My best friend Ruthie and I were goofing about, toying with the idea of me rowing the Atlantic in an ocean-going rowing boat just so as to visit across the pond. Charleston would have been the destination.
The next day this idea had morphed into a yacht as upon investigating rowing boats, most were two man and the idea of using a kite to act as an off-watch oarsmen waned for lack of control.
A suitable yacht was found in Guernsey, seemingly perfect for single-handed sailing not too big at 35 feet. The boat was rigged for single-handed sailing and came with self-steering vane and electronic helm too. The electronics on board seemed adequate to the task also. The plan was to cross the channel and onto the French canals making a shortcut to the Med. This was to be my nursery in terms of gaining experience and waiting for the tornado season to finish. In November I would join all the boats on the ARC rally in the Canaries bound for the Caribbean. Not much of a plan other than to head south until the butter melted and then to turn right.
With my mind made up, I guessed I would need to learn to sail. I consulted Ian my brother-in-law who keeps a boat in Greece. It was he who suggested that the best training and experience I could get was to enter the Clipper Round The World Race and sent me the link.
When faced with the choice of two buttons on the web site, one was to enter, the other for information, I selected the former impulsively, coughing up my £100.
Next thing Jilly contacted me with an e-mail with an Overseas Recruitment Questionnaire to fill out. I took a day or two filling this out, aided by Ruthie and her great ideas. After submitting this form an appointment was made for a video interview the earliest date possible on Tuesday 5th of February 2019.
Della called me on whatsapp, mutually agreed beforehand, just a tad after 5:00pm SAST. The interview went well and lasted far longer than the 45mins suggested. I must have given all the right answers as the next thing I knew was, that a contract was being signed. Forex and a medical form needed to be filled out by a doctor. After re-reading the 1968 story of 16 year old Robin Lee Graham’s circumnavigation in the National Geographic, Sir Robin’s book, Running Free, and some other sailing books on kindle, excitement began building in a hurry, at about the same rate that my bank balance was free falling.
Lucy then took the baton and I understand that I shall be doing the Level 1 training alongside her. I have been added to the Facebook group for crew only and made member of the Crew Hub through which training was requested. The training manual, now read three times end-to-end, with a multitude of other useful documentation all downloaded and read at least once. Regular newsletters now appear in my e-mail inbox to boot.
Martina the crew coordinator requested copies of passport, passport photos and overseas repatriation insurance which I’ve side-stepped by coming to the UK early. I have a kit list and am due to do Level 1 training at the end of the month. A train ticket to Fareham is in my possession and board has been arranged with Auriel prior to Level 1 and hopefully between that and Level 2 to follow soon. Daily I row, walk, run, stretch latex bands and throw weight about in order to get fit. Time is fleeting and my Amazon account busy getting me romper suits and socks suitable for winter sailing in the Solent.
Ordered these but only a dinky 4kg arrived 
Torch with red light required 
Romper Suit
Mangled Neuron 
This is so exciting!!
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love the idea,wish I was 50 yrs younger and I would like to do that
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Same here.
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