The weekend before last was spent down in Christchurch working on the boat at Rossiters. One of our sponsors, the Captains Club Hotel made us feel extremely welcome, putting us up in one of their superb suites as we enjoyed their first class service after long days down at the boat yard.

We spent Saturday morning with Charlie, going through positioning of equipment and other fittings that are required to meet Woodvale’s safety rules and regulations. The afternoon was taken up painting the inside of the cabins courtesy of Blakes Paints who are providing all are bilge, anti-foul and deck paint for the boat. Now the majority of the equipment has been ordered we should see a lot of progress in the next two weeks edges us ever nearer to getting out on the sea!

Again we will be down in Christchurch this weekend for the same reasons!

As mentioned on a previous blog entry about the fantastic success we had at the Southampton Boat Show. During the 10 days we were at the show we were interviewed by Meridian News, Reeds Almanac,  local press and various marine magazines. On top of all this we also had an interview with Play Radio, the official broadcasters at the event. To have a listen please click on the icon below.

We have set ourselves a deadline… we want the majority of the boat completed by the end of October, it maybe a big ask but with all our equipment coming through this week it’s imperative we get it kitted out and ready to go on the water.

With Woodvale finalising the race rules and equipment list, the weekend just gone was spent measuring up and finalising where we are going to position everything; ready for a long weekend on the 17th & 18th to get the majority of the work complete.

Before the long drive to Berlin we all shaved our hair and spelt the word Berlin with our lost locks… male bonding at it finest!

We arrived in Berlin on Saturday for the expo and registration before carbo packing back at the hotel.  On Sunday Haile Gebrselassie broke another World Record running a  2:03:59 marathon beating his previous record by 18 seconds. Lets hope some of this inspiration rubs off on us on the Indian Ocean next April. All four of us managed personal bests on the day; Guy and Tom finishing with a time of 4:00:14 with Mark and Chris coming in under 5:30:00 respectively. 

Thanks to Mark, Chris and Tom who helped to raise money before the race on behalf of Orchid and for organising the trip. If anyone is interested or thinking of running a marathon for Orchid or indeed for our race then please contact us.