble about paying your BBC licence fee again, I'd ask you to think twice - having seen the phenominal resources which go into putting footage onto our TV screens, it's extraordinary. And I must, once again, thank STRATOS - they actually make the hardware which allows us to do this and they have kindly loaned us the equipment for the duration. I now have a mini radio station positioned at the head of my bed and a mini production suite at the bottom. Down below in the starboard hull, cameraman Digby has his own mini mixing desk and editing suite - fingers crossed we don't run out of power...!!! The only thing we need to be aware of is the enormous amount of microwave radiation so any chap wanting a cheap vasectomy should stand within 1.5 metres of the boat whilst I transmit a report back to the UK.
Tim enjoying his dinner last night.
Below is a short video as we have less than 24hrs to go!
Please also note we hve set up a dedicated You Tube channel where we will be uploading short videos for you to watch and to embed into your own sites if you wish - all "rights free". The channel can be found here; http://www.youtube.com/personalatlantic
Please also note we hve set up a dedicated You Tube channel where we will be uploading short videos for you to watch and to embed into your own sites if you wish - all "rights free". The channel can be found here; http://www.youtube.com/personalatlantic
OK, must go, the boys have just got back from breakfast (it's OK for some!!) and we have work to do...!!
Will Blog again tomorrow once we are at sea for real. BBC TV South viewers, watch out for footage tomorrow.
Welcome Radio 2 Listeners
Monday 7th December, 6.00pm
If you are new to the site having heard me tonight on Radio 2, welcome to my website - do please enter your email address in the box on the right hand side of the screen to receive regular updates over the next few weeks. It promises to be a exciting journey.
I'm just grabbing a quick hour to write the blog, I'm conscious many of my regular followers are hungry for updates!!!
Time is fast becoming a blurr as one day melds into the next the closer we get to departure day, less than three days to go now...!!
Digby our cameraman arrived late last night which means there are now eight of us on-site, including Susana's uncle and aunty from the UK who have flown out to see us off. Tomorrow, Lucy my PR manager and my wife and son, Elaine & Tim, both arrive bringing us up to the full compliment of farewell spectactors - with the arrival of every guest, the reality of this great adventure gets ever nearer and I'm getting the usual butterflies in the stomach which remind me I'm only human..!!
The last 48 hours have seen amazing strides - Impossible Dream is now one of the most advanced yacht in her class in communications terms in the world. Now the satellite communications dome is fitted, our personal BBC engineer has set up the system and we have already fired back live film footage back the the BBC servers in London, we have set up an ISDN line straight into the BBC radio network, it gives us a private telephone line and broadband internet which, at sea, gives me faster speeds than my internet at home - it's wonderful.
If the makers of Daim bars would like to make note, I'm down to my last 15 bars and I've not even started the voyage yet - please send 2 boxes asap...!!!
I know lots of you are struggling through a UK winter; everytime I speak with Elaine back home it is either raning torrentially, blowing a gale or the pipes are getting frozen, so I won't bleat on too much about the weather out here - but I should say today was a wonderful day, clear blue skies, 25 degress, NE winds, force 3 to 4. So it was an almost ideal day to take ID out for our last shake-down sail before our departure on Thursday. We wanted to just make sure all of the electrical, mechanical and hydraulic devices were running smoothly - thankfully no surprises and we had a spectacular sail over to Fueteventura and back again. Midway, we dumped Digby with his camera and Geoff McNicholl in the rubber dinghy whilst we proceeded to sail backwards and forwards doing our film poses. Diggers seems to be happy with his footage and will be editing it and firing it back to the BBC tomorrow - viewers in the BBC South region should see the results on Thursday's South Today programme.
Susana and I were at the butchers by 0900 this morning ordering our meat for the crossing. We have a fridge but no freezer so, as long as we have vacuum packed meat, it should last a couple of weeks. Not knowing the Spanish for vacuum packed meat, other supermarked shoppers were intrigued by my charades mime trying to make the butcher understand - sucking on a plythene bag did the trick (well I hope it did) because on Thursday morning we are picking up 12kg of assorted fresh meats - whether it is neatly packed in vacuum bags will have to be seen..!!
We are all going out for a much deserved meal this evening - we are all a little wind and sun-burned from our time at sea today but also exhausted from all the fresh air - oh yes, I guess the emotional stress is adding to the fatigue as well.
More tomorrow. Feel free to email questions and I'll do my best to answer if I have the time.
Welcome Radio 2 Listeners
Monday 7th December, 6.00pm
If you are new to the site having heard me tonight on Radio 2, welcome to my website - do please enter your email address in the box on the right hand side of the screen to receive regular updates over the next few weeks. It promises to be a exciting journey.
I'm just grabbing a quick hour to write the blog, I'm conscious many of my regular followers are hungry for updates!!!
Time is fast becoming a blurr as one day melds into the next the closer we get to departure day, less than three days to go now...!!
Digby our cameraman arrived late last night which means there are now eight of us on-site, including Susana's uncle and aunty from the UK who have flown out to see us off. Tomorrow, Lucy my PR manager and my wife and son, Elaine & Tim, both arrive bringing us up to the full compliment of farewell spectactors - with the arrival of every guest, the reality of this great adventure gets ever nearer and I'm getting the usual butterflies in the stomach which remind me I'm only human..!!
The last 48 hours have seen amazing strides - Impossible Dream is now one of the most advanced yacht in her class in communications terms in the world. Now the satellite communications dome is fitted, our personal BBC engineer has set up the system and we have already fired back live film footage back the the BBC servers in London, we have set up an ISDN line straight into the BBC radio network, it gives us a private telephone line and broadband internet which, at sea, gives me faster speeds than my internet at home - it's wonderful.
If the makers of Daim bars would like to make note, I'm down to my last 15 bars and I've not even started the voyage yet - please send 2 boxes asap...!!!
I know lots of you are struggling through a UK winter; everytime I speak with Elaine back home it is either raning torrentially, blowing a gale or the pipes are getting frozen, so I won't bleat on too much about the weather out here - but I should say today was a wonderful day, clear blue skies, 25 degress, NE winds, force 3 to 4. So it was an almost ideal day to take ID out for our last shake-down sail before our departure on Thursday. We wanted to just make sure all of the electrical, mechanical and hydraulic devices were running smoothly - thankfully no surprises and we had a spectacular sail over to Fueteventura and back again. Midway, we dumped Digby with his camera and Geoff McNicholl in the rubber dinghy whilst we proceeded to sail backwards and forwards doing our film poses. Diggers seems to be happy with his footage and will be editing it and firing it back to the BBC tomorrow - viewers in the BBC South region should see the results on Thursday's South Today programme.
Susana and I were at the butchers by 0900 this morning ordering our meat for the crossing. We have a fridge but no freezer so, as long as we have vacuum packed meat, it should last a couple of weeks. Not knowing the Spanish for vacuum packed meat, other supermarked shoppers were intrigued by my charades mime trying to make the butcher understand - sucking on a plythene bag did the trick (well I hope it did) because on Thursday morning we are picking up 12kg of assorted fresh meats - whether it is neatly packed in vacuum bags will have to be seen..!!
We are all going out for a much deserved meal this evening - we are all a little wind and sun-burned from our time at sea today but also exhausted from all the fresh air - oh yes, I guess the emotional stress is adding to the fatigue as well.
More tomorrow. Feel free to email questions and I'll do my best to answer if I have the time.
5 Days to go....
Saturday 5th December 2009
Wow, a hectic few days. If you've read recent blogs and been following Twitter, you would not have failed to follow my anxious wait for the satellite communications equipment which have been so generously loaned by STRATOS in north America and was due for delivery by December 1st. The anxiety reached stressful levels for all concerned on Thursday 3rd when we learned that not only were the two parcels on completely different Canary islands (one on Gran Canaria and one in Tenerife - we are in Lanzarote), but delivery would be not be until after the 4 day public holiday, next Wednesday 9th. The local delivery company told me on the telephone "it is impossible to have your items tomorrow" and hung up the phone on me. Apart from the fact we have booked a senior BBC guy arriving today, Saturday 5th, to fit the equipment, we are scheduled to set sail on Thursday the 10th which would have left no time for installation and no-one to install it anyway. Anyhow, buttons were pushed, contacts spoke to contacts, and in one of the most amazing examples of management taking control of the situation which involved various Presidents, Vice Presidents and MD's, I received written confirmation from the Head of Operations from FEDEX on Thursday afternoon to say that the parcels would arrive the following day. I can not begin to imagine the complexities involved, but he was good to his word and, by mid-day yesterday, Friday 4th, heaven and earth had been moved and Susana duly collected both boxes from Arricife airport yesterday lunchtime, they were on the boat here in the marina by 2.00pm. I was emotional to see them arrive after all of the heartache but it could have been the eye-watering 780 euro "customs charge" which was levied just to receive the item as a "yacht in transit" - who says Pirates are only found off the coat of Yemen?.
Me and the satellite dome whilst writing my Blog
Can I just publicy offer a huge "thank you" to FEDEX - their commitmemt reminded me of that wonderful FEDEX advert with Tom Hanks. CLICK HERE to watch it again. Thank you to everyone involved (more than a dozen of you that I was aware of, there were no doubt more) and a particular thanks to Suzette who works for FEDEX in Memphis who telephoned me from her home, at breakfast time on Friday, to keep me updated - FEDEX should be proud to have you working for them.
So, what does all this mean? Well, it means every one of you who are reading this now, everyone of you who will track our progress on the OC Tracker across the Atlantic, everyone of you who read Susana's blog and my blog and who will see us on TV, read about us in the papers and hear us on the radio, will now be able to do so - the equipment really is that important, without it, our only communications is an iridium telephone which costs £3 a minute to call (ouch..!!!) and would leave us virtually cut-off from you all.
Anyway, that's enough whinging, sorry about that...!! No one wants to read about personal gripes, do they? Well, the islands are now officially on a 4 day holiday. Julian arrived safely and is staying on board ID. His presence is invaluable as it means we've been able to crack on with some important jobs. For example, the genoa, the big triangular white "saily" thing at the front of the boat which we will be using most on the trip, had been at the sail menders having a rip repaired. It was delivered back to ID the day Susana & I arrived last week but I needed to wait for Julian before hoisting it which we did this morning - only to find the rip is still there, exactly as it was before going to the sail menders - I'm beginning to wonder if all these problems are of my making...!! Either that or we have a Jonah on board.
Amongst other jobs, I've now figured out how to access the all-important weather data and we've now started the daily weather routing assessments (pointless doing anything more than a week in advance). So far, the weather is looking pretty good for next week with a favourable northerly wind of 15-20 knots pushing us southwards to the Cape Verde islands - it's going to be wonderful. Susana had some brief dinghy training with Julian yesterday. I was having a snooze on the foredeck and was woken by squeals of (nervous, slightly manic) laughter as she buzzed around the harbour holding the outboard engine for dear life, dodging boats and seagulls - Julian had that "I'm terrified but not going to show it look" on his face.
Timothy gone to see the Barbarians play NZ at Twickenham today with Elaine, lets hope the BaBa's do better than England 2 weeks ago - we speak daily on Skype which is a great way to keep in touch but I'm looking forward to seeing them when they arrive next Tuesday.
7 days and counting
Thursday 3rd December 2009......
It's less than a week now until we set sail in Impossible Dream. We've been on the island nine days already; me mostly dealing with the logistics and planning (glued to my computer and telephone) whilst Susana has been cleaning stowing and organising the boat making her ready for the 3,000 mile passage. A 60ft boat might not seem that long but it provides a huge amount of storage space; that is all very well but knowing where everything is hidden and is easily retrievalable at a moment's notice is a black art known only to the stower. For example, it's important that I don't wait too long when I request a packet of peanut M&M's at 0200 on night-watch.
Today, Thursday 3rd December, is the International Day of People with Disability (IDPwD) which focusses on the abilities and achievements of disabled people. I'm delighted that The Independent newspaper have chosen to use my achievements as one of those examples, thank you to them. But I must just say, because it rarely gets said, that whatever I have achieved over the years, it is only because I surround myself with good people, I'm just part of the team. And so long as people continue to take inspiration from following my exploits, me and my team will continue to take that role seriously, it's a real privilege. CLICK HERE for a great article just appeared in the BVI Yacht Guide.
So, what's new? Well, top of my panic list remains the communications satellite dome, or rather the lack of it. Events are changing quickly and no doubt they will change again before I finish writing this blog but, as of this minute, the items are in the Canary islands - only not on this Canary island, but on a neighbouring island. As of 5.00pm tomorrow night, the islands go into a 4 day holiday period which means the next working day is Wednesday 9th December, the day before we leave. The dome is critical to us having internet access which, in turn will enable the tansmission of film footage back to the BBC plus give us access to emails etc. The whole project is built around the publicity the dome will provide, hence my concern.
Neighbours leaving for Martinique yesterday.
Friend (and delivery skipper of ID from UK to Lanazarote) Julian arrives this afternoon to help with a few mechanical jobs that need doing on the boat before we leave, it will be good to see him - our first human, well, I say human (have you met Julian?), contact from home, more folks to arrive from UK over the next few days. Yesterday afternoon, another of our neighbouring yachts slipped her moorings bound for Martinique in the Caribbean. It's quite a moving spectacle as all other yacht crews in the marina stand on deck, waving their arms and blowing air horns to wish them bon-voyage on their Atlantic crossing - I know that may sound a bit "wet" and maybe it's just us old sea dogs that get that x-feeling in our stomachs when we see fellow mariners putting to sea - difficult to describe really - you either have it or you don't. Just knowing they are on their way and it will be us next week gives me goose-bumps of excitement.
Don't forget to bookmark Susana's Blog; www.sailingsuze.blogspot.com .
Eating Lanzarote Fruit Humble Pie
Monday 30th November 2009
It seems my earlier forays into the fruity cuisine of Lanzarote were misguided. After tasteless plums, soggy apples and hard melons, I'd just about given up on finding any decent fruit. But last night, after a trundle along the coast to a neighbouring village, we came across another supermarket. Against my better judgment, we bought some apples, some oranges and a pineapple. I must admit, I was wrong, it was wonderful, all crisp and sweet. The only thing which left a bitter taste was the cost of the pineapple at nearly 7 euros (OUCH). So, my apologies Lanzarote - the moral is obviously to choose where you do your shopping...!!
Being on the boat, getting on with our jobs means we get to meet and speak with a number of passers-by. From folks on holiday from the UK who have heard of the project to ex-pats living here in Lanzarote who have stopped by to say "hello". On Saturday I got an email from a UK couple living here who had seen the boat and visited the website. Within minutes we'd exchanged details and they came down to visit the boat. Elle & Alan run a small internet-based business on the island helping Brits who are relocating to the Island and also helping promote local websites. What great people. Anyone arriving clutching a family-size bag of Maltesers is not going to be turned away. Anyway, do take a look at their site www.lanzaroterelocation.co.uk and, in particular their kind blog entry; http://www.lanzaroterelocation.co.uk/geoff-holt-in-lanzarote/ Elle & Alan have given us some useful info on local shops and taxi's which is much appreciated. We hope to be seeing more of them before we leave.
Those who can not get enough news of the Atlantic project might like to know that Susana has started her own Blog. Go to www.sailingsuze.blogspot.com where you can sign up to receive regular updates which will give a different and, knowing Suze, a more irreverent take on events...!!! Incidentally, I have also just heard that I will be doing a live piece on BBC Radio 2's Chris Evans Show next Monday 7th December at 6.45pm - make sure you tune in.
A boring but very important piece of kit..! THE BRACKET
If you've been following my Blog, you'll know that my biggest worry has been the fabrication of the bracked to take the Sailor 500 raydome from STRATOS - this is the unit which will beam back film footage from mid-Ocean as well as give internet access. Well, thanks to the boatyard here in Rubicon, the bracket is just about complete - all we need now is the dome itself which is due to arrive tomorrow - I know this may seem a bit technical and borinbg but the installation has been a real worry, not least because of the language barrier communicating with the local technician. I'd like to quickly thank Stephan Rodriguez from Inmobiliaria Puerto Rubicon www.puertorubicon.com who has gone beyond the call of duty. Stephan is the agent through whom we booked our wonderful villa here but he speaks fluent English and has on several occassions helped me explain the extremely complex requirements needed for the installation of the bracket with the technician who only speaks a bit of English - I'm ashamed to say that my 4 years of Spanish at school under the tutalage of Brother "Herman" have long-since been eroded from my memory - all except dos cervezas por favor....
Hasta luego
Deck Swabbing
Saturday 28th November, Marina Rubicon, Lanzarote
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It's a lovely day here today, warn sunshine, 24 degrees, cloudless skies. I've just had my breakfast which included 2 of my 5-a-day fruit and veg - peanut M&M's and a Bounty bar - peanuts and coconut count don't they? We are moored stern-to in the Marina Rubicon. Today is Market Day and the esplanade behind us is full of stalls selling tourist tat and no end of tourists (mostly Brit & German) buying it. It's a little bit like being in a goldfish bowl as passers-by gawp down at us. I'm assuming it is the boat they are looking at and not Susana doing her version of "Car Wash" by Rose Royce as she dances and swabs the decks with the hose pipe and brush to get rid of this confounded red sand which is covering everything.
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My view of market and passers-by
Pleased to say the essential bracket to hold the satellite dome is "under construction" and I've been assured it will be ready on Monday, fingers crossed it will work OK as planned. All we need then is the dome to arrive by FEDEX from Madrid, for it to be installed, connected and set up with all the software. I'm not uncrossing my fingers just yet. A quick thanks also to QUICKLINK - Quicklink provide the software which actually gets the video footage from the boat back to shore.
'm delighted to announce the addition of a new Business Club Member for the Personal Atlantic project. My friend and fellow Rotarian, Peter Burnage, has become a last minute sponsor through his company Burnage Associates. You'll see their logo on the home page and also under the Supporting Partners menu option. We have just applied the decals to the boat and they look mighty fine - many thanks Peter and I hope everyone at Hamble Valley Rotary club buys him a drink...!!
View from our dining room yesterday
Talking of Rotary clubs, Susana and I were invited to the Lanzarote Rotary club lunch yesterday at the 5* Grand Hotel in Arricife. A geat experience eating lunch 17 floors up but the room juts out and overhangs the building so there is nothing below you. Thanks to everyone there for making us so welcome and thanks to Wolfgang for acting as translator. Great food, not sure what it was but, seafood and potatoes always works for me. Shame about the fruit salad though Even at the 5* hotel is was tasteless and poor. Earlier yesterday we'd bought some apples, melon and plums and had presumed it's poor quality was due to where we bought it - the hotel fruit proved it must be an island problem. Disappointed as we had planned to fill the boat with fresh fruit and veg for the voyage - tinned fruit option not my favourite.
Right, going to plug in my iPod, crank up some Talking Heads and catch a few sunrays - I need a tan before people start arriving next week. More soon.
