Follow me on my Lanzarote Delivery

Myself and Sacha have joined forces with two guys Mike and Al to sail 'Little Pea', a yacht to Lanzarote. The boat that we shall be sailing is a fancy schmancy Southerly 38.


It is intended then to go on and take part in the ARC race, a transatlantic jolly to the Caribbean. This race starts at the Canary Islands so it is there we shall leave her, in mint condition for the owner to take over and have the fun of the Atlantic in November.

It has many gadgets and gizmos and looks like it should be a fun boat to sail.
Although it has many of the mod cons that I am not used to having on boats it doesn't have an AIS sender. So unfortunately one cannot watch my progress in real time across the oceans and tell me where I am before I even know!
It does however have a satellite phone that will allow us to send our position to a programme called Mailasail. By FOLLOWING THIS LINK http://blog.mailasail.com/littlepea one may keep track of our daily updated position that is overlaid onto a map.

For those in the UK, enjoy the rain. I'm off to 27 degrees of sunshine.

I Swear I'm a Sailor!

I have recently given a lot of thought to my use of swearing. It is true that I swear a lot.
This is something that I hope to curb. A recent study said that swearing is more addictive than smoking (B*ll£*%s! Smoking is a deeply unattractive and insatiable vice).

Recently I responded to a thread on a boating forum to someone asking for photo's and information on the Irene of Bridgewater. I shamelessly plugged my blog posts hoping that they might find it interesting. Word got around and I saw that one reader was so offended that not only did they refuse to visit my blog but they also refused to show any future interest in the Irene!! I thought that this was a great shame as I never set out to damage the reputation of any individual or boat that I write about.

Saying that, I had quite a rant regarding the Bristol Hydrogen Boat Company without even using a rude word. I was asked to take it down as my opinion was far too one-sided (obviously) and in fairness I lacked both sides of the argument. I removed the post within 5 minutes of the request.*

I never use 'offensive' words to offend when I write. I merely write what was said or what I have been thinking. In my accounts of capsizing I felt that the use of swearing reiterated my feelings. It is for such moments in life that swearing was invented, I'm sure of it.

I too have tried to affiliate my blog with other web sites and bodies such as the RYA and Henri Lloyd and due to perceivably offensive content I have been refused.

My quandary is this, I have a group of avid readers that seem not to be offended by what I write. Yet by using such words am I restricting a potential future audience? An audience that I would like to have on board with me.
Should I go through my entire list of posts and sensor what I have written?
If you have felt offended by my site or have a view on this then PLEASE COMMENT using the fancy 'comment' button below.



* I still however disagree that a Hydrogen powered future is sustainable. I may write some more about it. Offer evidence without opinion and nurture a debate. I hope that I can write a post in the future with my tail between my legs having been convinced that I am wrong.