Well I just cannot believe its been ages since I completed the last blog!! I do apologise to all who keep logging on only to see no new entries!

No excuses but I have been busy with family, work and all the commitments that come with getting an ocean rowing project together, its not an easy task and that alone is more than a full time job. Anyway you’re not reading to hear about my whinging but how the project is getting on. I will start with the weekend at the Trafford Centre and work back to the Hilton Hotel and SportsAid ball and all the month in-between as I get time.

The Trafford Centre was a great weekend and all went rather well. I must thank all the team from Positive Outcomes and SportsAid who helped get it all together. Dan from the rowing association was also great and worked very hard all weekend, I feel humbled that you all gave up your free time to help and it is much appreciated. A big thank you to Alison and the Team at the Trafford Centre for allowing us to stage the event for the weekend.

It was pretty scary on stage with Yemi who hosted the event. I remember on the Saturday the first time I went on stage with him. He gave a great introduction and then said something like…well Dave its a great boat can you tell me something about her….then it happened.  As that last ‘r’ rolled from his vocal cords the fear factor shot into me like a reddened poker. Everything seemed to slow down. My mouth felt like Mr Dyson himself had nipped in there with a nozzle and hovered all the saliva clean out of my mouth, then not fully satisfied with that forced several dry weetabix in and said chew! That gives you an idea of how my mouth felt. My heart was also pounding and I thought if it goes any faster it would surely jump clean from my chest and we would be looking for a new ocean rower and not one who had just had a severe heart attack and stroke on stage! I felt my shirt stick to my body and i could feel the droplets of sweat turn into streams  as they ran down my face. And still I could hear the ‘r’ of the final word from Yemi ! How can a millisecond of time last so long??

However, when it did end I somehow managed to drag some moisture into my mouth and deliver some shaky words to answer his questions. As the weekend progressed I became only slightly more confident but never the less enjoyed the experience. Thanks Yemi as you helped no end in keeping the questions flowing and digging me out when my explanations dried up.

It was a very tiring weekend as setting up the boat had to be done at 06.00 on the Saturday morning. Luckily I have a great mate called Phil who was there to help me get the boat from one end of the Trafford Centre to the Orient and the stage. He then spent all weekend at the event and waited until 12.00 on Sunday night when we reversed the journey and managed to get the boat out and get her home for 02.00 on the Monday Morning, all went pretty smooth as you will find out when I write the blog on the Hilton Hotel fiasco.

 Thanks again to all who helped out !