Regular readers (or at least those who are quick off the mark accessing this blog) will have spotted the deliberate mistake on Thursday of the Blog Post title that appeared ……….. with NO supporting text ………. and then almost just as quickly ……. disappeared.  This was actually less “deliberate” and more “mistake” to be honest and removal wasn’t quite quick enough to stop one US reader commenting that it was a quick read to say the least and not quick enough to stop the CEO at Harwich asking how I had published whilst also simultaneously attending a Board meeting. Again, for regular readers, I WAS sitting facing away from the view (see Blog 37: Bravo Zulu Tian Fu ….. and another “This time next year” blog post …..” published 9 Dec 18).

The truth of the matter is, having used the facility to pre-programme a date and time to publish this blog, the rest of my life got in the way (two nights at home in the last 2 weeks) and I got no further than the title. Normal service is hereby resumed 🙂

 

240 race crew for the 2019-2020 edition of the race plus 150 race crew supporters gathered in the Nursery End pavilion at Lords Cricket ground in London last Saturday, 19 Jan, for the first major Clipper event of 2019 – the January Crew Briefing.

And if you are particularly quick you can spot me and/or Ruth four times in the following short video:

 

Official photo were taken – ultimately for the 2019-2020 clipperroundtheworld.com website when it goes live – those of us who visited the Musto store after Level 1 training were able to collect our Race Crew soft shell jackets (see Blog 24: Does/Will My Bum Look Big In This?” published 28 Sep 18),  – Ruth completed a chop-stick challenge!!!! –

and there was a great opportunity to catch up with “old” friends from Level 1 and Level 2 training (Smita, Janine, Guido, Rob, Jo) and to make new friends/connections. I think I missed Meta in the crowds and, having read their subsequent blogs, I know that regular fellow-bloggers Heather Broadbent (www.dreamitnowdoit.com) and Sam at Farncombe (www.farncombeadventure.blog) were also present. Heather is a “circumnavigator” and right now is in Gibraltar completing her RYA Day Skipper practical course. Sam writes under the sub-heading of “George and John’s Boating Trip – A Land-lubbers Guide to the Clipper Round The World Yacht Race” as her husband, John, and son, George,  are BOTH circumnavigating in the next edition. Apparently George signed up first! Oh, and for the record, Jo and Smita are also both blogging at http://www.jojosclipperjourney.com and http://www.sadmummy.com respectively. Not surprisingly I follow them all.

We had a whole series of useful presentations. Sir Robin Knox-Johnson spoke twice to kick things off and round things up – and threatened to test us on our knots! Laura Ayres, the Head of Partnerships,  spoke about Clipper Race Partnerships – primarily team partners (essentially the name on the side of the boat)  and Team Supporters (Seattle Yacht Club supporting the yacht Visit Seattle in the last edition for example) and Host Port Partners (essentially the 15 or so ports the Clipper fleet will visit). As part of my crew contract, I will be asked to support some of the partner activities and there are also Ambassador Opportunities whereby crew members can sign up to represent a “brand” during the race. It strikes me that all I have to do now is drop Hendricks Gin or Jaguar-Land rover a line (or maybe even both!) and all of a sudden phenomenal seas in the North Pacific in March/April 2020 could become rather more tollerable. Dinner guests at home last night who joked about Ann Summers or Victoria Secrets Ambassador Opportunities will, I hope, be sorely disappointed! Watch this space; more about Ambassador Opportunities at Crew Allocation in May.

The Senior Programme Management Specialist for UNICEF, Kate Cotton, spoke about the work of UNICEF – The Official Charity Partner for Clipper 2019-20. I’ll write more about UNICEF in future blogs but, in addition to my own charity fundraising efforts for the National Autistic Society and Diabetes UK (see http://www.justgiving.com/teams/keithsclipperadventure), I will be joining my fellow Clipperees  aiming to reach a target figure of £400K for Unicef in 2019-2020. Sarah Hoare, the Clipper Race Manager took us all through what happens in port, Julia Fry, the Head of Global Communications spoke about the official website, skipper and crew blogs and TV coverage. She also showed a short clip about the previous crossing of the North Pacific – cue some gasps and somewhat nervous laughter from some in the audience who had not previously seen it. I had originally scheduled it to appear on these pages as part of my “One Year From Now/This time next Year” blogs in April of this year but what the heck ……….. here it is!!!!

Deputy Race Director (and skipper of Dare To Lead in the last Race) Dale Smyth talked us through the race scoring system, the “joker”, scoring gates, ocean sprints, stealth mode and penalty points all of which will become much more familiar as the race draws near and all designed to provide a little “tactical edge” to decisions made by skippers and crew during the race itself. Ruth Charles, the Race Crew Supporters Coordinator spoke to us all about the huge role played by Race Crew Supporters and it was fantastic that so many were present. In brief, Race Crew Supporters is a network for the family and friends of anyone taking part in the race to follow and support their particular Clipperee. Ruth, who was a circumnavigator in the 2015-16 edition, coordinates all this for all who wish to follow the race more closely from shore. I will write more about this – maybe in the very next blog!

The meat of the presentation came from the Race Director, Mark Light, particularly in what he was able to say about the route and timings for 2019-2020. In fairness most race crew were eager for more news on dates and ports in order to take our personal planning forward. Understandably, there is much still being negotiated and Mark’s entirely reasonable line is that he would prefer to give information that is 100% accurate (or as near to) rather than 70% or so and still subject to commercial (and potentially sensitive) discussions. All that said here’s what it looks like so far:

UK Race Start – Start date will be between mid-August and very early September and this will be determined by the Race Route as a whole.

Leg 1 – will be made up of two races (last edition was only one) down and across the North and South Atlantic Oceans to South America. This may be two stops in South America OR one pitstop in Europe and then onto South America.  OK so that’s the party line; what does this mean to me? Firstly I think this points to Uruguay in South America and possibly Punta del Este (used for the first time in the last race). Not really much more than a guess on my part but personally significant in that this South American port (wherever it is) is where I will start Leg 2.

Leg 2 – will be one race across the South Atlantic Ocean to South Africa and highly likely to be into Cape Town. This is pretty much as expected (see Blog 25: This time next year. Video … Leg 2, Race 2, Across the South Atlantic, published 4 Oct 18). My plan will be to stay in Cape Town during the stopover ready for Leg 3.

Leg 3 – will be one race across the Indian and Southern Oceans to Western Australia and the briefing confirmed that this will be into the port of Freemantle. Again, as expected (see Blog 30: This time next year ….. Leg 3, Race 3, The Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride, a 2 video taster, published 31 Oct 18). After a short period I will return to the UK from Freemantle.

Leg 4 – will be one race (changed from the last edition) from Freemantle into the Southern Ocean heading south of Tasmania, before north across the Bass Strait and then up to Eastern Australia with the port tbc. Mark confirmed that the 2019-2020 edition of the Race will NOT be taking part in the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race.

Leg 5 – more changes this time around. This leg will consist of 3 races. Firstly Eastern Australia up through the Doldrums and across the Equator back into the Northern Hemisphere to Sanya in China. This will be followed by a short sprint race to a port in South East Asia. After a pit-stop, there will be a further sprint race to the Clipper Race’s newest Host Port of Zhuhai in China. This will be a crew changeover port and, significantly for me, this is where I will rejoin the race for Leg 6.

Leg 6 – Having “confidently” predicted Zhuhai would not feature in Leg 6 (see Blog 18: First 2019-2020 stopover announced ….. Zhuhai ….. yes I had to look it up too, published 26 Aug 18) leg 6 will begin in Zhuhai and then consist of two races – the tough beat east of Taiwan and north up to Qingdao in China before the BIG ONE crossing the mighty North Pacific Ocean across to the West Coast of America. This port is yet to be confirmed but, wherever it is, once more I will disembark.

Leg 7 – will be two races (as per last time) from the West Coast US down to Panama. After gathering the fleet in Panama, the yachts transit the Panama Canal and then start the second race north to East Coast US. This has tended to be into New York and this (wherever it is) will be where I will rejoin the race for the final leg.

Leg 8 – will consist or either two OR three races (last edition was two) and includes the final ocean crossing, across the North Atlantic Ocean, whilst heading back to Europe and potentially Ireland (tbc). The final race will be the homecoming stage, seeing the fleet back into the Race Finish port in the UK.

The refitting of the current fleet continues and Level 4 training dates have been published. Subject to final confirmation after crew allocation, I am programmed to complete Level 4 training, hopefully in my race yacht with my race skipper and race crew, 9-15 July. Over 200 professional skippers from all over the world have applied to skipper a yacht in the 2019-2020 edition. Tough and pressurised interviews and on-water trials will soon reduce this number to 15 and the final 11 will be confirmed in March and announced later that month. There then follows a formal contract of employment with Clipper Venture plc and a 22 week in-house Clipper training before race start.

For them, and for all of us Race Crew, the official countdown for Clipper 2019-2020 has now begun. Can’t wait!

 

 

 

Together we are making a huge difference to the lives of autistic people and their families across the UK. Watch the NAS special video below to see how your amazing support is helping to build new schools, create new employment opportunities, fairer laws and ultimately a better world for autistic people. Together we have come so far but we know there’s so much more to do. I look forward to seeing what we can build together this year!

I am off down to Torquay again next week to visit Rebekah and to take part in her annual review with her care team. See also blog 34: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night … and The Reason I Jump, published 26 Nov 2018. Level 3 training draws ever closer (13-18 March) with Level 4 training sometime after crew allocation on 11 May. I hope to have some more details of my Leg 2 (across the South Atlantic) and Leg 3 (across the Southern Ocean) BOTH approaching later this year, very soon.

In the meantime, THANK YOU to all who have donated so far via my JustGiving pages:  http://justgiving.com/teams/keithsclipperadventure

 

This is how it turned out last time:

 

 

and as of today I have …….

16 days to go before the next crew briefing

69 days to go before Level 3 training

128 days to go before Crew Allocation Day

183 days to go before the first crew team-building event

200 days to go (approx) to Level 4 training

235 days to go (approx) before Race Start day

274 days to go (approx) before my start on Leg 2 across the South Atlantic from South America 🇺🇾 🇧🇷 to South Africa 🇿🇦

289 days to go (approx) before the South Africa 🇿🇦  “arrival window” opens and the Leg 2 winner arrives.

301 days to go (approx) before my start on Leg 3 across the Southern Ocean from South Africa 🇿🇦 to Western Australia 🇦🇺

325 days to go (approx) before the Western Australia 🇦🇺 “arrival window” opens and the Leg 3 winner arrives

(Leg 6 across the North Pacific and Leg 8 across the North Atlantic are 2020 legs)

 

 

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/keithsclipperadventure

 

 

 

 

 

 

With every best wish to every one for a peaceful and prosperous 2019.

As 2018 draws to a close here are the (Blog) scores on the door so far.

Blogs posted:   40

On which days   Sundays:   8

Mondays:   5

Tuesdays:   3

Wednesdays:   8

Thursdays:   3

Fridays:   3

Saturdays:   10

Top visited date:   31 July 2018 – 263 views

Total Words:   29,466 words

Average words per post:   750 words

Total number of pictures/diagrams posted:   319

Total number of videos posted:   19

Most popular day to read:   Monday’s

Most popular time to read:   5.00pm

Most visited (non Home page) blog:   Blog 20: Masterbaking …  posted 10.30am 4 Sept.

Top 6 viewed Blogs:   Blog 20:   Masterbaking … posted 10.30am 4 Sept.

Blog 12:   Famous Bearded Sailors(1) … posted 11.41pm 21 Jul.

Blog 10:   You know you are “hanging on too tight” when … posted 9.03am 11 Jul.

Blog 9:   Have you heard the one about the Englishman … posted 1.51am 9 Jul.

Blog 8:   So How Did it all start(2) … posted 8.10pm 1 Jul.

Blog 14:   Girl Power! … posted 8.39am 2 Aug.

Least viewed Blog:   Blog 39:   20+ Clipper Facts … posted 5.46pm 15 Dec.

Most visited Month:   November 2018 – 625 views

Total numbers of different countries viewing this blog:   43

Top six countries who visit:   UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, Canada.

Other countries in double figures for visits:   France, Norway, Spain, Mauritius, UAE,    Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Sweden, Denmark.

Other countries with multiple visits:   Barbados, Montenegro, Croatia, Pakistan, South Africa, India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South Korea, Gibraltar, Switzerland, Cyprus, Singapore, Israel, Germany.

‘Countries that have read the blog only once:   Belgium, Indonesia, Qatar, Turkey, Oman, Malaysia, Greece, Brazil, Philippines, Vietnam and ……… Jersey!

Happy Christmas from everyone and everything Clipper 😉

• The Clipper Race is the world’s biggest round-The-world ocean race, and is also regarded as one of the toughest endurance challenges on the planet.
• At 40,000 nautical miles long and taking almost a year to complete, it consists of eleven teams competing  against each other on the world’s largest matched fleet of eleven 70-foot ocean racing yachts.
• Over 700crew are expected to take part in the 2019-2020 edition. Crew can choose to take part in either the entire race or one or more legs.
• The Clipper 2019-2020 Race will set sail in the summer 2019marking the event’s twelfth edition. It will return some eleven months later.
• The Clipper Race was established in 1996 by Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world in 1968-69. His aim was to allow anyone, regardless of previous sailing experience, the chance to embrace the thrill of ocean racing.
• 40 percent of crews are novices and have never sailed before starting a comprehensive training programme ahead of their adventure. It is the only event of its kind for amateur sailors.
• There is no upper age limit, the oldest competitor to date was 74. Crew must be aged 18 or over before starting the race.
• This unique challenge brings together everyone from chief executives to taxi drivers, nurses, and firemen, farmers, Olympians, airline pilots and students.
• The Clipper Race Charity Partner for the 2019-2020 and the 2021-2022 editions is UNICEF. To date crew, supporters and Clipper Race Partners have raised over £690,000 for the charity race since the partnership began.
• The overall route is split into 13 races and points are awarded for each race. The team with the highest cumulative points at the end of the final race wins the series, and the Clipper Race trophy.
• It is estimated that the eleven teams will get through 561,000 tea bags while at sea over eleven months.
• More than half a million litres of water is filtered through the fleet’s water makers.
• On each yacht, round the world crew members will spend on average a minimum of 504 hours stood at the helm.
• Each crew member will burn around 5,000 calories a day.
• The biggest waves reported during the 2917-2018 race were over 14m tall, officially classified as a phenomenal sea state, during Leg 6 across the North Pacific.
• The highest wind speed recorded was 94 knots during Leg 6 onboard Liverpool 2018, that’s 108mph.
• The crews completed a combined total of over half a million training miles BEFORE the 2017-2018 race started.
• To date the Clipper Race fleet has visited more than 50 different ports around the world.
• During the race the fleet are closer to the International Space Station than inhabited land for approximately 40% of the time.
• During the previous edition, the following countries were represented by a single crew member: Romania, Portugal, Peru, South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, Greece, Chile, Bulgaria and Austria.
• In 2017-2018 the top 10 Nationalities (out of 41) were: British (361), American (60), Australian (48), Chinese (39), German (25). French (21), South African (17), Irish (15), Canadian (14) and Swiss (13). Mauritius, Cayman Islands, Czech Republic and Uruguay were represented for the first time.
• Crew members in the last edition of the race represented 337 different occupations.
• Building & Engineering, Medical & Care, Science & Tech and Teaching were the top 4.

 

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Bravo Zulu is naval signal code for “manoeuvre well executed” or “job well done” and Tian Fu is the name of the 38,000 tonne general cargo ship that rescued British round-the-world sailor Susie Goodall in the South Pacific this weekend.

Like many, I have been following the story ever since Susie’s 35ft yacht, DHL Starlight was dismasted last Wednesday in 75mph winds and waves of 9m+. Dismasted not after just being rolled and capsizing but dismasted after surfing down the crest of a wave and being flipped end-over-end, stern over bow. At the time she was 4th in the Golden Globe race and about 2000 miles west of Cape Horn. It’s been quite a year for the Golden Globe  (see Blog 23: The weather theme continued …. but spare a thought and prayer this Sunday for Abhilash Tomy, 23 Sep) and quite a year for women skippers! (See Blog 14: Girl Power!, 2 Aug). The arrival on scene of the Hong-Kong registered Tian Fu was not the end of the excitement as Susie then had to stand on the ruined hull of DHL Starlight and judge the right time to hook-on to the safety line winched down to her from the cargo vessel.

Perhaps not quite as bad as being flipped stern over bow but not without its challenges!  Its enough to put some people off sailing…………… it certainly puts sea survival into perspective (see Blog 28: Level 2 Training Part 1. Sea Survival, 25 Oct) ……. and any of my own concerns pale into complete insignificance. For example …..

This time next year (give or take a week or so for artistic licence) I will be at a Board meeting of the Harwich Harbour Authority. One of the trickiest decisions I always face at such meetings is where to sit. Or perhaps not where exactly but rather which way to face. The CEO’s office, when doubling as the Board Room, offers spectacular views of part of the HHA ‘patch’.

Off to the left the river Stour leads up to Harwich International Port

and, further up stream, the small picturesque port of Mistley.

Looking directly ahead from the conference room is the confluence of the river Stour and the River Orwell and the view across the water towards Shotley.

Off to the right the river Stour leads 20 miles or so up to the port of Ipswich, passing sites of special scientific interest and a number of other yacht marinas. Generally speaking there is ALWAYS something to see which is something of a distraction to some (for “some” read “most”) of us – hence the tricky “where to sit decision.”

Next year I think it might be even harder. This time next year (slight crossing of fingers on my none typing hand) I will have completed my Clipper adventure for 2019 and will be back from Western Australia. Depending on how quickly or not we actually race I may only be just back, quite literally hanging my Musto smock up, as I open my laptop (paperless Board meetings 😉)

Leg2, the South Atlantic Challenge is roughly 3,560 nautical miles and is “programmed” to take 17-18 days. In the last race the leg was won by Greenings in 14 days, 1 hour and 50 minutes and the highest yacht speed on the leg was recorded as 30.9 knots! Not surprisingly, the South Atlantic Challenge is described as one for the thrill-seekers. On leaving South American waters teams encounter the Trade Winds and the long rolling swells of the South Atlantic towards South Africa.

Leg 3, the Southern Ocean Leg, also known as the Southern Ocean Sleigh Ride, is 4,754 nautical miles long, normally between Cape Town, South Africa and Freemantle, Western Australia. It is “programmed” for 23-24 days racing and in the last race the leg was won by Unicef in 24 days, 23 hours and 10 minutes. The highest reported yacht speed was 24.2 knots. This leg offers some of the most exhilarating and testing conditions of the entire circumnavigation, perhaps second only to Leg 6, the Mighty Pacific. On this leg we will dip into the notoriously strong winds of the Roaring Forties, which lie between 40 and 50 degrees south. Once clear of the stunning but fickle-winded Table Bay, the race will head for the first Great Cape – The Cape of Good Hope, and on to the Agulhas Bank, an area notorious for very disturbed seas where the Atlantic and Indian Oceans meet. Despite the gruelling reputation that the Roaring Forties command – we will be surfing downwind on some swells higher than buildings – this is a place respected by sailors world wide as one of the best places to fully appreciate Mother Nature in her most raw and powerful glory.

Put that way is can seem hard enough, but it can be harder than that. At the beginning of the last Leg 2, PSP Logistics collided with a whale that caused damage to the starboard rudder that necessitated a return to Uruguay. The delay caused by the subsequent repairs meant that by the time PSP Logistics rejoined the race the leaders were already approaching half way to Cape Town. And as if that was not enough, at the beginning of Leg 3, Greenings ran aground off the coast of South Africa and, while all the crew were evacuated safely, the yacht was subsequently declared a complete loss.

So, this time next year ………..

On the current “Board forward look” we already have four decision papers to review this time next year. I think I’ll be sitting facing away from the sea view!

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Just come across a photo I had originally intended to use in the last blog – blog 35: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time … and The Reason I Jump, 26 Nov.

Rebekah (as Snow White) in deep and very largely non-verbal “conversation” with, appropriately enough, Captain Hook, thankfully as I recall at the time, minus irritating wig! Sadly Captain Hook has not yet featured on these pages (see Blog 12: A Bakers Dozen of Famous (and Infamous) Bearded Sailors (1), 21 Jul, and Blog 19: Half A Dozen More ….. Famous and Infamous Bearded Sailors, 31 Aug).

 

 

At the beginning of this month I found myself in the Horse and Stables pub in Westminster Bridge Road, London (first having driven to Woking via Bristol!) and, ultimately, taking part in a “furthest flight by a paper aeroplane” quiz tie-breaker. The following day I reprised the Westminster-Woking-Bristol-Eccleshall odyssey. Yesterday, Saturday,  I was in London for the Annual General Meeting of a UK based charity. Tonight (right now in fact) I am musing over my latest blog post and tomorrow I will journey 4 hours by train to Torquay on the south coast of England, returning home by Tuesday lunchtime. Surprisingly, all these events, plus my participation in Clipper and even the title of this post, share a common theme.

But first of all back to the pub.

In a team comprising my son (Alastair) my ex-brother-in-law (Andrew) my niece (Sarah) and her boyfriend (Spencer), I attending a quiz organised and compered by my eldest daughter, Heather. This is something Heather has organised for at least the last 3 years but this was my first attendance. As a quiz team we dragged up answers from the dim recesses of memory (some more deep than others); applied “Granny’s first rule” of quiz answers (which roughly translates as ‘if in doubt write down the first answer you thought of’); and when memory or Granny couldn’t help we opted for the good old fashioned option – blind guess. Nobody was more surprised than me when, after 6 rounds, we finished joint first with a rival table. So to the deciding tie-breaker …… “please not another music round” I remember thinking. How about another sailing question? We had already been lucky enough to escape cries of “fix!” when the answer to one general knowledge question turned out to be “spinnaker.” No such luck. Drum roll please ……. the entire evening was to come down to a paper aeroplane “who can fly the furthest” competition.

The first fly-off was terminated following an unexpected collision with the shoulder of a spectator. First aid was not required and decks were suitably cleared. On the second flight our aeroplane quite definitely flew the furthest but, on “landing” the opposing aeroplane skidded along the floor furthest. Cue heated discussions on what actually counted more – flying or furthest! OK – third and FINAL flight. Our opponents went first and delivered a flight that the Wright brothers would have been proud of. Nothing left but to really go for it. On launch our aeroplane promptly executed a loop the Red Arrows would have been proud of and promptly ……… flew backwards DOWN a flight of stairs to the main pub floor one storey down. Our subsequent claims to have actually flown the furthest distance were discounted on the not altogether unsurprising ruling that we hadn’t, as a point of fact, even crossed the start line!

Yesterday I attended a charity AGM in London. I listened to the presentation of the annual report and annual accounts led by Dr Carol Homden CBE, the Chair of Trustees, and further presentations by the Society President, the actress Jane Asher, and the CEO, Mark Lever. I learnt about the success of the  “Too Much Information” campaign. I learnt about the success of the charity’s engagement with 5000 UK businesses/retail outlets offered thousands of opportunities for friendly shopping. This project was repeated last month and 11000 businesses took part. In the afternoon I listened to two particularly powerful presentations.

The title of this post is in fact two titles. Both are books. I read the first sometime ago. The Reason I Jump is my current read.

Tomorrow I will travel to collect my 26 year old daughter Rebekah.

And the link between these things and with my participation in Clipper? ……………… Autism.

Heather’s quiz is now an annual fundraising event for the National Autistic Society. This year it raised over £725.00. Next year it will likely coincide with the start of my Clipper Leg 3 from South Africa to Australia. We are “negotiating” a donation to my justgiving page next year and those of you with grown-up daughters will understand what I mean by “negotiating!!!” My only other advice? Standby for unconventional tie-breakers.

The AGM was the National Autistic Society. I learned a great deal. The “Too Much Information” film campaign reached over 10 million people. Over 6 million were reached by the film “Make It Stop.” Last month 11000 business/retail outlets took part in “autism hour” offering thousands of opportunities for autism friendly shopping. I also listened to the concerns of elderly parents whose autistic ‘children’ are themselves in their 50s and 60s. The afternoon presentations were by Paul and Michael Atwal-Brice, parents of 2 sets of adopted twin boys, the eldest of which were diagnosed Autistic shortly after adoption, and by Adrian Edwards who delivered a talk entitled “My right to be who I am and how I want to be.” Adrian talked about the challenges he faced as an undiagnosed adult and how this led him to his own assessment of autism. Adrian is also a father of an autistic son.

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time was written by Mark Hadon and published in 2003. The novel is ‘narrated’ by a 15 year old boy on the autistic spectrum. The Reason I Jump was written by Noaki Higashida in 2007 and first published in Great Britain about 5 years ago. What is most remarkable about this book is that Noaki is severely autistic and he learnt to communicate via pointing to letters on a ‘cardboard keyboard’ – he was only 13! What he says gives an exceptional insight into an autistically-wired mind. As one reviewer put it, “The Reason I Jump” was a revelatory godsend. It felt as if, for the first time, our own son was talking to us about what was happening inside his head.” I wish I had read it years ago.

My youngest daughter, Rebekah, is autistic. She was diagnosed by the age of 3 after early development that had appeared entirely as expected. She tried main stream school, which did not work, but ultimately enjoyed a fantastic placement at Bidwell Brook special needs school in Devon. She is now 26. She lives in her own place with 24 hour supervision. Rebekah is extremely physically capable and loves the gym, swimming, walking and pretty much every form of art. I think her comprehension and understanding is good, but I cannot be sure …….. Rebekah cannot read, cannot write and does not speak. I don’t really know, even after 20 years or so, what it is like to be autistic; what it is like to be Rebekah. I am still trying to find out. But when Paul and Michael and Adrian used words like “inconsolable”, “frightening”, “fighting”, “fairness”, “exhausting”, “labelling”, “anxiety”, “incongruence”, “expectation”, “societal judgement” and “preconceptions” in their talks yesterday, I not only recognised the words but I could identify with each one an incident or time in Rebekah’s journey.

On Friday I gave a telephone interview to the National Autistic Society PR team about Clipper and my own efforts to raise money for the Society. My personal message on my JustGiving page makes the point that the money I raise will not go directly to Rebekah, or her care team, but I hope it will be put to good use by NAS for others on the autistic spectrum, and their families, and to the NAS policy unit to help their ongoing efforts on behalf of all in the UK on the spectrum.

During the interview it struck me that on those times on Clipper when I am frightened and all my senses are overloaded as torrents of water break over me, perhaps when tired, cold and working at night thousands of miles from safety, it might be the closest I will ever come, even if only for seconds, to the anxiety and sensory overload that I am often told “is autism.” Ironic that in those seconds I may in fact be closer to Rebekah than I have ever been but at the same time thousands of miles apart. I’m looking forward to seeing her tomorrow.

http://www.justgiving.com/teams/keithsclipperadventure