My colleague Mark, an international expert on the neurology of epilepsy remarked ‘My goodness, this sounds like a massive challenge, as well as being wonderfully eccentric! I expect you to return with tales of encounters with giant squid, mermaids, whales and giant cargo ships.’
I hope I didn’t disappoint him. He was prophetic, because there is a mermaid statue on Folkestone beach and I saw a dolphin on the way back.
My cousin Steve, a transatlantic sailor, suggested I shouldn’t row too fast, but enjoy the day. That was good advice, and I did enjoy the day, although I distinctly remember rowing as fast as possible when the safety boat told me to speed up to avoid a container ship.
Mike who works in Camberwell with me, suggested that rowing across the English Channel was no more dangerous than crossing the road at Denmark Hill – the advantage that Camberwell has is that across the road there is a convenient Accident and Emergency department.
Huw from Exeter suggested that if the tide swept me past Cap Gris Nez, we would meet up in Devon. I nearly took him up on the offer.
The Laidlows suggested that my next trip should be as Kon Tiki 2. I thought this perhaps would be to prove that Pico Man could have originally populated the Polynesian Islands.
Lastly, Becky from Laser Performance Sailboat Face Book (http://www.facebook.com/LaserPerformanceSailboats) wrote ‘why not just sail’ which I thought was very poetic and sums up any challenge – why? There is no answer other than ‘because it is there.’
All in all, I am so grateful for your support.