Things to consider......

Good News,

I have been informed that our new boat is progressing well and that "Wolf" is all but sorted.

It's amazing the amount of stuff you have to consider when building a boat, and in fairness how much you learn.

Humber whom are making the hull assure me that the build went well, and having even allowed for a few extra tweaks and improvements should have the boat in Wales by next Monday. I can almost hear a sigh of relief.

In the mean time Quinquari have all but sorted the electronics and await said Hull. There is more stuff connected to more stuff on this boat than I care to think about. The real question is do I need a handheld compass?

Things you consider when building/buying a boat....

1. Every penny you spend is multiplied by 3 when the wifey starts factoring in what's in it for her and how much she can spend in return.Keeping out of the divorce courts is nigh on impossible........ and it's all your fault.
2. Boat builders in Wales have no appreciation how much effort it takes to buy a new bed...
3. Man boob's never go away, they lurk..!
4. It take a lot longer and more effort than you could ever imagine to get fit!
5. You need at least 5 pairs of shorts and 5 t-shirts to stay ahead of the washing cycle..
6. Flying to or from Cardiff is expensive........
7. Petrol is always a bad decision.....

We persist......... hopefully the sun will shine.

Mac.

Suits You Sir................ Poor Stan.

It's amazing, I thought I had the biggest head in the world. No really, not because I was told so (although a few begrudgers would) but because I think I have never been able to find a crash helmet or cap that would fit me. It's the brains you see...

Then I asked the crew for their head sizes. Now apart from the fact that Paul got confused about which head to measure, it turns out that he and Guy have monster cranials as well.

"No, you must be wrong" said the guy at the helmet suppliers, "3 of you with XL Helmets and one Medium, we'll have to order the XL in" he said, "although we have plenty of medium, not much call for them these days" with a sympathetic tone to his voice.

Stan, ace skipper, and budding squash fanatic had ordered a size M for his bonce which is odd apparently.

Then I got to thinking and of course it's logical, 3 really clever crew with large brains and Stan with a medium brain, no wonder the guy at the helmet store was feeling slightly saddened by the thought. Poor Stan.

Then it came to ordering Musto gear and these ranged from medium salopettes (pants to the real world) and large Smock (I give up), to Stan with XL pants and XXL smock. By now I assume your getting the picture. Big Guy, small head...........

Poor Stan..............

Now don't start me on religion.............. or smelly socks !

Although praying about know seems like a good option, your man from Wales what is building the boat is sending me dirty text messages, shocked I was.

Mac.

Totally Useless Things.......

Just thinking about this boat race and guess what?

There is a load of stuff you have to do or know to be prepared...and it's all useless!

1. I have had at least 500 emails or sent the same since we started this campaign...
2. The Helmets are Called Urban and have to be orange with a large black number on the top so you can be seen from the air. Who knew?
3. St.Davids in Wales is the "smallest" city in the UK, Bless..
4. By the time the crew of Wolf have finished I calculate that we will have run over 3000km collectively and got absolutely no where...not even the pub.
5. We will drink over 10,000 litres of water.... where's the beer?
6. We will have traveled over 4000 miles by boat and guess what, we will have got no where. Portsmouth for goodness sake!

And on and on and on....

Mac.

570 Triathlons later.....

It's confirmed, Manuel is a monster.

His biog at the gym states he is from Madrid, no problem here, he has qualifications up the ying yang on how to torture people in the name of a healthy existence, and he likes to travel (I think it's because he keeps having to run away because he is completely mad) and finally, he has completed 570 triathlons, 30 odd marathons, can swim the channel before breakfast and he does it all for fun.

Sick...........

Any hoo, I went to the Gym on Wednesday to be assessed. I think he is still laughing, although he was highly impressed with my lung capacity at 7.5ltrs.
We went through the whole program having had to show him the website so he would understand what we are trying to do with RB08 and away we went.

Lift this, stretch that, thwannnnggg....... ouch!

Guess what, Manuel actually smiled at me, told his colleagues, "It's Justiiiiiiin my client, come on lets go do ze program....(laughing all the way).

I'm alive but only just. Not sure how, and I'm starting to wonder why I got talked into this madness in the first place. Just one cool Heineken...... only one

...............................Make the bad man stop.

Mac.

p.s: got a called from him up in Wales, the one with the hairy ear lobes, the one who is building Wolf. The seats have arrived he said. Customs have 'em at Heathrow he said, and guess what he said, they want £2000 to clear them and some other bod wants £180 to deliver to deepest darkest Wales. Frankly the £180 is cheap, people have been known to never come back, but surely the Customs have a heart. Pah...

Hotels & Helmet's......

Major Greg (Marsden) called today to tell me that the Gecko's were not going to work on our heads and the Grabners & Urbans were the only thing suitable, and that he had sent them to Neptune to see if they would talk.

What...............!

To say that the complications of this boat race are extreme is an understatement. The Gear we require to comply with the race regulations is unbelievable. Where do they get the names... Grabner & Gecko etc, one wonders if there is a particular type of marketing whizz dedicated to coming up with brand names whilst parachuting of a tall building, drinking a choco moco latte, and texting the office on their iphone.

Thank God for Major Greg, him of a technical nature. He has these really great spreadsheets with all the gear on, and then he has loads of colours to indicate whether it's a go (green) etc. He has decided to make his way in the world and sort all the technical bits for us and so far it sounds like he is on safari. So guys, when we turn up with bright orange full faced helmets to BS 6556 or whatever, they are Urbans, see, easy and it was Greg's fault.

The bright orange & yellow lifejackets are Grabners, again, Greg's fault. No fashion sense see. Neptunes are apparently still on the spreadsheet at amber.

Hotels are another thing. Trying to book hotels in June when it's only February seems to be considered a bit of a laugh in hotel land. We did succeed however and have managed to this bit organised. They are now Green.

So it's left to Greg and his Urbans. What a sight.....

Mac.