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.