The circular email from my yacht club a fortnight ago would ordinarily have received a cursory view. But something caught my eye, and my imagination.  I had long believed the Brambles Cricket Match to have been an urban myth, part of nautical folklore. Allegedly, once a year, a notorious sand bank in the middle of the Solent, one of the busiest yachting centres in the world, would appear from beneath the waves for no more an hour. At which point, members of the Royal Southern Yacht Club and, representing the Isle of Wight, the Island sailing Club, would descend upon this tiny patch of seabed in their boats to play cricket. Yeah, right...!!

So the invitation to play a part in this very strangely English sport seemed too good an opportunity to miss.  However, as I was making my way down the Hamble River in my boat at stupid-o’clock towards the Bramble Bank on Saturday morning, I was beginning to question my judgment.  It was so dark, I had to put my navigation lights on.  As I neared the bank, dawn was just breaking and I was met by this surreal image - a mirage of people, many wearing full cricket whites, walking on what appeared to be the water.  I beached my boat and several spectators and players were quick to help lift me, and my wheelchair, down onto the pitch.  Well, I say pitch. I use the word with a degree of poetic licence.  The Bramble Bank at extreme low water is not exactly the same hallowed ground as you might find at Lords, home of the MCC.  To say it is undulating and slightly waterlogged would be an understatement.

Playing for the RSnYC, my fellow team members included Sir Robin Knox-Johnston and comedian Rory McGrath.  What followed was 30 minutes of complete and utter surreal madness.  After breakfast, yes, breakfast, our team flipped a coin and chose to bat second.  I was deposited in a “silly mid-off” position, centimetres from the batsman, completely unable to move, even had I wanted to.  Cricket balls, real ones, those hard red leather things, not some namby-pamby neon-green furry tennis balls, were soon flying everywhere as batsmen fired them into the crowd. People were ducking and diving to avoid facial injury. I should point out that the boundary was, how shall I say, well, it was prone to constant change as the moon worked her gravitational magic on the tide.  There must have been one point when we reached the giddy heights of 2 inches above sea level.  But even with the tide at it’s lowest, the boundary was never more than 30 feet away.  More challenging was scoring runs. Again, I use the word “runs” with some scope for interpretation.  More often than not, a barefooted batsman running between wickets would have been better equipped as a mountaineer wearing SCUBA gear in order to traverse the sandy hillocks and the underwater canyons, cunningly disguised as shallow pools of water.  Our ringer, Freddie “the Knox-Johnston” Flintoff had soon dispatched the opponents for 20 something runs and it was our turn to bat.  The McGrath / Inkster partnership was pretty impressive as they scored well over 100 runs in less than 5 minutes.  I was last in bat at number 6.  Believed to be the first quadriplegic to have played cricket on the Bramble in a wheelchair, I faced my young adversary as he made his run up to bowl.  I could see the white of his eyes as he let the ball fly, thumping into my chair.  There was a call for “wheel before wicket”, perversely from one of my own team, but with no umpire present to adjudicate otherwise, I faced the second ball.  This time willow connected with leather, albeit with hardly any force. I was so shocked, both bat and ball fell to my feet in a rather pathetic thud.  My nominated runner, with intuitive and inspired thinking, picked up the ball and threw it into the sea - we piled on another 30 runs.

For a video of the above cricketing highlight, CLICK HERE

And then there came a call that no cricketer wants to hear; “the tides coming in, everyone clear the bank”.  Minutes later, the flotilla of boats were making their way back to the Royal Southern YC for yet more breakfast and an obligatory glass of port. It was by now 8.00am.  We were the victors having scored some 200+ runs but apparently it was our turn to win anyway; the insignificance of the scoring strangely appropriate and fitting for such a whacky morning’s fun.

So it seemed odd watching England win the Ashes on Sunday, beating the Ozzies on that beautiful, flat, green wicket.  For their efforts, they win a little urn of ashes.  For our efforts, everyone went home with shoes and pocketfuls of sand, and memories of a bizarre day.

I will end with a quick note to say that I met up with my dear friend and record-breaking, Indian Ocean rowing, chocolate muching heroiness Sarah Outen last week.  She had only just gotten off the plane from her flight back to the UK but we found a layby in Rockingham to rendezvous, exchange hugs and salty stories for 5 minutes - she doesn't look like she's just spend 124 days rowing across an ocean does she - heroic stuff - fab girl - everyone on their knees to pay homage to Sarah.

Saturday 15th August.

Zip. And there goes another week. Departure day for Impossible Dream from the UK to Lanzarote is set for the 6th October which leaves only 51 days. We still have to install the new generator, synchronise all of the electronics, service the turbos on the engines, and that is just the tip of the "to do list" which has at least shrunk from 3 sides of A4, to 2 1/2 !!  Talking of delivering Impossible Dream to the Canaries, friend, Yachtmaster instructor and past Director of RYA Sailability, Julian Mandiwall and his crack team (including Geoff "the Wallaby" McNichol) have kindly agreed to get ID safely down to Lanzarote.  As I type, they are out in the Solent again, continuing to get to grips with ID's complex systems.  Susana and I spent the day with Julian and the team earlier this week and, slowly but surely, everything is beginning to make sense. As I have said before, it is one thing knowing how to sail, but ID is an incredibly complex vessel with 18 hydraulic devices, 3 power sources (4 if you include shore power) plus the ship's own computer to control all of the systems - this is completely separate to the twenty or so Raymarine navigational aids and electronics around the ship, all of which need mastering.

But don't shed too many tears for me, it's a real honour and privilege to be sailing her and I regularly pinch myself to remind myself how lucky I am.  I'd rather be out sailing ID and learning the systems than stuck at home all day. 

Life has been a bit quieter around the house this week.  We put Tim on a plane to Spain at 6.30am Wednesday morning to go and stay with our friends and their kids in Marbella.  There were lots of tears and tantrums as you would expect at the airport but Elaine had just about calmed down by the time she got home.  Tim on the other hand couldn't care less.  With so much time being spent on this project, we've had no time for even a short family holiday so far this year but Elaine & I did feel slightly guilty seeing our 7 year old son disappear for his first holiday without us.  We Skyped that evening and he proudly told us he had been sick on the plane and then asked if he could leave the computer to get back to playing with his friends.  It's been 4 days now and our evening chats are clearly becoming an inconvenience to his play schedule and are now lasting a matter of seconds. He won't want to come home at this rate. We are making the most of the peace and quiet but it does feel odd not having him around, even Max the dog can't settle.  Hopefully it will all be worth it and, thanks to the BA tickets, we will have that family holiday in Tortola at Christmas.

Talking of Tortola, the British Virgin Islands Sailability group are completely "on the case" and have all sorts of magnificent celebrations planned for our arrival - their excitement is infectious though the email I just received tells me that Tortola could be on Hurricane Watch this time next week - a storm is brewing. It's a reminder that an Atlantic crossing is no "stroll in the park".

Aly Gunn (Lymington Sailability), me and Dee Caffari

Had a great day yesterday. I'm a long-time supporter of the AHOY centre based in Deptford, London CLICK HERE. They cater for the needs of disabled and underpriviledged kids in inner-city London.  They have bravely defied the recession and commissioned the building of a magnificent 40ft wheelchair accessible powerboat.  Well, the boat just just been launched and I was asked to help crew her on the Weymouth (Portland) to Lymington leg of the delivery trip back to London.  First reactions, WOW..!!  She's quite a boat.  She's a completely different beast to Impossible Dream but she has some equally impressive technology, not least the scissor lift to raise the wheelchair helmsperson up to see the controls and to give full visibility. Effectively she is a workboat. Designed to plough up and down the River Thames taking out groups of AHOY members. But more than just giving them a ride, she is designed so that she can be navigated and steered by someone in a wheelchair.  I'm happy to be proved otherwise, but I don't know of a similar vessel anywhere in the world.  She is MCA coded too so she can be used to teach powerboat courses.  It was my first time helming a boat which uses twin water jets to power it - no propellers, no rudders, just water jets.  To be honest, I found it a bit tricky to get to grips with but that's not to say others will - one of the main reasons for them choosing jets instead of conventional propellers was water jets are less likely to get entangled with rubbish in the Thames which Zak (one of the AHOY crew) proudly told me could be anything from a plastic bag to a dead dog...  Mmm, thanks Zak. CLICK HERE for more info on AHOY and to contact them about opportunities to use this magnificent new new boat.

The day was topped off with a visit from friend and fellow sailor Dee Caffari who was trying her hand at a bit of journalism for a local radio station - watch out Jenni Murray.

Thursday 6th August 2009

Phew, what a week..!

Last Friday, (blimey, was it only 6 days ago?), Elaine drove Susana and I down to Plymouth where we met up with the owner of the boat and some guys from Multimarine who were finishing off the last few jobs onboard. Juliet, my one (and only) groupie had kindly driven to Plymouth to see us off and to have a sneaky look around ID.  By 3.00pm, I had escorted Juliet off ID as I took her threats to stow-away onboard seriously - visions of Juliet popping out of a hatch mid-way across the Atlantic had been troubling me for weeks.  With Juliet safely on the pontoon and a kiss goodbye for the Mrs (who then had to drive back to Southampton), we motored out of Queen Anne's Battery and out into the Sound.  There was a fresh breeze and choppy seas so it was quite uncomfortable for the first few hours. The overcast skies and drizzle didn't exactly add to the summery feel.

Me with owner Mike and Juliet just before departure

We had a great sail back and whilst grabbing only a couple of hours sleep between 2.00am and 4.00am, it dawned on me that it was the first overnight passage I had made in 25 years, and the first time I had slept on a yacht whilst at sea for the same 25 year year period.  That gentle rolling motion soon worked its magic and I was fast asleep.  Whilst the boat did most of the sailing, we spent our time learning as much as we could about the wide array of new Raymaine electronics on board - they really need to be seen to be believed - talk about "boys and their toys" - my favourite is the piece of kit which combines the chartplotter with the radar.  If you are not boaty inclined, imagine your in-car Sat Nav but the size of a portable TV set. Then overlay that mapping detail with radar which tells you where all the land is, where all the ships are (including their direction and speed), and even where the rain is.  It's a brilliant piece of equipment which also has, should you need it, a fishfinder too (I definitely approve of that and will be making use of it).

Getting onto ID using the aft hydraulic lift

By dawn on Saturday 1st August, we slipped passed the Needles with a favourable tide and barely any wind (the water was like glass) but we were still averaging more than 6 knots. An hour or so later, we arrived back on the Beaulieu River and were moored on the owner's private pontoon by 8.00am - we had travelled about 120 miles in 18 hours (averaging about 6.5 kts).

Since then we have been extremely busy going through the various on-board systems - electronics, hydraulics plus basic things like stowage. Much of the safety equipment will have to be serviced and / or updated and we are still waiting on the new generator to be fitted, hopefully in the next week or so.  One of my pressing jobs is communications - I want to be able to send back regular video updates to the website and to have the facility to have broadband internet access whilst at sea - simple to say but not so simple (or cheap) to organise.  Without a title sponsor, it's small things like this which make the difference between just another Atlantic trip, and capuring and sharing a truly amazing voyage with footage that will be disseminated quickly and widely via the web.  Anyone fancy sponsoring the Comms?  Anyway, we have 6 weeks before the boat leaves for the Canaries so time is running out fast.

Two quick pieces of news I want to share with you.  On Monday morning just past, my dear friend Sarah Outen completed her single-handed row across the Indian Ocean - I'm hoping you already know this through all the press coverage she received.  Over 124 days at sea, Sarah landed on Mautitius - how amazing is that?  Sarah was one of my crew when I sailed around Britain 2 years ago - she's such an amazing girl. Visit www.sarahouten.co.uk for more details.

And last, but not least, you may know but I am a patron of the Rose Road Association, a school and respite centre for kids with profound learning disabilities.  It's a role that I take very seriously and I am only too pleased to do what I can to help.  If you live in the Hampshire area, I'm hoping that you might be able to help them too. On Sunday 4th October, they are organising a charity walk around Lymington and Keyhaven nature reserve. For full details, CLICK HERE. The walk is only a few miles and it costs £10 per adult so please consider giving a bit of your time for them.  If you can't make it, then please visit their site and see the wonderful work they do.

Right, I'm off now to catch up on emails and my "jobs list" which is now 5x longer than it was this time last week.

PS: Click on the HOME PAGE www.geoffholt.com for latest pictures of boat.

Thursday 30th July 2009.

Remember that "calm before the storm" I talked about last week? Well, it looks as though that period is fast coming to a close.

I took a call yesterday from the guys at Multimarine who are working on the boat and the Raymarine electronics installers who have been working flat out this week, to say that Impossible Dream will be handed over to the owner at mid-day tomorrow, Friday 31st July. To maximise the time we will have on the boat, we are driving to Plymouth tomorrow at 0600 to sail to the Solent - we leave Plymouth about noon and, weather permitting should be mooring her up on the Beaulieu River about mid day on Saturday. This will be my first time on ID since the refit and my first over-night sail on her so I shall be able to test out the new saloon berthing arrangements.  It will also be the first time Susana has seen the boat, let alone sailed on her, so there's a lot of excitement and trepidation in the air.  We have a delivery crew of 6 bringing her back and the forecast is for light to moderate S to SW winds so it should be an enjoyable shake-down voyage.  Come to think of it, it will be the first time I have sailed a yacht through the night for 25 years so all sorts of memories will come flooding back I'm sure.  I'll make sure I take my new Henri Lloyd kit to keep out the chill and mustn't forget my Bovril.

We haven't fitted any internet Comms yet so I will try and update my Blog using my 3G Dongle but don't be disappointed if it is Monday before I upload an update. I will however be doing regular Tweets so make sure you follow my Twitter page (bottom LHS of this page)

Susana is currently on the Isle of Wight, at the UK Sailing Academy to be more precise, undergoing her Sea Survival training today.  I got a text at lunchtime which read "About to get into pool. Eek!" to which I replied (as an experienced water "bobber"), "just remember to hold your breath".  Whether she returns tonight or not will determine whether she took my advice.  Sea Survival is just one of the courses Susana will complete before we set off.  Others include VHF radio, Diesel Engine Maintenance, 5 day Competent Crew and a 6 day Ship's Doctor course.  Sadly the UKSA don't run a "how to gut and fillet a yellowfin Tuna" course or I'd have her on that too.

Another piece of great news this week, after a long search, we have found a film-maker / cameraman to join us on the trip.  His role will be to capture on film me navigating and sailing ID, and Susana's role as a carer. Not only will he be better placed to get decent film, but he will also be able to edit and send back video clips to my PR team in the UK.  Hopefully having such a great amount of footage with the possibility of it being made into a documentary, it may well encourage prospective sponsors to think positively towards the project.

It's Cowes Week next week so it is going to be even more busy which is no bad thing. We are going to take ID out several times into the Solent with potential sponsors and Press so, if you see us out there (you, can't miss us), give us a wave.

I will do my best to upload some pictures over the weekend.

On a technical note, please note that www.personalatlantic.com has been transfered to WWW.GEOFFHOLT.COM - you might like to reset your favourite bookmarks as the www.geoffholt.com website will now carry all the updates.

Now, where did I put my lifejacket and my teddy bear?

Just a quick Blog to say that I heard from British Airways yesterday that I was a winner in their Great Britons Award. Heartfelt thanks to everyone who voted for me, I can not begin to tell you how touched I am. Thanks too for all of your emails and messages of support - at one point, my PC crashed under the volume of emails.  Because the original email snowballed (I guess you call it viral marketing), I had people voting in America, New Zealand, Japan and even Ecuador.

Obviously Tim & Elaine are delighted that they will be able to fly out to meet me when we arrive in the Caribbean.  It's certainly helped the financial burden.  Thanks to BA as well for running the competition and shortlisting me.

Sorry I have not been able to email each of you individually but there is a free pina colada waiting for you all on the Beach Bar in Tortola - to be collected on 27th December 2009.

Thank you.

Hi. Susana here. Geoff has asked me to update his blog whilst he is out doing "boaty" things.

As of this morning, thanks to all of your votes, he has moved up to 1st place in the British Airways Great Britons awards but, with only 3 hours left, apparently positions are very close. You get 1 vote per email address. If you have not done so already, can you please give a vote for Geoff by CLICKING HERE.  If successful, BA will provide flights for Elaine & Tim to fly out to meet us when we arrive the other side.  Whatever the outcome, Geoff will post results on the website when we get them (hopefully later today or tomorrow).

Geoff has also asked me to post a couple of new video links you might be interested in (all open in YouTube);

• This is a bit of footage of Impossible Dream at Multimarine recently CLICK HERE
• This is a short video interview of Geoff created by Gordon Robbins from the PHAB organisation CLICK HERE
• Geoff, Tim and Max did this short piece to camera for the BA Awards (unscripted but lip synch needs work) CLICK HERE
• Finally, Geoff's friend Nick Lawson in Australia is related to one of the Battle of Britain heroes and he is campaigning for a statue of Sir Keith Park to be erected in Trafalgar Square. In this video he interviews ex-flying ace John Pattison from the Battle of Britain now living in New Zealand and asks him about Geoff - don't you just love his answer? CLICK HERE

Have a good week..!!

It's now just over a week before Impossible Dream starts her journey back from Multimarine and the guys are working flat-out at the yard to get her ready, thanks to everyone at Multimarine and at Waypoint 1 who are, as I write, up to their ears in cabling as they fit all of the Raymarine electronics.  Grapefruit Graphics did their business on Wednesday this week as you will see from the photo.  Still more to be done for sponsors but it was essential we got the www.geoffholt.com logos on the bow before she gets back to the Solent.  Although, looking at the photo, it looks like someone has pulled the plug out, it must be those imposters from across the harbour in Plymouth.

With 3 days to go in the British Airways voting, I find myself now in first place out of the 8 candidates.  I just need to maintain the momentum for another 3 days and we could win those tickets for Elaine & Tim to fly out and meet me at Christmas after my crossing.  If you have not yet voted, please have a go, it's free and only takes a couple of minutes, CLICK HERE for more info. I've been told that voting numbers are in their thousands - can I just say, whatever the outcome, thank you very much indeed, it means a lot to know that so many people have taken the time and trouble to vote for me, it's very humbling.

A couple of quick updates for you. The Help for Heroes speaking event last week (see previous Blog), succeeded in raising a whopping £20,000 which is great news.  Secondly, I'm delighted to say that we now have 250 registered users on this site - thanks to all of you.  I hope you enjoy these blogs and don't forget, because you've registered, feel free to comment on the blogs.

I will give more detailed information nearer the time but those with their diaries handy, might like to know that the boat and I will be exhibiting at the PSP Southampton Boat Show between the 14th and 17th September courtesy of National Boat Shows who have very kindly provided a free berth - it's Feature Berth 525 if you are really that organised.  There's a competition to win a guided tour of ID and win a few freebies on their website so do take a look.  CLICK HERE for details.  Please do come along and say "hello"

Incredibly it seems only yesterday that we watched Scarlet Oyster sail out of Cowes on her voyage around Great Britain to raise money and the profile of the Ellen Macarthur Trust.  Yet, as of today, she is nearing Largs on the west coast of Scotland having alread sailed up the east coast and throught the Caledonian.  It is an incredible voyage for a tremendous cause - do please click on the link above to read about the Around Britain voyage.

One group who have been long-term supporters of me and my project is a group called PHAB. One of their regional officers, Gordon Robbins, made a short video of me at their sports day last year. CLICK HERE to watch the video.

Well, all parents will know it is now the Summer Holidays so I found a few hours spare to take Master T to the Beaulieu Motor Museum yesterday. The highlight was without doubt the Top Gear Exhibition which was full of the usual childish, but highly amusing (and boyish) rubbish. Pic below of Tim with the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.  Didn't see Lord Montagu - perhaps he was out scouting around his wonderful gardens or something but we took a look around his magnificent palace, very nice it was too.  I would have signed the visitors book but couldn't find it.

Monday 20th July 2009

Firstly, I must apologise to the guys and girls working at Multimarine where Impossible Dream was built and where she is currently having work done to make her ready for the crossing later this year. Apparently they are based at Millbrook which is in Cornwall, not Plymouth which is in Devon (although they are only a mile or so apart across the estuary).  Thanks for the factual correction and I apologise for that error but, for the 99% of people who have never heard of Millbrook, the boat is still in Plymouth.  The electronics arrive this week, courtesy of Raymarine (a full review of all the equipment will follow later - it is an impressive list) and we've been promised the generator will also be renewed and installed this week.  The sails arrived back, freshly cleaned, repaired and strengthened by Hyde Sails and the graphics are being applied by Grapefruit Graphics on Wednesday so we are gearing up for her first public outing at Cowes Week during the first week of August. It's all getting very exciting.

Well, a bit of a quieter week this week with one notable exception.  Last Thursday I had the honour of introducing yachtswoman Dee Caffari at a Speaking up for Heroes charity event at the Royal Institution in London in aid of the Help for Heroes charity. Speakers included John Simpson from the BBC, Monty Halls (you may have seen his series on BBC about living on a beach in Scotland  with his dog Reuben), Dee Caffari, polar explorer Ben Saunders and Andy Macnab, the SAS guy who appeared with no balaclava although it was strictly no-photos.  I could describe him to you, but then he might kill me..!  It was a fab evening, and all credit to my friend Caroline Rose who organised it all.  The only downside was my electric chair running out of power half-way through proceedings and poor Susana had to physically push me and my chair across Waterloo station at 11.00pm at night.

With so many new subscribers to my site in recent weeks, I thought I would once again draw your attention to the amazing Sarah Outen.  Sarah was one of my support crew when I sailed around GB two years ago.  More than 110 days ago, Sarah set off from Freemantle in W Australia to row to Mauritius, on her own, in a 16ft boat.  Incredibly, she is now only a few hundred miles away from achieving her ambition - how amazing is that - please visit her website www.sarahouten.co.uk

L to R: My crew members Andy Cockayne, Sarah Outen, Joel Whalley. Photo taken July 2007 at the summit of Mt Snowdon during our circumnavigation of GB.

Finally, just a quick reminder, there are only 6 days left to vote for me in the British Airways Great Britons Awards.  If you haven't voted already, can you please have a go - it's free...!! Click the BA logo below.

We are thrilled to announce that Geoff has just been shortlisted by British Airways in the Great Britons Awards.  If successful, he will win flights to the Caribbean which will enable close friends and family to fly out to welcome him on his arrival later this year after his Atlantic Crossing.

"I'm quite shocked that I was shortlisted from so many entries but this could be a wonderful thing to win. With no sponsor yet signed, I've already had to cut back on many costs including who I could afford to fly out to meet me when I get to the Caribbean, especially my wife and son. If I am successful, it means they will definitely be able to fly out to see me arrive which will mean so much to me.  Please vote for me".

To vote for Geoff, simply CLICK HERE.  You will be asked to register with your email address and username but it should only take a couple of minutes - please vote.

Thank you!!!

Thursday 9th July 2009

Well, it's been a frustrating time waiting for the boat to be worked on in Plymouth, itching to get on with the sail-training back on the Solent. But they are necessary jobs which hopefully will be concluded in the next couple of weeks at the very latest.

However, I've not been sat twiddling my fingers though. Apart from the endless succession of emails and phone calls coordinating the various elements of the project, I have been kept busy with some of the more "fun" aspects.

On Friday 3rd July, I was guest speaker at the local Durley Primary School on the day of their School Fete which had a Caribbean theme - 110 kids aged been 4 and 8. I've done lots of talks but that was one of the toughest - as Susana said; "they are kids, if you're rubbish, they will boo you".  Disarmed by her comments, I only just managed to pull it off, but only by steering the talk to sharks and pirates, another of Susana's suggestions. Thankfully there were no mishaps though I did learn that several of the 6 year olds had an unatural degree of knowledge about lifejackets and newtons of bouyancy, it was a slightly surreal experience being quizzed by a 6 year old about the manufacture of my lifejacket?? Talk over, I had the honour of declaring the school fete open - who said I don't live a rock n roll lifestyle?

I left the school and drove straight to Hampshire Collegiate School in Romsey where I was their guest speaker at their inaugural Sports Dinner.  A posh black tie dinner, I was conspicuous in my beige trousers and open-neck shirt. But it it was a simple choice. Talk to 110 young kids at Durley School wearing a black DJ or suffer the embarrassment of speaking at a black tie dinner wearing casual clothes.  It was a no-brainer.  Well done to all the HCS students who did so well in the prize-giving, especially Annabel Vose who, at the age of 15, won the national Optimist Sailing championships and will now go to Brazil to represent GB in the Oppie Worlds later this year. Go Annabel...!

Saturday 4th was slightly calmer attending the Rose Road Association Independence Day Summer Fair.  I managed to struggle to find a red, white and blue checked shirt to show some sort of solidarity with our American cousins. As patron of the Rose Road association, it was great to see so many people there supporting such a worthwhile cause and I ate my fair share of doughnuts.

Sunday it was off to Farnborough where I was asked to participate in a panel discussion on sport at the annual Beyond Boundaries exhbition.  What a great show but it was missing only 1 thing - PEOPLE!!!  Maybe it was the Wimbledon final which put people off but what a shame.  If you are disabled or have an interest in disability activities and getting outdoors to do something, there was something for everyone but it's such a shame there were so few people there.  On the way back, we saw the Alton Show was on so we stopped off to give Susana a taste of a traditional English Country Show.  I think she enjoyed it but dragging her through the cake marquee without stopping didn't win me any brownie points.

Wednesday was more akin to Christmas when all of our special Henri Lloyd branded clothing arrived - a gurt big box stuffed full with our jackets, shirts and essential sailing kit. It is fantastically generous of Henri Lloyd and I'm sat here now in my posh new Polo Shirt with geoffholt.com emblazoned across the chest and shoulders. I'm a lucky boy indeed.

Talking of lucky boys, Master T was "upgraded" to a red belt in his Karate class yesterday. Don't panic yet, it is only 1 up from the beginner white belt, but he and fellow 7 year old Katarate buddy Charlie (he of the big boobs club), can unleash some pretty ferocious kickking power. I reckon sending Tim to bed in future years could become increasingly tough as my willpower clashes with his Karate belt status.

Well, Thursday today, just had a great meeting with Raymarine and Mike the owner.  We are all systems blazing to get Impossible Dream back to the Solent in good time for Cowes Week (1st to 8th August).

Just before I go, do please have a read of the latest Sailability Foghorn magazine - there's a nice piece on "you know who". CLICK HERE