We are approaching the mid way point in our journey to cross the Atlantic. I didn't just set out 8 days ago I think it must go back to when I was a child. Those day trips to the seaside with lots of other Working Mens Club coaches racing towards Skegness or Cleethorpes with a lucky bag of goodies and a ten bob note to last the day. Of course we spend the money by lunch time and the rest of the day (after a bread and bun fight in a swanky lunchtime hotel dining room) on the beach looking out to sea. The romance of the sea was brought home to me by shanty songs and thoughts of distant paradise islands.

That dream has turned into a reality for me along with many others. Except we all fly off to paradise now in a few hours by EasyJet. The sense of adventure was missing. As I contemplated retirement and having enjoyed learning to sail dinghies with Lizzie 30+ years before, the thought of buying a yacht came to mind. So in 2009 we bought a boat. Unfortunately this was about the same time that Lizzie was becoming more in demand, as a management guru, and instead of sailing and working on the boat together we entered the world of short weekends and communicating by email. Like ships that pass in the night we seemed to be going in different direction, but after 39 years of marriage we are still very much on the same wave length.

Lizzie is now reaching great heights and after one of her books "5 Ways to Think Like a Leader" reached best selling status at airports around the world, I knew I had to up my own game and set myself some new goals. My golf game has been improving since my buddies and I augmented the GMAC challenge (Gary, Mike, Andreas and Crispin) and working with Troy, General Manager at the Golden Hinde, to help them get charitable status and move to a sustainable business has helped fill a void. Then after the pleasure of working on plans for Alexis and Dan's marriage last year I had the time and resources to surmount a serious challenge of my own. However, we would need to set up and equip a cruising yacht for an ocean crossing and I would need a team who were willing and and possibly foolhardy enough to come along with me.

To be continued...

Gary