It's been a relatively quiet week this week which has provided an opportunity to play "catch-up" on a lot of long-overdue jobs, not least paperwork - grrr, I hate paperwork.

Behind Personal Atlantic, just as it was behind Personal Everest, there lies the proverbial mountain of paperwork.  Although my events are run "not for profit" with the primary aim of raising awareness for disabled sailing, it is a company, Personal Everest Ltd, under which the events are run.  So as MD of PE Ltd, I have all the joys of keeping company accounts, filling in quarterly VAT returns, the list seems endless, and all to do everything "above board" and keep HMRC happy.  All I want to do is go sailing, if only it were that easy..!!

Scarlet Oyster leaving Cowes

On Sunday last week, we were invited to the start of the Ellen Macarthur Trust Round Britain voyage which began from the UKSA in Cowes, IOW.  What a great day.  Scarlet Oyster, a 45 ft yacht is retracing Ellen's voyage around the coast of the UK.  She will visit 17 destinations and on each leg will be joined by children who are recovering from cancers like leukaemia.  All the details are on the excellent website, CLICK HERE to have a look. It is a wonderful cause and if you have not already donated, can I encourage you to do so by clicking the link to the left of this page.  My new crew member came down for the occassion - I thought it would be a good idea to introduce her to my world of sailing and some of my sailing friends. Thankfully she wasn't sea-sick on the ferry and wasn't frightened off by all of the "salty sea-dog" stories so that bodes well.  She starts in mid-June at which point I will formally introduce her to you all or, better still, I'll let her introduce herself to you..!!

Tim and Rosie on the Paddle last year.

I have two extremely worthwhile causes to attend this weekend. Sunday morning I'll be dropping Timothy off at the Upper Hamble Country Park for the 2nd annual Hamble River Paddle organised by Hamble Valley Rotary in aid of the charity Water Aid. Full details CLICK HERE. My son Tim took part last year with my fellow Rotarian Rosie "Rusty" Hinge and helped her paddle their canoe up river.  He loved it so much, he's invited himself back again for another go.  I hope Rosie manages to make the trip without throwing him overboard.

From there, I will be dashing across to Mayflower Park for the Deloitte Southampton Cycle-thon in aid of the Sailor's Society.  CLICK HERE for details. I have the honour of handing out some of the prizes in the afternoon. If you are around, do come down and give the cyclists a cheer as they raise money for such a great cause.  Thankfully the weather is looking favourable so good news for the paddlers and the cyclists. Hopefully I'll get plenty of good photos to post on the Blog.

Impossible Dream continues to make her way back to the UK. The last report was sent yesterday, south of the Ballearics in the Med, motoring, making good progress in calm seas and blue skies.