I started to plan the trip well before I knew it was really going to happen.
There were many uncertainties, and several things could have scuppered the whole affair. Since I'm writing this before the planned departure date, and since sailors are traditionally a superstitious lot, I should at this point touch a big bit of wood and add that there are still many hoops to jump through. Launch date more or less coincides with the earliest date that the Government will allow us to meet indoors (and hence in-boat) with up to six people from more than one household, so if the Roadmap out of lockdown is delayed, I might be too.
When I started to make my plans I didn't even know if I'd be allowed to take that much time off work. I wrote a paper outlining what the impact would be and how I thought we could mitigate it, while still maintaining the illusion that I was indispensible. My boss was very supportive, but it still had to be approved by people further up the chain.
But you have to plan a venture like this, and that takes time, so I had to carry on in the unsure and uncertain hope that the combined forces of Covid and the HR department of Gatwick Airport wouldn't stand immovably in my way.
Helpful advice
Countless people have sailed round Britain before me, and many of them have written about their experiences. There is a whole sea of advice out there; the problem is deciding which bits to read.
I was greatly helped by the fact that two friends have done the circumnavigation already. Bryan, one of my co-owners of Goldfinch, did it in 2015, and Martin, an old schoolfriend, did it the following year in his boat Alexandria II. I was lucky enough to go with both of them for part of the way.
I also bought books and read articles. The first question to answer was whether to go clockwise or anticlockwise. Martin and Bryan had both, like me, started from the East Coast; Martin had come out of Harwich Harbour and turned right, but Bryan had turned left, and they'd both had a grand time. Most authorities seemed to suggest that if you are starting from there it doesn't really matter. In the end I opted for anticlockwise.
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