....its all in the planning!

Although the start of our big sail is some months away, there still seems to be lots of preparation to do! I find myself thinking most days now about this trip, and making a note of things to do....and yes, even doing some of them!

The boat obviously needs to be bought - we have our eyes on a number of possibilities at the moment, so we need to get on with viewing them. What percentage of the asking price should one bid for a boat? Then we need to consider all the features we would like/need on the boat: radar, AIS, TV (I know), cockpit VHF radio repeater, chart-plotter and cockpit repeater, life-raft, inflatable with outboard, power windlass, charts, pilot books, .... the list goes on!

Then there is organising the crew! We have managed to set up a likely sailing schedule (but of course the actual sailing schedule may turn out to be different due to weather etc.), and we now need to encourage friends etc to sign up!

The fund raising aspect is currently resting heavily on my mind. I hope friends will sponsor me/us, but I want to try to arrange some commercial sponsorship too (this may prove difficult, but is worth a try). Getting on with this today!

Public announcement!

Today I was made a Fellow of Burton and South Derbyshire College! See me in my finery below! I was able to use the opportunity to publicly announce my intention to circumnavigate GB and to raise money for CF. There was interest in the project from a potential employer sponsor, and also a possibility of working with BSDC on the project too. Very pleased!

The academic parade through Burton town centre

Hello and Welcome

Hello and welcome to my web site! This is an account of my sail around Great Britain in stages over the course of two years, 2015 to 2016. It is a project motivated by a desire to see much more of the coastline of this wonderful country where I live, and also to raise funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust. I was motivated to do this sail after reading accounts of others who have done it, and when my friend Roger was equally enthusiastic about the idea. I would love to hear from others who are doing it, or have done it, or from anyone who has an interest in sailing. Do please follow the progress of this project by way of this blog, which I will aim to update on a regular basis. I do hope that you enjoy reading it!
Michael.

A recent trip to Eastbourne - rather busy in the lock!