Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

First the silly stuff. The fact that I have read every Patrick O'Brian novel and sometimes walk with a curious swaying motion has been enough to convince the gullible amongst you that I know a thing or two about sailing and boats. This is an understandable mistake given that from time to time I may have "sexed up" my recounting of my boating experiences. The reality is that when my wife Mary relates stories from our holidays afloat they normally begin "Remember that time you nearly killed me / drowned the kids / terrified that poor French couple ….etc.". So I decided that its time time that I either got serious about sailing the open seas, or resign myself to watching repeats of Master and Commander. To fast foward this process of discovery I have gone for the kill or cure approach and signed up to crew on a 36 foot boat in the Fastnet race, often called the "Everest" of sailing races. I have not raced before. I have not sailed through the night before. I have never before been as sea sick as I have been on the two qualifying races I have had to do. Given the Fastnet covers 600 + miles of Celtic sea (thats about 20x my longest voyage to date), non-stop (I usually stop for lunch, tiffin, dinner etc), in a sleep deprived state of 3 hour watches, all shared with a scurvy bunch of fetid smelling crew mates whose incurable snoring is only interrupted by cries of "do you want spam or corned beef?", I reckon this ordeal is unpleasant enough to justify passing round the charity tin.

But it would be shameful to consider this voluntary, temporary, self imposed unpleasantness true hardship when you compare it to the relentless suffering that many women and young girls have to endure.

Now the serious stuff. In developing countries where there is no possibility of medical intervention, if a woman's labour becomes obstructed in childbirth the natural process is very often a prolonged period of excrutiatingly painful labour before the baby is finally "dislodged". The strength of the contractions often casues a Fistula, where the pressure on the foetus is sufficient to tear a hole between the vagina and the bladder or rectum. An estimated 2 million women in Africa suffer from a Fistula, and they have all been left permanently and continuously incontinent with a constant leak of faeces and or urine from their vagina. 75% of women with a Fistula have endured labour for more than three days; six or seven days is not unusual. 90% of women with a Fistula lost their baby. It is impossible for the women to manage the condition or hide it. Having suffered so much, they often lose their husbands and become ostracised from family and society.

Fistula is a debilitating life changing condition, but it can be fixed by a relatively simple operation costing about $450. It can also be avoided if appropriate care is available during childbirth. All the money I raise will go to the Freedom From Fistula Foundation. Please go to my justgiving page and make a donation - it only takes a minute.

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