I've never done anything particularly adventurous.  But one miserable February day at Reading Railway Station, I saw a poster asking if I wanted an adventure.  I grew up sailing dinghies off the south coast a bit, so I had a taste for watersports, but something about the poster really stuck, and before I knew it, I had signed up for the preliminary make-or-break week of training.

Very apprehensive, I turned up at Gosport Marina wondering what on earth I had let myself in for.  I was really worried I was going to hate it.

But then, over that week, and the other 3 weeks of training scattered over my Spring / Summer, something magic happened.

Even though at times I was pushed beyond miserable, cold, wet, sea-sick, sleep deprived, hungry, curled up in the foetal position on a bunk that was bucking in a crazed maritime rodeo, I had a brilliant time.  The way you bond with your crew is like nothing else in my somewhat tame life.  The feeling of helming a 70 foot yacht is wonderful, as you surf a roller behind a spinnaker the size of a hot air balloon.  I was hooked.

I have signed up for a long and difficult leg, with a mix of downwind sailing, tropic calms and icy headwinds.  We leave Australia in mid-January, stop in Vietnam, and end in China in mid-March.

I have never travelled outside of Europe / USA.  I have never been on a boat for longer than about 6 days.  I have never crossed the equator before.  It's going to be a lot of firsts.

I am most looking forward to - seeing my crew - getting out on the water - seeing the Milky Way from the ocean - tropical paradises - dolphins, and I really hope I get to see bioluminescence.

I am afraid of - random shark attacks -  pirates - typhoons (I'm told none of these should be a problem, but hey, who said fears were rational...)

Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.  UNICEF have been nominated as the charity for this Clipper Race, and they do excellent work around the globe that my crew will be circumnavigating.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.

Thanks,

Esther