I'm pleased to say since the last blog a lot has happened.

Two of the highlights over the last month have been completing my Ocean Master theory course and throwing a fantastic boat launch party.

On September the 27th around 60 people, work colleagues, family and friends congregated on the Balaka. A fantastic Indian restaurant in Woking for my official boat launch. I managed to get the boat outside the restaurant for guests to see and climb aboard which really set a great feel to the night. I delivered a presentation to guests on my up and coming ocean rowing trip which seamed to go down well. That was followed by a fantastic four course meal. Then to top off the night I managed to get my hands on some nice gifts to raffle off for my chosen charity the NSPCC.

Arranging this launch night took a lot of time and preparation. The success of the night was really down to the hard work and support from the whole Balaka team, so a big thank you from me.

With one event over I was straight onto my next one the following day. Passing my Ocean Master theory. This is basically your driving license to row across the Atlantic. Spanish authorities will not let you depart La Gomera without it. Being told that nobody had failed this course meant I attended this with a little to much confidence and thought nothing of it. Two days into the course I could not believe how difficult I was finding it. This really got me worried. I did what I could and spent a lot of time in the evenings revising as it was a week long course with an exam at the end. Fortunately on the Thursday I don't know what it was but something just clicked and I found myself understanding everything with no major problems. I went on to pass on Friday without getting a question wrong. Good result considering this course blew my brains away for the first 3 days. For anyone who has no idea what this type of course is about. It's about Astro navigation, using a sextant to calculate your position on the earth, chart plotting, passage planning, knot tying and a whole lot more. It was in fact very useful.

With my Ocean Master completed I now have all my courses and qualifications under my belt to row the Atlantic. Good job as I leave in 6 weeks!

Also it's with great pleasure I tell you all I'm now on a 5 month sabbatical to train and finish all the logistics of the project off. No work until March 2010. Good for me but not the bank!

Next big thing is to get the boat shipped out to La Gomera which is happening in two weeks time. Got a few things before hand to do but should not be to much of a problem.

Will update you all over the coming weeks. It's all getting very real now!

Captain ketch