I meant to write something a few weeks ago when I just started to work for Clipper Ventures in their maintenance team, refitting the boats ready for the next race. But now back in real life I seem to have no time for anything! Either that or working 8.30-5pm is a bit too tiring!

People ask me, is it easy to get used to a full night’s sleep again on dry land? But that is not the big question, the big question is how do I handle a full working day awake, given that I usually went back to bed for an extended nap every 4 to 6 hours on the boat. I miss my mid-afternoon sleeps…

Anyway, the week before last I had a week off work and went down to Plymouth for a Yachtmaster Offshore prep week and exam with Bob Beggs (Unicef skipper), which I – along with Bill (also Garmin), Ineke (Nasdaq) and Nick (Hotelplanner) – passed! We sailed for the week on Sea Shanty, a Bavaria 36, on which everything is considerably smaller and lighter than our 70′ racing yachts.

Not used to such a small boat…

This means that once I get a commercial endorsement for the qualification, I can hopefully be employed sailing boats for a living. But considering the amount of work we have to do on the Clipper race yachts, I think I’ll be busy at Gosport for the next few months at least!

The first of the boats (Dare to Lead) comes out the water.

Also I can probably change the subtitle of this site to a post-race one that I promised certain family members it would eventually become…