Wow time flies! spring is here already. Which reminds me, It’s been a long time since I checked in, so I thought I would just write a few lines to say Hi and to keep you up to date with what’s been happening with me.
Tempting though it was to hibernate over Winter, I’ve actually been very busy. Busy doing what? you may ask. Well a lot of head scratching mainly. Nothing to do with creepy crawly’s I might add, but trying to decide what to do next about my dream to sail solo across the Atlantic.
It’s been a real tussle if I’m honest. It has been wizzing round my mind constantly, day and night. I found myself being so consumed by the whole thing that I couldn’t concentrate on anything else. A few weeks ago I was driving home from work whilst thinking hard about my sailing campaign. Embarrassingly, I sat in my car at the traffic lights, with a dozen or so cars behind me sounding their horns because I hadn’t noticed the lights turn green. My multitasking skills appear somewhat lacking. It’s just as well I settled on a plan otherwise it wouldn’t have been long before I left for work without trousers or something.
So in the end I put aside the months of cogitating, ruminating and deliberating and decided on the way forward by what felt right – the trusty gut instinct. So that said, I’m announcing my desire to compete in the ‘Artemis Transat‘ in 2012. This is a single handed transatlantic yacht race from Plymouth England, to Boston USA. The plan is to do a programme of training and as many races I as I can fit in to prepare for the Artemis Transat. This will satisfy my competitive nature and my dream of a solo sail across the Atlantic at the same time. Also I think my options of what to do next will have wider scope.
I still need a sponsor for all this to become a reality and for a while now I’ve been busy putting together and distributing my sponsorship proposal. I have nothing to report on this front just yet but as soon as I have a solid announcement to make, I shall be sure to let you know.
Best wishes, Julian
PS:I’ve been dragged kicking and screaming into the 21st century with aFacebookandTwitterpage. Please feel free to join up and follow my mutterings on these websites, it would be great to see you there.
Ég er virkilega byrjað að finna bráður óður í the nýr siglingar árstíð. Ég hef siglt minn frá Azoreyjum til Portsmouth til að hlakka til í maí. Ég get varla trúi ég ætla að vera crewing bát á miðri leið yfir Atlantshafið!
Ég hef nú ræst dagsetningu fyrir nýja bátinn minn (gamall bátur, en nýtt mér). Ég virkilega hlakka til að finna út hversu vel hún fer. Það er enn mikið að gera áður en hún er skip-lögun og tími er dálítið fastur, en hún kemur saman fallega.
Í 2009 ÉG einnig hafa nýtt akstri ástæða til að hlakka til. Fyrri bát minn, sem ég deila með vini, var moored í Whitby. Það var frábært vegna þess að þú gætir sigla út höfnina á hvaða stöðu Tide. En að mínu mati er svigrúm fyrir akstri var takmörkuð. Ef þú vilt að sigla undan landi frá Whitby þínir eru meira eða minna takmörkuð til Noregs, sem er fínn ef þú hafa hellingur af tími á þinn snertið.
nýr bátur minn mun vera festar á vesturströnd Englands. The Marina er svolítið þrengri en Whitby. Þú getur aðeins fara inn og út á vissum tímum sem byggist á háu vatni. En að mínu mati svigrúm til siglingar er mikill betri. Frá Marina ég get sigla til Írlands, Wales, the Scottish Islands og Mön. Svo mikið val!
Vitandi auðmjúkur bakgrunn minn, Ef þrjú ár síðan þú vildi hafa sagt mér ég myndi fljótlega hafa eigin bát minni og að sigla hálfa leið yfir Atlantshafið ég hefði aldrei trúað því.
This is the beginning of a journey for me. My aim is to make a single handed voyage in a sail boat across the Atlantic Ocean and not only that, but to race. This would push most able bodied people to their limits, let alone someone with a physical disability like mine. Ég hef Spina-mænuskaða, a spinal defect from birth. However, I am really fortunate because I am able to sail a yacht and sail single handed.
Sailing the Atlantic for me will be a first and I intend to make the whole experience from start to finish a really special time of my life. It’s a challenge which I would never have thought possible. But that is what life is all about, living life to the full, pushing through boundaries, achieving great things and inspiring others to make the most of their potential.
I’m not out to change the world, I shall leave that to far more capable people than I. But should I succeed I hope that in my small way that I might be able to inspire and motivate others to do something far beyond what they thought themselves capable of. Everyone has a fire in their belly, a desire to do something fantastic with their lives, but it is up to us to do something about it. Something which I aim to do from this moment on. Obstacles are to be expected, but obstacles are there to be overcome.
I can honestly say that already I am having the time of my life. I’m a disabled working class bloke from Bradford. Yet I sail the open sea, with its ever changing moods. It really is the most beautiful thing.
I hope you enjoy my blog and follow me as I take my journey from landlubber to ocean yachtsman. I welcome all your comments.
