Quadraplegic sailor, Geoff Holt recommences voyage after being weatherbound in Abersoch, North Wales for more than three weeks.

Weather conditions were suitable for Holt to set sail yesterday morning aboard his Challenger trimaran. The shore team report he made good progress through Bardsley Sound and into Caernarfon Bay, stopping at Morfa Nefyn. And weather permitting, Holt will sail on to Holyhead today.

Holt, 41, who is paralysed from the breast line down as the result of a swimming accident when he was 18, is attempting to be the first disabled person to sail around the coast of Great Britain. Geoff left Southampton on 20 May, but his round Great Britain attempt has been severely hampered by the unusual weather conditions over the past few weeks and Holt and his team have been forced to wait in Abersoch until the weather and sailing conditions have been suitable to recommence the voyage.

Commenting this morning on yesterday’s tricky voyage Holt said: “Arriving Morfa Nefy at 1800 was a great feeling, although only 10 miles as the crow flies, the 30 mile sea journey around the peninsular had been giving me nightmares for weeks. Now it is over and we can think about moving on. Setting off 1200 hours today for Holyhead, ETA about 1900, it feels wonderful.”

Not only a feat of human endeavour, Holt’s journey is a complicated logistical effort as the schedule is completely dependent on tides and weather. In addition, the practicalities of launching and recovering the dinghy on a daily basis, plus the added difficulty of wheelchair accessible accommodation in remote areas have tested the team to the limit.

Two Motor homes and a Land Rover equipped with a winch and overhead crane hoist for lifting Geoff and his boat out of the water, travel by road, meeting Holt and his support crew at the end of each day.
Holt’s wife Elaine, a former nurse, is part of the support team and drives one of the motor homes between ports, accompanied by their five-year-old son, Timothy, who cheers his Dad in to each port and who has become the team’s ‘official’ photographer.