1 month's preparatory progress

Post date: Mar 14, 2015 2:20:56 PM

It was this day last month that I made the firm decision to sail round Britain single handed for charity. My planned leaving date is now just 5 weeks away. Gulp. Truth be told, I'm quite pleased with progress:

I've built this site as my knowledge and communications hub and, pending in-progress updates, is nearing completion. I've chosen my charity and have already raised £100. I've bought pretty much all the necessary paraphernalia (equipment, charts etc) that I need on board. I'm getting well prepared and I understand the task at hand in greater detail. In short, I'm quietly confident.

While family and close friends are now aware of my intentions, everybody else are not. And it is this "advertising" aspect that remains one of my major to-do's. Getting sponsorship and donations going for my charity is my biggest concern, if I'm honest. I get the sense that there's a  "I'll believe it when I see it" mentality before committing any funds to charity. This is entirely understandable which is why I'm nervous about telling people now as the reaction may tend to be "So what, let me know when you're half way round and still going". Anyway, no biggie; I'm going to continue with my strategy of reaching out to as wide an audience as possible before I go, but then I will repeat the exercise in mid flight and again when I've finished. So whether they like it or not, everybody I contact will get at least three nudges about my activities and triumphs!

One thing's for sure: it will take a pretty momentous event to cause me to bottle out of the challenge either before or during at this juncture. Like the boat sinking or something (which it won't). Because, despite the above, some people have generously donated and I've promised quite a few people and I've got this whole public website going. So there's no going back, I can assure you (and myself) of that!

I'm excited, motivated and committed. Marvy. Onward and upward.