7 May 2008
Hilary's Blog - 19 May 2008
I hardly know where to begin. We have had our first week’s training at the UK Sailing Academy (UKSA) in Cowes, which has flown by. Several people have joined the team including Mike Stillingfleet, our principal RIB driver; Martin Forster, one of our RIB drivers who has a wealth of experience which belies his youth. Sean Davis makes up the rest of our “wet team”, and starts on Monday, 26 May. Having another UKSA trained RIB driver on the team fills me with confidence, should anything go wrong. Helen Finn is my main carer and (un)officially responsible for my sanity and the sanity of the rest of the team! For more information about the team members see the "Meet the Team" page on this website (in the "Round Britain Dream" section).
We now have our RIB and a Land Rover which has a crane on the front to lift me in and out of the boat in steep sided harbours (although I prefer to call it a hoist). The two motorhomes are also lined up; thanks to Mark Sharpe at Nirvana RV who sourced a rare wheelchair accessible motor home in record time and his friend, Paul Johnson of Paul Johnson Motor Homes in Herne Bay, who found us a six berth motorhome for the men to sleep in. It’s going to be pretty cramped, but we should all fit in! On behalf of the team I would like to thank them both for their hard work, generosity and resourcefulness.
The week at UKSA started off with rescue training in the swimming pool. It was definitely a question of being thrown in at the deep end as we quickly discovered that the pre-inflated lifejacket I was using at the time allowed me to float face down. Fortunately, when the life jacket supplied by one of our sponsors (Ocean Safety) was tested later in the week, it turned me on to my back in under 2 seconds, which is reassuring. Having figured out ways of using a parbuckle in the pool, it was then time to move on to practising in the river. Luckily, it was decided that it was unsafe to throw me in until we had worked out how to lift me into the RIB, which has a much higher free board than the liferaft we had been using in the pool. This meant that Helen (who volunteered…honestly!) had to get into my drysuit and lifejacket and get cold and wet whilst I looked on. It’s incredibly frustrating to see someone else in your position. Worse still, she was made to take a cold shower when she eventually emerged from the river to get the salt off the clothing before she was allowed to get warm! Rarely have I felt quite so guilty…but the drysuit worked.
We have had a few glitches with the boat systems but, thanks to Paul Martin of UKSA, we think that they are fairly easily ironed out. It will be a relief to everyone when the tiller straw stops working the main winches when it feels like it!
I must just thank a few of our supporters. We have had wonderful presents from Raymarine and Marathon Leisure. Raymarine supported me when I first sailed the Channel and continue to be incredibly generous. Marathon Leisure has supplied us with all our chandlery needs, from anchors and chains to our tender. Ocean Safety has also been generous to a fault, supplying not just lifejackets and re-arming packs but flares, danbuoys and a liferaft. Imray has provided us with nautical charts for route planning and navigation. The Olive Group has provided us with an iridium phone, which will not only allow our progress to be tracked around the country via the website but which will also be an extra safety measure. Let’s just hope that we never have to use any of it! Musto has designed clothing especially for me and have gone to huge lengths to make sure that it all fits and will keep me warm and dry. Gecko Headgear is providing a helmet, complete with a camera on top and a visor to keep the water out of my eyes. UK Battery Sales have kindly donated two batteries for the boat. Pindar and Artemis continue to support the project, for which I am grateful. Our latest sponsor, insurance broker THB Clowes, has arranged and paid for bespoke insurance cover for the vehicles and the people we will be dragging around the coastline of Britain – particular thanks go to Karen and Tom Ellis for sorting that out.
I am proud to be a member of Whitstable and Herne Bay Lions. The Lions Clubs of British Isles and Ireland are incredibly generous in their support of the whole project. I am looking forward to meeting many of you as I travel around the country.
I am back at home for a week, sorting out the last of the paperwork and to do some media interviews. The time is going past so fast I can hardly keep up with it all. I know that, thanks to the team and people working behind the scenes, we will make it.
Page last updated on 22 June 2008 at 17:17