Tim & me at Twickenham yesterday

England 34 - France 10

Spent a great day at Twickenham yesterday watching England beat France 34-10.  I won't gloat. It's not as though it was on the cards. It was Tim's first visit to Twickenham and first time watching England. He was pretty starstruck, and we had front-row seats.  He proudly wore his own team shirt, No. 10, for Fareham Heathens where he plays in the under 7's.  Talk about opposite ends of the rugby spectrum.

Saturday night, Elaine & I were entertained by the RNLI who kindly invited us to the magnificent Lifeboat College in Poole for dinner.  Paul Atterbury, the chap from the Antiques Roadshow was guest speaker and we were treated to a fascinating insight into the making of the programme. He also spoke about Poole Pottery which is right on their doorstep.

So, how are things progressing with the Atlantic campaign?  Pretty good I must say.  You'll know that the websites are now up and running.  A complement of 4 delivery crew are flying out to Malta on the 26th April to sail Impossible Dream back to the UK where she will undergo some work to make her ready for the sail later in the year.

As I write, I have my potential carer staying out my house at this very moment.  I have had a tremendous response to my search for my personal carer to accompany me on the voyage and it has not been an easy task to find the right person.  First and foremost, it was essential that the person was qualified in the care of someone with a Spinal Cord Injury.  I require some quite specific help in order to live each day so that was the main criteria.  Second, was that they have no experience in sailing / yachting. Well, after several interviews, I'm fairly certain that I have found what I'm looking for.  I'm afraid that I can not reveal their identity yet, there is still much to discuss and for both parties to satisfy themselves it is what we want, but I'm quietly optimistic - more details to follow soon.

The search for a primary sponsor continues but I remain optimistic, we are certainly generating a lot of interest around the world and there's a main feature due shortly on the Rotary International website.

I must quickly mention my friend Sarah Outen. You may recall that Sarah was one of my Personal Everest crew and has plans to row single-handed across the Indian Ocean.  Well, she left Perth on Friday for Mauritus and is already 70 miles into her 100+ day adventure. You really should visit her site www.sarahouten.co.uk and join her email list. She is one of life's happiest and joyous characters.

And on that note, Timothy has just come in with a cut and grazed knee.  First day in shorts for 6 months and this is the result.  At least no tears. Unlike the French yesterday. Allez les blancs...