It is getting very close to the day when the madcap idea I came up with a few years ago after rekindling my love of sailing is about to be put into action. Very shortly I will be sailing out of the Med through the Straits of Gibraltar and heading for Las Palmas, Gran Canaries, to take part in the 2018 ARC+ Atlantic crossing. With this in mind I thought I would look to be sponsored by all / anyone that would like to donate. I spent nearly 30 years in education and thoroughly enjoyed it. There may have been the odd day or student that got the better of me, but overall, it was such a lovely career to have chosen and I have many wonderful memories. As such, I’d like to try and give something back to the school I spent most years at. Saint Gabriel’s College (aka Charles Edward Brooke School) is an inner London school in an area where students could easily get caught up with the wrong crowd. Cuts in budgets have affected both staff and resources which have impacted on the support students receive when it is most needed. If I (or more importantly you) can raise a healthy pot of gold, then the college might be able to use this fund to guide any students at risk of changing tack (nautical term!) and get them back on the correct heading (another nautical term). So, about this Atlantic crossing. Just under 3000nm (via Cape Verde) to St. Lucia in the Caribbean, the passage should take between 20 - 25 days, weather and trade winds dependent. Hopefully all of the time spent in the Med over the last five years and my Bay of Biscay crossings will stand me in good stead. The yacht has been kitted out with all the essential equipment to make such a passage and I have three excellent crew for company. All that is required now is to let you know how you can sponsor me. I have set up a ‘JUST GIVING’ account and it would be wonderful if I had your support. Who knows, if the fund creeps over a certain figure I could be tempted to continue heading west, through the Panama Canal and into the Pacific! All it would take for me to do this is for the two friends I have to donate £1. Bearing (third nautical term) in mind that I’d like to collect a lot more than this, this is where you lot come to my rescue. I need you to forward this sponsorship request to two of your friends (I’m sure you must have many more friends than me!). And if this is repeated a further 16 times, and all donate accordingly, that would provide a fantastic pot of gold. However, let’s not stop at just forwarding it to two friends/colleagues; pass it on to all in your phone/email list - even better if they know (of) me.

The start date (11th. November 2018) will be an opportunity for you to start tracking my progress across the Atlantic. There will be a couple of ways that this will be possible. Log on to the World Cruising Club website, www.worldcruisingclub.com. Scroll down to Arc, Atlantic rally for cruisers, click on the link which will open up another page. Click on the ‘Where are the boats’ link to a further page. It will then give you some options as to which fleet you want to follow. Select ARC + 2018 via Cape Verde. You will then see the whole fleet at sea. You can search for my yacht, s/y Corryvreckan by checking out the teams with all the yachts being listed alphabetically. I will also have my AIS (Automatic Identification System) switched on and you could find me by logging on to www.marinetraffic.com and searching by entering the name of my yacht. I will also be writing a daily (b)log and will send to both the World Cruising Club site and to my website, www.pchopin2001.com, which will be updated with a daily account of the crossing including photos.

Many thanks in advance for your kindness in supporting me in this venture.