After months of planning, our fundraising dinner in aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Simon Says charities was a great success.  Thanks to the 150 people who came and supported these worthwhile causes by raising many thousands of pounds.  Entitled “An evening with Geoff” it was the first interview-style talk I have done and it was pretty nerve-wracking, I think most guests were entertained at my expense, not least with revelations about a foray to Diamond Lil’s in Union Street, Plymouth thirty years ago (you do not want to know the details), and being cornered into playing a harmonica in front of a crowd – thankfully most people’s wine consumption by that stage numbed out my bum notes. Particular thanks to my MC, Andy Snowdon, my interviewer, Bev Smith and everyone who donated so much money.  Next stop Dawlish in Devon on Wednesday 23^rd November in aid of the Disabled Sailors Association and the SW regional Multiple Sclerosis Society – CLICK HERE for details.

It’s been an eventful few weeks but here are a few of the highlights since my last Blog.

South West Shingles Yacht Club fundraising dinner at the Royal Motor Club in Poole raising money for the “Match Racing Girls”, aka Lucy Macgregor, Annie Lush and Kate Macgregor who have been selected to represent Team GB in the Olympics next year in the Match Racing Event.  As current world champions, we wish them well.  CLICK HERE to learn more about the girls. Great night, lots of money raised.

I had the honour of being a judge on the National Historic Ship photographic competition this year.  With so many great entries, I hadn’t realised the difficulties such a role involved – assessing each entry for composition, light, subject, innovation and so on.  With all shortlisted candidates present, awards were made on the impressive HMS Belfast on the River Thames which, I’m pleased to say, was wheelchair accessible and well worth a visit.  The overall winner was Mike Garlick with his beautiful photograph entitled “Maybird”.  CLICK HERE for the press release.

Mike Garlick and his winning entry, Maybird 

Wetwheels is now at her permanent home, Gunwharf Quays in Portsmouth and she is already attracting lots of interest and we have started taking out groups of disabled people.  My personal thanks to Gunwharf Quays for finding us space in their marina, it is the perfect location.  So now, when you come to Gunwharf Quays to do your shopping or to visit the many restaurants, you can come out for a trip on Wetwheels too.  She is operating partly not-for-profit for disabled groups and partly as a commercial charter for sightseeing, as a filming platform and for fishing.  For more information or to make a booking, visit her website www.wetwheels.co.uk  On a recent trip, I caught this whopper, a 27lb cod which took us 4 days to eat and there is still a load in the freezer. No, the image is not Photoshop’ed and sorry, the location remains a secret (no, not my local fishmonger) – my friends are such cynics.

COD-ZILLA

I was on-duty again recently presenting the prizes at the Royal Southampton Yacht Club to their double-hander series.  A great meal set me up for an hour’s worth of prize-giving, blimey, I’ve never handed out so much silverware, about 70 trophies, with some crews needing a trolley to get their treasure hall home –  “trophy hunters” in the nicest sense.  Well done to all the winners but spare a thought for the RSYC team who had to polish all of them that morning. Yikes..!

I had the genuine pleasure of being present for the presentation of the Glenn Shaw Everest Awards at Barclays in London a few weeks ago. Barclays Wealth introduced the awards in memory of one of their colleagues, Glenn Shaw who sadly died from a rare form of brittle bone disease. I met his parents and he was clearly an inspirational character and an adventurer too with climbing to Everest Base Camp amongst his many achievements. The Awards recognise other inspirational figures within Barclays globally and nominees and winners had flown in from as far afield as the USA, Mauritius and Kenya. I had the honour of meeting some amazing people. Putting aside all the negativity about banks for one moment, here is a bank doing something very positive – well done Barclays.

I got to meet an Olympic legend recently when David Hemery (gold medal, 400m hurdles, Mexico, 1970) came to my local secondary school, Wyvern Technology College, to promote the “Be The Best You can Be” strategy as part of the London 2012 Olympic legacy programme working with schools. Although present representing Hamble Valley Rotary Club, many of my talks are to schools and colleges and we are looking at ways of linking my talks into David’s new initiative.

Pupils from Wyvern with David Hemery

Congratulations to Simon Clarke of Wave 105 FM radio who completed his World Record underwater radio broadcast yesterday (5 hours) in Andark Diving’s pool.  I had the honour of being his last interview before he emerged at 4.00pm yesterday – rather wrinkled.  It was a strange sight to see so many TV cameras, radio station equipment and technical guys around a diving pool and then to do an interview from the poolside when the radio presenter’s legs were the only thing visible below the air bell 10ft deep in the pool. Congrats to Andy Goddard from Andark Diving and Bryan Stanislas for making it happen and to Wave 105 for asking me along.

Andy Goddard from Andark Diving

Right, I have a day off this Sunday so I’m planning to go back and catching Mr Cod’s grand-dad.

Wetwheels made her debut at the PSP Southampton Boat Show last month and was undoubtedly the star of the show.  Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire, the wonderful Dame Mary Fagan did me the great honour of naming her “Wetwheels” on the first day of the Show, then followed a hectic 10 days of exhibiting and taking groups of people out on trips.  To be honest, I just hung around and played the “happy owner” whilst my crew, Tony (skipper), Karen (Suzuki’s meeter/greeter/photographer), James (first-mate) and Barry (Cheetah marine) did all the hard work.  The statistics were quite amazing – in ten days we took in excess of 240 people out for trips, and of those 240, approximately 150 had a disability and, of the 150, about 40 used wheelchairs.  Many charitable groups like Naomi House, Rose Road Association and the Hexagon Centre had pre-booked but many of the trips comprised disabled people who had not previously heard of Wetwheels and were just visiting the Show, not realising (until pounced on by Suzuki) that they could actually go for a spin on a specially adapted boat.  To see a short video CLICK HERE to see a collection of photos CLICK HERE  We have created our very own Facebook page CLICK HERE to visit and she also has her own dedicated website http://www.wetwheels.co.uk/ (This is only a BETA site at present and is undergoing considerable changes daily whilst we get it right so check back regularly).  Wetwheels will shortly be entering service, most likely in the Portsmouth area (subject to various agreements) at which point she will continue to provide a mix of not-for-profit use by charities to take out disability groups and commercial charter.  To register your interest, I suggest you sign up to the Wetwheels Facebook page where all updates will be made.

A group of guys enjoying Wetwheels

Not sure I should be sharing this but PSP who sponsor the Southampton Boat Show hold a fancy dress party each year.  PSP, possibly the best shipping/logistics company in the world, is owned / run by the nicest guy in the business (don’t tell him I said that), the wonderful Frank Dixie and daughter Jo. The theme for this year’s party was “Out of this World”.  The date coincided with our 24^th wedding anniversary so it was a choice of a romantic dinner for two or, my brainwave, to paint ourselves as green ogres and go to the party as Shrek and Princess Fiona. As you can imagine, Elaine was over the moon with my decision, you can tell by the look on her face.  Next year is our 25^th wedding anniversary; I don’t think I will get off so lightly again.

Not a happy bunny..

Of several official duties I had to perform during the Show, there was one which had me bursting with pride for one young man. Many months ago I gave a talk to 700 students at Burgate School (New Forest) at about 8.30 in the morning.  Trust me, 700 teenagers at that time in the morning is a “tough gig”. Unusually for a school talk, a few weeks later I received dozens of handwritten “thank you” letters from the students which, in itself, was very rewarding to read such lovely letters. I later learned that one student with his own personal challenges had been inspired by my talk and, at the suggestion of his teacher, had applied for an MDL sailing bursary. Beating several hundred applicants, 14 year old Alistair was one of 8 children chosen in a competition to sail on the John Laing tall ship, operated by the Ocean Youth Trust, from Lowestoft to Southampton.  At the Show, I had the very great honour of presenting Alistair with his trophy on the MDL stand.  Ali was later introduced to the Princess Royal, Princess Anne. Well done to MDL, the OYT, Amanda Jukes, but above all, to Ali – hopefully the opportunity has given him an insight into the world of sailing although his self-confession of having vomited no fewer than 24 times may make him think twice in future.

(Allistair and his trophy)

Another fun duty was attending the Rose Road Association (of which I’m a proud patron) and hear my good frien Dee Caffari speak of her epic record-breaking challenges. I mean this as a compliment – if you are ever lucky enough to  hear Dee speak, look around and see everyone, open-mouthed, totally captivated, hanging on her every word - it really is a treat to hear Dee.  Good luck to Dee and her endeavours and please do support the Rose Road Association if you can.

Dee (far left), myself and Neil Wilson (Rose Road)

One aspect of the Show which niggles each year is disabled access onto the stands.  The site itself (spread over three different parks) presents many problems to exhibitors and planners, not least curbs, grass, makeshift halls, roads, bridges and access to the water via pontoons.  Ironically, it’s the access to the pontoons and water itself which presents the least of the problems.  I’ll refrain from naming and shaming the main villains but some exhibitors have clearly invested a bit of time into the issue and deserve to be formally recognised.  Dean & Reddyhoff and MDL in the marina category deserve congratulations for their ramps.  Andark is definitely worthy of congratulation for its ramp in the clothing category.  Along one row of a dozen stands, only one, Multihull World / Multimarine, had a ramp (interestingly Multimarine build wheelchair accessible boats so they not only recognise the problems of access, but are tapping into the lucrative disability sector – good on them),  Of the marine engine providers, congratulations to Suzuki Marine, Cummins Onan, Volvo Penta and Finning CAT.  To see a photographic collection of Saints & Sinners taken at this year’s Show, CLICK HERE – I will let you decide who got it right and who got it wrong.  OK, this was not a scientific survey, but it does raise a very valid point and it is surprising that so many exhibitors are allowed to get away, so blatantly, with providing no access.  This does not happen at the London Boat Show at Excel because Excel has a policy whereby exhibition organisers must confirm that exhibitors at their show will comply with their equal access policy.  CLICK HERE to read that policy. As far as I am aware, Southampton City Council, owners of the land, have no such policy in place for the Southampton Boat Show which is a shame. Having said that, organisers National Boat Shows and sponsors PSP have always bent over backwards to help where they can and deserve special thanks for their support, not least the excellent temporary lift which is installed each year for my own personal use so I can access the free PSP hospitality each year (before you write and complain, I am of course joking. Frank wouldn’t dream of giving me free PSP hospitality).

Saint or Sinner?

Life after the Boat Show continues and I’ve since had the privilege of attending two very worth causes.  A week ago, with temperatures hitting 26 degrees, I had the honour of starting the Dorset Access “Race for Equality” at Bournemouth Pier.  Congratulations to the 200+ runners, adaptive cyclists and swimmers of all abilities who endured the heat to make their way from Bournemouth Pier to Boscombe Pier.  Having exhausted myself from dropping the starting ribbon at 10.00am and watching the participants physically exerting themselves for such a great cause, I decided to relax and take things easy so I stayed on the beach for another two hours, topping up the tan with the other beach lizards; quite amazing weather for October. CLICK HERE for more details on the race.

Myself and Brother Francis

And this week I had the honour of presenting the “Geoff Holt Sailing Trophy” to Ed Bailey and Alex Roberts at Speech Day at my old school, St Mary’s College.  It was my first return to the school in 30 years since I left in April 1982.  It felt really strange, absolutely everything was as I remembered it, not one building had changed at all, even the dining room smelled the same.  Well, I say nothing had changed.  The school is now co-ed whereas 30 years ago, girls were something you only ever saw out of a bus windows or at the annual St Mary’s and St Anne’s disco, and even then it was only look, but don’t touch.  Now the school is mixed and it seemed really odd to see girls wearing our boys uniform.  Stop what you are thinking right now.  Great to see my old form teacher Mr Richardson (Ian – I just couldn’t call him that so I called him Mr Richardson which sounded totally ridiculous) and our first headmaster, Brother Francis – he was the gentle one before we had the sadistic Brother Paul.  Putting aside all of my personal hang-ups with my school years (read my book for details), I’m grateful for the opportunity to return and it was somehow reassuring that it remained exactly as I remember it.

Dates for your diary:

Saturday 12^th November. “An evening with Geoff” in aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Simon Says charities at the Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth CLICK HERE for more details

Wednesday 23^rd November. “An evening with Geoff” in aid of the SW Multiple Sclerosis Centre and the Disabled Sailing Association at the Langstone Cliff Hotel, Dawlish CLICK HERE for more details

Huge congratulations to 16 year old Tom Webb who completed his solo circumnavigation yesterday, Saturday 3^rd September.  Along with many of his supporters, friends and family, I couldn’t resist popping down to Langstone Sailing Club to share a celebratory drink on his return. Tom is a really nice guy and I can tell he’s destined for great things.  For more on Tom and his fantastic voyage visit his website CLICK HERE

Huge thanks to the amazing charity SHELTERBOX for making me so welcome at their HQ in Helston, Cornwall.  If you don’t know, Shelterbox provide aid worldwide when natural disasters strike like the tsunami in Japan or earthquake in Haiti. Each box contains a tent, cooking utentsils, a stove and basic tools and each box costs just over £500.  In the past ten years, they have dispatched hundreds of thousands of boxes worldwide. To see more about their work CLICK HERE.

Congrats also to the Rose Road Association who were raising awareness for their selection as the nominated charity for Ladies Day at the PSP Southampton Boat Show later this month.  They held a competition in West Quays shopping centre and were timing participants on a rowing machine.  I hadn’t realised how hard those things were to pull so I stuck to smiling for the camera. The Boat Show runs from Friday 16^th September to Sunday 25^th September. Ladies Day is Thursday 22^nd.  For more info on the Rose Road Association (of which I’m a proud patron), CLICK HERE

Don’t forget my new wheelchair accessible powerboat Wetwheels makes her debut at the Southampton Boat Show on the Suzuki Marine berth on the marina. Do pop by and say “hello” and we will take you for a free ride. CLICK HERE to “like” Wetwheels on Facebook and to see all the latest photos.

You’ll notice from the above photos that seven weeks on from breaking my leg, and I’m still sporting the “half-trouser”.  Unfortunately it is still not healing very well which is a bit of a nuisance.  I took the above photo of my X-ray this week whilst waiting to see the consultant.  The metal rod through my tibia is obvious but if you zoom in (trust me, some of my friends like this detail), you can see that the tibia is still snapped across the shin and the fibia is still snapped just below the knee.  It’s going to take a long time.

Thought I’d share this photo I took at the weekend of the Halfords store in Havant. I challenged the manager about their canopy blocking a disabled parking bay (on a busy Saturday) but he just shrugged and said “it’s only blocking one space”.  In France they have great signs – see below – I’ll let you translate.

Two great events for you;

Saturday 12^th November, 7.00pm, Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth. “An evening with Geoff Holt”.  Black tie fundraising dinner in aid of the Ellen Macarthur Trust and Simon Says plus great auction and live band.  Full details, CLICK HERE

Tuesday 13^th September, Access to Disability Sport Conference, Southampton University, all day, range of great speakers and workshops. More information, CLICK HERE

Here are the first pictures of Wetwheels, my new 9 metre Cheetah catamaran, taken yesterday in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight.  Scheduled to make her debut at the Southampton Boat Show and being built to take disabled people powerboating, it was quite a moment seeing her for the first time – she seems HUGE out of the water.  Still plenty of work to be done, and only 8 weeks to do it all, but Cheetah are on the case. CLICK HERE to join the Wetwheels Facebook Page

In the photo above, the observant amongst you will notice I am sporting the latest in fashion trends, the half-trouser. Surprisingly no, it’s not a strange IOW Masonic tradition, nor a tribute to Monty Python, it’s because I managed to snap my leg in half last week. I rather stupidly mis-judged a door-way and the result was my foot pointing backwards.  Whilst it’s a bugger being paralysed, one consolation is the lack of pain at such moments in time, although the mere sight of a backward-facing foot did make me rather lightheaded.  I’d like to thank my friends for their obvious concern and capturing the moment of my departure by ambulance on film. Glad to see they got their priorities right. Great job by orthopaedic surgeons at QA Hospital in Portsmouth – always a good start when your anaesthetist and surgeon have read your book.  Post-op there was good news and bad news. Apparently the operation was a success but I’ll never walk again (sorry, bad taste joke).

Congratulations to New Forest Sailability who celebrated their 10^th birthday last week with the launch of a new boat.  I had the pleasure of helping pour a quarter bottle of cheap Cava (times are tough in the charity sector) over the bow of their latest addition, an Access Liberty dinghy called Freedom. It was also an opportunity for my work-placement colleague, Alice, to venture out for her first time in a sailing boat in one of the clubs Access dinghies. You look like a professional Alice and apparently you are a natural.

Congratulations also to SWAC (Southampton Water Activities Centre) who celebrated their 25^th year of operation last month. HRH, The Princess Royal popped in to share in the fun and poured a big bottle of proper champagne (New Forest Sailability take note) over the bows of their new boat, a Sonar called Active Rupert. Whilst there, the Princess also collected a set of BVI Sailability stamps which I’d been asked to present to her as a gift from the Royal British Virgin Islands Post Office.  To read the full article about the stamps, CLICK HERE.

If you want to catch up on all of my comings and goings in recent weeks, I suggest you take a few minutes and read my latest All At Sea column. CLICK HERE.  It’s a good read. 

Dates for your diary 

Saturday 12^th November. “An Evening with Geoff Holt”. Black tie dinner, Royal Maritime Club, Portsmouth. In aid of the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust and Simon says charity. Email alice@geoffholt.com to register your interest. Invites will be printed and sent next month.

It’s been a busy few weeks as we move into the summer months.  A fortnight ago I had the honour of being invited to Colne Valley Special Sailors disabled sailing group in Rickmansworth on the occasion of their 10^th anniversary to give a talk to their sailors and volunteers.  I’d never been before and, bearing in mind we were inside the M25, I was genuinely surprised at how rural it felt – the canal system, the lakes and parkland – it’s a great venue and great Sailability group. I subsequently heard they had been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service – well done, much deserved. CLICK HERE to visit their website.

Me with son Tim, Nick Ward and Murlo Primrose at Hamble River SC Open Day

Last week I was asked to cut the ribbon on the occasion of three new therapy rooms at a local charity called the Rose Road Association here in Southampton.  I’ve been a Patron of the RRA for several years now and never cease to be amazed by the love and care they show towards the profoundly disabled children they have in their care. The new rooms include a soft-play room and a light-sensory room.  CLICK HERE for more info on the Rose Road Association. I have also just heard that they have been chosen as the official charity for Ladies Day at the PSP Southampton Boat Show in September

I was given a full tour of the RNLI HQ in Poole last week. I’ve passed the Lifeboat buildings many times but it was a rare treat to go inside the main lifeboat simulator. I’ve been going on the water all my life and not once felt sea sick but 5 minutes in there and I will admit to feeling slightly “wobbly”.  Strange because the simulator itself doesn’t move, only the 270 degree cinematic panorama which surrounds it, but it was enough to affect my balance.  I found this great video on the internet CLICK HERE to see the simulator in action.  The swimming pool too was quite a sight – with its metre high wave machine, wind machines, sound effects and darkness – a great simulator for sea rescue training – best to learn in a pool rather than be confronted for the first time in an emergency situation.

I spent Friday at the Sail for Gold regatta held at the Weymouth & Portland Sailing Academy – 13 Olympic and Paralympic classes sailing in a pre-Olympic regatta. Incredible organisation and great to see so many nations represented; there were hundreds of boats and thousands of people. It was the final day of racing for the Paralympic classes which saw our 3-person Sonar team claim gold and our two-person SKUD crew bag the silver. Lots of sticky champagne spraying at the medal ceremony. Well done guys.

OK, it’s time for “High-Horse Moment of the Week”. Emmerdale. It’s a UK TV soap opera based in Yorkshire watched by millions several times a week. A while ago, one of the characters became quadriplegic after an accident. To cut a long story short the Producer, Stuart Blackburn, decided to write the character Jackson Walsh out of the show by Assisted Suicide on the basis he was “unhappy” being paralysed and “couldn’t cope” with life in a wheelchair.  Despite a campaign by the Spinal Injuries Association and outrage amongst the spinally injured community, Blackburn ignored all pleas and went ahead with the storyline last week.  No one I have spoken to is against Assisted Suicide providing it is only used in cases of incurable pain and suffering, but not for being “unhappy”.  Being scared / worried / unhappy is a natural feeling after a spinal accident, but showing AS as a “way out” if you have a spinal injury is shameful. OK, it’s only a TV drama but what message does that convey to newly injured patients?  I can only hope Emmerdale’s irresponsible broadcast does not lead to any copy-cat actions – if it does, I think all concerned will share the responsibility.  OK, climbing off my horse now.

If you read my last blog, you’ll know about the “Wetwheels” project. Not much to mention at the stage but I will be doing a “full feature” in the coming weeks. In the mean time, take a look at some of Cheetah’s other catamarans and wheelchair accessible boats. CLICK HERE

Huge congratulations to my friend and explorer extraordinaire, Sarah Outen for being awarded an MBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours today – in typical Sarah fashion, she claims MBE refers to her expertise as a Mars Bar Eater. CLICK HERE for Sarah’s website.

Finally, the best gift a human being can receive (in my view anyway), is knowing that you have inspired another human being to do something with their lives. Stories like this make me want to get out of bed in the morning and jump for joy.  Well done Alastair, well done MDL, well done Amanda and well done Burgate School.  CLICK HERE to read the story.

Project “Wetwheels” was launched quietly last week in my office with a bottle of Pol Roger champagne.  It is my ambition to build a wheelchair accessible powerboat to provide disabled powerboating experiences along the South coast.  I’ve been working closely with Cheetah marine on the Isle of Wight and a number of equipment suppliers including Suzuki Marine, Trident Foams and Seaglaze (more names to be announced soon) to build a 9 metre power catamaran. The order was placed for this magnificent vessel last week and hopefully, by September, Wetwheels will be providing powerboating experiences, fishing trips, sightseeing tours etc. to disabled people from across the region. I am still looking for a number of suppliers to join us including stainless steel manufacturers and GRP resin suppliers so, if you know of anyone, can you please ask them to contact me.

Note the side-opening door and ample deck-space

Another exciting plan is currently underway working with Sainsbury’s (Farlington, Portsmouth), to hold a gala fundraising dinner, “An evening with Geoff Holt” to raise money for their charity of the year (to be named next month), and the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.  The black-tie dinner will be held in Portsmouth later in the year, more details to follow soon. Despite what my wife might say, “an evening with Geoff Holt” promises a night full of fun and surprises…!  Whilst mentioning the EMCT, you might like to read the article I published on their volunteer scheme in All at Sea magazine last month.  CLICK HERE.

I had a personal frustration with the 2012 London Organising Committee Olympic Games (LOCOG) this week.  LOCOG have published the 2012 Paralympic Games ticketing schedule and have quite deliberately omitted sailing from the list. CLICK HERE to see the list.  Paralympic sailing will be a non-ticketed (free to view) event which is great but, in my view, it should still have been listed on the ticketing schedule with “Free of Charge” alongside.  What I fear will now happen is families looking to select an array of sports to watch from the ticketing list will not see sailing on the list and will therefore, because they don’t see it, not know or not realise it is a sport they can watch free of charge. At a time when Paralympic sailing wants to encourage more participants, it should also be encouraging more spectators.

On a separate note, LOCOG announced their torchbearer campaign this week to find inspirational figures to be chosen to carry the 2012 Olympic torch during the build-up to the Games next year. Interestingly, of the 8,000 torchbearers, 6,000 (three quarters) of those places are reserved for sponsors. So, in reality, only 2,000 nominations will be successful. And of those 2,000, LOCOG criteria states nominees need not be British.  Mmm, interesting.  CLICK HERE to nominate your torchbearer.

It’s been a busy couple of weeks delivering talks all over the UK.  The overnight sleeper from Euston delivered us into the stunningly beautiful Scottish highlands at 0700 last week as our train stopped in Aviemore. Twelve hours later, after speaking to 250 members at the Scottish Sport Development conference, it was back on the same overnight train back to London. A bizarre way to travel in the UK, sleeping on a train in a cabin no bigger than my wheelchair requiring Elaine to physically stand on the sink to manoeuvre around me to her bunk. Less than 48 hours later I travelled to Birmingham to speak to a group of business people and then it was back to London to speak at a boys school in N5, London at their Year 11 NRA (National Recognition of Achievement) awards evening.  Always humbling and inspiring talking to kids, I love it, it’s the only time I feel nervous. Finished off the week speaking to 200+ owners and crew of X-Yachts in Hamble. Phew, what a week.

Delighted to say the BBC Radio Solent H2O Show is back on the airwaves and I’m back as an occasional guest-presenter.  Last week it was a bit scary doing an hour of live radio on my own on Friday 13^th and, it seemed, all of the electronic gremlins conspired against me. Tonight, Friday 20^th, I’m in safe hands with my co-host, Sir Robin Knox-Johnston. He might be 70+ and have a beard, but he can handle a radio studio like he handles a round-the-world yacht; he shows it respect, but you never forget who is boss..!! CLICK HERE to download the weekly podcast.

Don’t forget, if you have not yet visited the commercial website, do please take a look and let me have your feedback. CLICK HERE to view. I’ve already had an enquiry from one of the world’s largest yacht charter companies to deliver some disability awareness training and to help market their services to the disabled sector plus I have had an approach from a national Federation along the same lines.  All positive stuff. I will announce details when I am in a position to do so but, for now, I have a lot to be thinking about.

And finally…..  Congratulations to fellow quadriplegic yachtsman Jamie Dunross for winning the Ron Tough Yachting Foundation gold medal for yachting achievement for circumnavigating Australia. Jamie is an Aussie so let’s not get too carried away, but well done mate, thoroughly deserved.  CLICK HERE for the full story.

Don’t forget. Please sign up to my Facebook and my Twitter accounts for all the regular news. Click on the links below.

Blogging Against Disabilsm Day

1^st May 2011

 To whom it may concern

The Equalities Act: Worthless without delivery.

I have spent more than half of my life paralysed from the neck down with no alternative but use a powered wheelchair. Since becoming disabled in 1984 at the age of 18, I have witnessed disabled facilities in the UK come a long way. But is it enough? Legislation like the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act (now the Equalities Act), has been the “stick” by which corporations, large and small, have woken up to the needs of disabled people. Some have been forced, but most have made changes voluntarily, keen to demonstrate their corporate social responsibility. Millions of pounds have been spent to ensure disabled people have equal access to jobs, to transport, to goods and services. Corporations boast about their CSR in their annual reports and websites.

But all of this good work in creating an inclusive culture can so easily be rendered worthless. Because, despite the investment, the accessible infrastructure, the hours of strategic planning, the entire premise of equality and inclusion is built upon one thing, and that is delivery. And that delivery is down to their staff on the frontline, many of whom lack even basic disability awareness training.

In the past month alone, I have witnessed first-hand catastrophic failures by staff which would leave their CEO’s weeping into their cornflakes. For example, the South West Trains guard at Waterloo Station who, after falsely accusing me of not having booked the disabled space on that train (did you know disabled people have to book at least 24 hours in advance to claim one of only two disabled spaces on each train?), then tried to suggest I could not board the train because my wheelchair had batteries, something which has not concerned other train guards for the past quarter of a century. I will also mention the OCS staff at Gatwick airport; they are charged with boarding disabled passengers onto flights. Despite many pre-notifications, they arrived so late at the aircraft door that it was too late to pre-board me and I had the indignity of being lifted in front of, and then dragged through, a plane full of 400 people, leaving my 8 year old son close to tears because everyone was staring at his Dad being man-handled. And then there is the De Vere hotel group who’s staff allow customers, particularly those with Bentley’s and Ferrari’s, to park in the designated disabled bays without displaying blue badges and refuse to ask them to move because “they don’t have contact details” for the drivers, who are guests in the hotel. I’ll finish this sample list by mentioning the London taxi drivers (so far three this month) who, despite displaying their “For Hire” lights, have quite blatantly turned them off when I have put my hand up to hail them. It doesn’t take a genius to realise they don’t want the inconvenience of getting their ramps out, particularly when it is raining. In a letter of response, Transport For London have defended their actions by stating it is permissible for cabbies to do this; the only time they cannot refuse a fare is if they are displaying “For Hire” whilst waiting on a designated rank. Remember that next time you are lucky enough to hail a cab in a street. I could go on.  These examples provide no more than a snapshot of the discrimination disabled people face every day of our lives. It is endemic and is based on a fundamental lack of understanding of disabled people and their needs.

As a successful businessman and sailing adventurer, compared to the “can do” attitude I experience overseas, I sometimes wonder exactly how far we as a nation have come. And it saddens me. The investment of all that time and money by corporations is utterly wasted without competent and sensitive delivery. Disabled people are not looking for special treatment, all we expect is fair treatment. With the 2012 Paralympics on the doorstep, not only London-centric businesses, but so too the entire UK, need to ensure they are ready for the challenge. If not, then the Equalities Commission can not only wave a big stick, they have teeth as well.

Geoff Holt MBE

www.geoffholt.com

The problem with being busy is that I get less chance to up date my Blogs and they end up being mini-novels, illuminated chronicles of life in “Geoff’s World”. I try to keep them filled with items that interest me and reflect my character and humour, in other words, a bit zany and I talk too much..!!  Enjoy the latest.

After a year in the planning, and innumerable hours of hard work by my team (Mike, Dan, Ken and the boys at Slipstream Studios), I’m delighted to announce here, exclusively, the launch of my new commercial enterprise, Geoff Holt Commercial Services. I’ve kept the whole concept a secret as I have wanted to put together a great team and a robust business plan and marketing strategy. So what is it that I’ll be doing? Well, rather than clog up my Blog with marketing blah-blah that will have half of you logging-off in nano-seconds, those with a genuine interest can CLICK HERE to read the press release which is going to be sent out next week.  You can also click the “Visit Geoff’s Commercial Site” link at the top of this page when the mood takes you and explore what I have to offer. Owners / Managers of businesses in particular, please take note.

My website followers in the UK will know that we have just had possibly the warmest, sunniest Easter in years although, as I write, the clouds are gathering, the barometer is falling and heavy rain is forecast for Friday 29^th, Royal Wedding Day.  As a family, we decided to spend a week away during the Easter holidays and ended up having one of the best, certainly the most entertaining, and without doubt, the most exhausting holiday in years.  We decided to go on a 4 night break to the Calvert Trust on Exmoor in the SW of England CLICK HERE.  The holiday was all inclusive of food and activities and is marketed as being accessible to all disabilities. The Centre is set high up on the moor, surrounded by fields and overlooking a large reservoir. All the bedrooms were fully accessible (right down to electric hoists and electric beds – much to Tim’s amusement) and we had three hot, home cooked meals a day. But where Calvert Trust comes into its own is through its activities which are, almost without exception, accessible to everyone, meaning it was possible for entire families, ourselves included, to do everything together.  To be honest, beforehand I was sceptical. 25 years in a wheelchair makes you that way. But we were assigned two great instructors for the week, Steve & Barry, aka the “Chuckle Brothers”, and it wasn’t long before I was forced to admit that I was wrong. Apart from hand-cycling which I tried but didn’t have the strength nor muscle-group to do properly, and abseiling which I refused to do for no other reason than it scared the living daylights out of me, apart from those activities, I did everything else; Archery, the Challenge Course, Canoing (yes, canoing), pony trap riding and I even squeezed in a private, 3 hour, fly-fishing lesson at my own expense – no, I didn’t catch anything, but what’s new?  What a fantastic week. It was further helped by being part of such a lovely group of other families, one in particular who had a son with Cerebral Palsey the same age as Tim and they became great friends during the week. I can not recommend the Calvert Trust highly enough. If you are disabled or know someone who is, you really should go and experience it yourself. The only sad aspect, well, for Elaine and Tim anyway, was returning home to find we had 5 chickens. We had 6 when we left. Not sure where she went but our neighbour who looked after them during our absence had a BBQ on Saturday and the chicken was exceptionally tasty.

There will be more information on this in future Blogs / News, but I have another plan running at the moment, Project Cheetah.  Being a bit of a wheelchair accessible powerboat aficionado, I went for a sea trial on a Cheetah 8.5 metre catamaran in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight two weeks ago.  Having had various powerboats over the years, I have long known about, but never experienced first-hand, the legendary sea-handling capabilities of Cheetah catamarans. I was only out for an hour but it was everything I wished for. Having spoken to the manufacturers, Sean & Lucy Strevens, we are looking at a way of financing a boat to take wheelchair users and other disabled people out powerboating. I have written to the various suppliers and have agreed to help find the money to finance the project – with all suppliers providing items free or at cost and if we raise enough money, Project Cheetah could be taking disabled people out on the water on the south coast as early as next Spring and could be providing a viewing platform for disabled people at the Olympic and Paralympic sailing venue in Portland. I’ll keep you updated on progress through the Blog.

To finish, two quick items.  Firstly, thanks to everyone following me on Twitter, I now have more than 1,000 followers (amazing). I’ve now got 850 followers on Facebook and would love to hit 1,000 – if  you haven’t already, could you please follow my Facebook profile (CLICK HERE)

(Tim with a sore throat: he’s feeling a little hoarse – GROAN)

And finally. Hang on a second whilst I climb onto my high horse. OK, here goes. Emmerdale. If you don’t know that Emmerdale is a long-running ITV soap, this should still get your blood boiling, it does mine. There’s a character in Emmerdale called Jackson Walsh. His character was involved in an accident and he is now tetraplegic / quadriplegic – he is paralysed with the same injury as me. It has been leaked that Stuart Blackburn, Series Producer of Emmerdale has decided in the storyline that Jackson Walsh will, with the blessing of his family, seek Assisted Suicide on the basis that his “life is not worth living”. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for assisted suicide / euthanasia, whatever you want to call it. But what sort of message does that send out to the hundreds / thousands of people who have spinal injuries each year. It gets me really upset and completely sickens me but makes me furious too. How can a TV screenwriter who has no personal knowledge or understanding of SCI, write a storyline which portrays people with SCI like me, as having no quality of life and facing such a terrible future, the only way out is to kill yourself.  Shame on Stuart Blackburn, shame on Emmerdale and shame on ITV Productions. You can write and vent your dissatisfaction at; Stuart Blackburn Series Producer, EMMERDALE, The London Television Centre, Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT

Sally, Ricardo, Sarah and me

“Pangs of Jealousy”. Of course you can’t say such things out loud but ocean rower Sally Kettle @sallykettle and I somehow blurted out our private thoughts simultaneously to each other yesterday. We were in London, in the shadow of Tower Bridge, for the departure of our dear friend Sarah Outen @sarahouten on her epic, and I mean EPIC, trans-global expedition. Not that we are jealous of Sarah, she is one of the most lovable, enigmatic people and we wish her nothing but success. Sarah crewed for me in 2007 on my circumnavigation of GB. But any adventurer, on the day of their big “send-off”, will know that sense of excitement and sense of trepidation fuelled by pints of adrenalin. Surrounded by your dearest friends and family, the media all pointing cameras at you and shouting your name with your sponsors looking on; it is an addictive cocktail. You are dying to just get on with it but realise you’ll be leaving loved ones behind, it confuses your mind. Having been in similar situations ourselves and knowing the feelings Sarah was experiencing, filled Sally and myself with envy and got us thinking ahead to our next “big days”. If you have not yet heard of Sarah Outen, I predict you will. If not sometime during her two and a half year journey by kayak, bicycle and row-boat around the world, then when she is made a Dame by the Queen on her return. Do visit her website www.sarahouten.co.uk  She’ll be coming to a country near you. And a final note of congratulation, again tinged with envy, to Sarah for finding such a wonderful title sponsor @Accenture – what a great sponsor. You can not over-state the importance of a good sponsor and setting off on such a huge adventure in the knowledge that money will not be a problem, means you can focus on the important things. I know Accenture’s support will be re-paid a 1000 times over but what makes a good sponsorship, as in this case, is a shared set of values – well done Accenture for having the foresight and the balls.

I was flattered to be asked to speak at the Peace One Day @peaceoneday Speakers Conference last week in London. What a line-up. I followed Ben Fogle who gave a great account of his career and love of broadcasting and wildlife. Once the ladies had re-composed themselves (and a few chaps), I took to the stage and spoke about my adventures and plans for the future. Other speakers included the intrepid, slightly loopy but hugely entertaining Miles Hilton-Barbour.  Completely blind from an early age, Miles has flown a micro-light aircraft from Europe to Australia (with a sighted co-pilot), he holds various speed records for a blind person driving a car, riding a motorbike and many other crazy events. Perhaps the most powerful talk I heard was from Jo Berry. Jo’s father was blown up by the IRA in the 1984 Brighton Bomb. Jo decided to meet his killer and after several years they met and formed a new charity, Building Bridges for Peace CLICK HERE for details. Can you imagine the courage and strength it must take to forgive your father’s murderer? Simon Woodroffe, founder of Yo-Sushi was another speaker and, the man himself, future Nobel Peace Prize winner, Jeremy Gilley captivated us one again with his passion for Peace One Day, declaring he will not stop until every human being on the planet is aware of Peace One Day.  And like Sarah Outen, if you have not yet heard of Jeremy Gilley, you will. His programme of events over the next 18 months working with the British Olympic Association, the Paralympics and the Cultural Olympiad will put him on a global stage – including a massive concert to be headlined by Sir Elton John – we can’t wait. www.peaceoneday.org

Talking of the Olympics, forgive me if I get political for a minute (skip this paragraph if you are not so inclined, but I feel really strongly about this). Did you know that the British Olympic Association (BOA) are in a major financial dispute with LOCOG (London Organising Committee Olympic Games)? And did you know Lord (Colin) Moynihan has been suspended by LOCOG CLICK HERE and did you know Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt has directed both parties to sort it out? CLICK HERE Why? Well the BOA only want to share in the PROFITS likely to be generated by the OLYMPICS. They do not want to share in the LOSSES which are predicted for the PARALYMPICS. Whereas LOCOG and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have told the BOA that they must share whatever profits and or losses which may occur from both the Olympics and the Paralympics. The BOA are appealing the decision. Just goes to show that where money is concerned, the disabled are the first to be dumped. Thanks BOA. I thought the London 2012 Games was all about inclusion. It is, but only up to the point where the disabled games could make a loss, at which point the BOA want nothing to do with Paralympics.  And to add to the chaos, the Chief Executive of Paralympics GB has resigned, 16 months before the Paralympic Games for, wait for it, “Personal Reasons”. I have no idea if the events are linked but it all smells a bit to me. At a time when the BOA, LOCOG and Parampics GB should be showing a strong, unified strategy, it looks like it is in chaos – how is that going to help our Paralympic athletes?

On the subject of politics, Alastair Campbell (yes, the AC, Tony Blair’s right hand man), was guest speaker at the SOSCA (Southern Society of Chartered Accountants) annual dinner last week.  Although a dinner for  300+ chartered accountants may sound like a yawn-fest, it was actually a good night. I was invited to the dinner by friend and old work colleague, Ian Davies, who is now president of SOSCA.  I had met AC once before, though he would not remember it. It was at St James’ Palace in 2000, just before the Sydney Olympic Games. PM Tony Blair was there to meet with a delegation of athletes and wish them “good luck”. I was there in an official capacity as a selector of the sailing team. There was a group of disabled guys waiting in line to meet the PM with a small protest banner. I have no idea what they were protesting about, but AC clocked them and steered TB away so he did not have to deal with it. I formed an unfavourable opinion of him then which has not changed for the past 11 years, that was until last week when we spoke. We got on quite well and we exchanged Tweets – he has 65,000 followers!!!  Makes my 700 look rather paltry. Anyhow, he gave an entertaining speech and £30,000 was apparently raised for the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research charity @beatbloodcancer CLICK HERE for their website. Whilst flattered to be asked to the dinner, it was scary to meet so many acquaintances that I have worked with over the years – I’m getting old.

For those who have got this far and are wondering about the chickens, you’ll have to wait until the end of the Blog..!! And for those of you wondering what all the “@” signs mean, I’m sorry, you are probably an IT dinosaur.

For regular Blog followers you’ll know that I’ve been reporting on the Argo Challenge, the group of disabled sailors who have been hoping to enter a disabled-crew entry into the next America’s Cup in San Francisco. They needed to find up to USD $10,000,000 (ten million dollars) by the 31^st March 2011 for entry fees. Whilst supporting the idea, I did say that this story could go very quiet from April onwards. Needless to say, the silence is deafening so it looks likely, for now at least, there will be no disabled entry in the America’s Cup. Like the Paralympics GB predicament mentioned above, Argo Challenge’s situation may not have been helped by the announcement two weeks ago that their CEO and spokes-person, Lynne Fitzpatrick was “released from duties”, also for “personal reasons”. Sounds like dissent in the ranks to me.  Staying in the USA and disabled sailing, there was a tragedy last week in San Diego when a disabled child and carer died whilst out sailing with a disabled sailing programme. Whilst it is a desperately tragic event which will hopefully be investigated, fatalities at sea, particularly whilst under instruction, are extremely rare, and those involving disabled people even rarer. Let’s hope the investigation finds the cause and any recommendations are acted upon. CLICK HERE to read the story.

A bit jaded from the SOSCA dinner the night before and needing a bit of R&R, I took my son Tim and his chum Charlie to the Calshot Activities centre to support a new and exciting activity, Wheelchair Laser Tag. Jeeez.  I thought I was going for a peaceful day. I should say that I’m not complaining, it was FANTASTIC fun.  Set in an old sea-plane hangar, participants (5 per team) sit in wheelchairs (able-bodied people are loaned a lightweight sport chair), you wear a hat with sensors on it and carry a laser-emitting gun.  It’s like paintball but without the pain, without the paint and without the need to be outside. Tim said something really interesting on the way in the car. “Do you have to be disabled to play?” Me: “No”. Tim: “But that means people who are used to being in a wheelchair will have an advantage over people like us”. I’d not thought of it like that before but I liked the way he was thinking – how often do wheelchair users actually have an “advantage” over non-users?  Picture below is of Tim pushing a young lad in a wheelchair so was otherwise too disabled to play on his own. We had a great day, needless to say I was always first to be killed but we had to drag the kids away, they had so much fun. CLICK HERE to find out more.

I must just say well done to my friend Peta Stuart-Hunt, PR extraordinaire. Peta looks after the Royal Southern Yacht Club PR and her email yesterday morning, April 1st, caught me hook, line and sinker. You rotter Peta. CLICK HERE to see the jape.

And finally….  Onto the bane of my life………   Chickens.   I’ve just had to spend £5 on some spray to stop them “hen-pecking” one of the young ones – apparently filing down their beaks and tying a ball and chain to their feet is not humane according to the man in the shop. Thank you for your responses to my last Blog requesting names for the chickens.  I’m sorry, Jerk, KFC, Vindaloo, Biriani, etc. were all too obvious. I’m very tempted with Miss Sue-Flay and Zachery (private joke – remind me to tell you it some day), but I think the winner has to be Sandra Juul in Sao Vicente, Cape Verde Isles with Crocus and Daffodil – they have been duly named. A set of stamps are set aside for you Sandra. 

Right, off to Portsmouth with the family (no chickens) to do some shopping and to support my friend Paul Duffield in his new “Rib Ride” charter outfit at Gunwharf Quays. If you fancy a fun day out, give Paul a ring. Don’t mention my name, he’ll charge you double. CLICK HERE for details. 

Date for your diary: Saturday 9^th April, Hamworthy, Wimborne, Dorset . Multiple Sclerosis Fun Day. CLICK HERE for details.

This may come as a surprise to many, but Geoff Holt the “disabled yachtsman” has a liking for speed.  I’m not talking amphetamine, although my addiction offers a similar natural high, albeit a more expensive one.  I’m talking power boats, in particular, powered fishing boats.  I’ve owned a few in my time and have become a bit of a nerd in the range of powerboats which can take wheelchairs; from the ghastly flat-bottomed aluminium “Wheelyboats” designed for a Beaufort scale of zero and an ever lower credibility rating, through to the magnificent Cheetah catamarans with side access for a wheelchair capable of handling most sea-states but you won’t see much change from £100,000.

I started tearing up fifty pound notes and leaving big black carbon tyre marks around the Solent about ten years ago.  I opted for a bright orange (look at me I’m disabled) Pioner Multi, and yes, it has only one “e”.  I named her “Jaffa” and together we caught a fair few fish at my secret marks around the Solent, mainly bass.  The Pioner Multi is made from injected-moulded polyethylene, robust enough to drag across concrete should you wish to do so, but its most-notable feature is its landing-craft style drop-bow.  Interestingly, despite buying it for this feature, I never once used it, preferring to wheel into the boat backwards off a pontoon, a procedure which caused most onlookers, myself included, to shut their eyes before undertaking.  Fitted with a 20HP outboard it planed (just about), at 12 knots max, on flat water so long as there were only two of you in the boat and one of you was hanging over the bow.  But that was its Achilles heal.  When you go fishing for cod south of the Isle of Wight in winter, you rarely get flat water. In fact anywhere I went at sea in Jaffa was turbulent enough to ensure I kept one hand on the EPIRB button, and the other on the inflate toggle on my life-jacket, just in case.  It is however ideal as a rescue boat on flat-water lakes and reservoirs and remains the safety boat of choice for many Sailability groups around the UK.

My next purchase was almost the perfect choice.  A NAB 23 dory powered by a four-stroke 90HP Suzuki, “Liberty” was a fully MCA coded ex-commercial powerboat. With speeds up to 26 knots, we had a lot of fun together and burned countless litres of irreplaceable fossil fuels, thereby doing our bit to deplete the earths natural resources.  If I had a £1 for every time I returned home empty handed from a fishing trip to be greeted by my wife who would say, predictably, “it would have been cheaper and easier to go to the fishmongers…”  They just don’t understand do they?.  But for me, Liberty failed on two counts, especially when needing to get out to those mid-Channel wrecks.  With a double-cathedral hull, she doesn’t like powering at speed through waves, well, not without slamming so much your head hurts and sounding like she’s going to snap in half. And secondly, the lack of protection from the elements, not least the spray kicked up into your face when travelling with the sticks pushed right forward.  The one huge advantage of this class is that Liberty has two sisters, both designed and operated by Port Solent based powerboat school Boatability.  Believed to be the only commercially operated wheelchair accessible powerboats in the country, qualified wheelchair users can not only charter the boats for their own pleasure, but also take their RYA level 2 powerboat training in the boat whilst remaining seated in their wheelchair.  Coded for up to 8 persons (max 4 wheelchairs), I’d highly recommend anyone to give them a go.

So what’s the next boat for me? Well, Liberty has now gone, she has a new life providing pleasure to a wheelchair user on the Isle of Man.  My options are fairly limited, if not by choice then certainly by cost.  With a well-proven hull shape, ideally for choppy seas, Orkney boats will adapt one of their 21 footers with a side-access modification for about £30,000, and the Powercat 6.9 made by Multimarine has also started to take orders for a similar modification and a similar price.  From my research, I think it has to be a catamaran for me, purely from a stability point of view, it must also have full weather protection and ideally a cabin with an accessible bunk and galley, I’m hoping that concession may win the approval of my wife.  Of course, I’m talking myself into a Cheetah catamaran but I always did have had champagne tastes with lemonade pockets.

Further information;

www.boatability.co.uk

www.cheetahmarine.co.uk

www.multimarine.co.uk

Copyright Geoff Holt. First published in All at Sea, 2010