I'm taking part in the Clipper 2017-18 round the world yacht race which starts on Aug 20th from Liverpool. 

I have absolutely zero sailing experience  - I'm not doing the full circumnavigation (11 months) but I am racing around the USA - Seattle to New York - starting in April 2018 - it's 7000 miles and I'll be at sea for about 6 weeks. 

https://www.clipperroundtheworld.com/race/leg/leg-7

Obviously I've been training - and it's been challenging.

Level 1 training (July 2016) - I threw up whilst cooking in the galley - at an angle of 45 degrees. Everyone else was fine.

Level 2 training (May 2017) - night sailing - 4 hours of non-stop puking. My skipper was holding onto me by my life jacket as I hurled overboard. I was the only one again. It was miserable.

Level 3 training (June 2017) - night sailing & Force 6 rough seas. 2 hours of vomiting over the stern in the rain. I wasn't the first one to go though!

Level 4 training (July 2017) - felt a bit queasy but was OK! A few hardened sailors were also feeling ill! Bonus! The watch system was challenging -  on watch every 3-4 hours for several days - never more than 2 hours sleep at a time.

On the race I've been told to be prepared to be sick for the first 3 days - non-stop. So why do I want to do this? Well I saw an advert on the tube and the challenge looked interesting. I don't know any sailors, and it's outside of my comfort zone - plus I'll learn new skills and meet interesting people outside my normal circles. And it will be fun.

Unicef is the Clipper Race charity of choice and it has been gifted a boat to raise awareness in each of the stop overs.

------------------------------------------

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.