Stage 4 commences...

Post date: Jul 29, 2015 9:38:26 AM

A bit of pressure, unfortunately, for this stage. I have to be back for business reasons in 2 weeks. So I've got 13 days in which to make 10 passages to cover 400 miles to get to Plymouth.

So I've got to press on. No Dilly-Dallying. If I get bad winds then I'll just have to stop short of my Plymouth target and get back home anyway. Let's hope I don't have to do that. It does mean, sadly, that a sojourn to the Scilly Isles is off the cards - that would have been fun.

Ok, so am I all set? I guess so. As has been the case for previous breaks, I've not been able to maintain fitness much. My back problem that developed at the end of stage 2 became a bum/leg problem for stage 3 and has now firmly established itself as sciatica, pure and simple. So I've not been able to play squash or go to the gym. My diet has been pretty poor during the break too. I'll be following a more spartan/controlled diet for stage 4 and I'll just have to cope with the sciatica. Never had it in my life before, so annoyed it's established itself now.

If I were to do this again (which I won't) I'd do it in less stages to avoid the frequent breaks. While I appreciate them in one way in that it allows me to get back home and see my family and rest, they also break up my passage rhythm. I don't like stopping and starting really. And the family breaks are actually less than optimal as I have to spend much of the time attending to business matters. And it's hard enough swapping into and out of that.

That said, I'm excited and eager to achieve my stage 4 goal and get back into the zone. There are quite a few challenging headlands to get round, each with strong tidal conditions. So this section, Wales and the South-East, is going to be a new and challenging experience. Here we go...