So as I have mentioned in a previous section of this blog, the writing of the blog is all part of the process of building the ClassGlobe 5.80 – and it will already be evident to you from the errors in style and design in my blog thus far that along with boat building and sailing I am a novice at this activity also.

As I wander along this path less travelled, I will not only be detailing my boat building handywork, or lack thereof, but also some of the things that matter in the overall adventure that I am undertaking. On that point, I looked at the definition of adventure to see if this is a fitting description of my ambition to build a boat and sail it around the world. Of course, there are slight variations depending on which dictionary selected, but the one I think that suits best is ‘a risky undertaking of an unknown outcome’ (Collins). I wake each morning, and my first thought is, “What are you thinking of?” The thought passes, and I get on with my day – which is getting more and more consumed with researching various aspects of sailing courses and instruction, boat building, possible work-sites for the build, and so on. However, that first thought in the morning sums it up for me – I realise the risks I am taking, especially the risk of failure; can I really do it? But that is the point – it will have risks of many different kinds along the way even before my wee boat sets off across the Atlantic, then sails over the Pacific and eventually rounds the Cape of Good Hope heading toward the finishing line in Antigua. The risks are essential so that the outcome is unknown, and the unknown outcome is essential for it to be an adventure. So yes, this is an adventure. Therefore, I am so grateful to those who have and are undertaking it before me. Standing on the shoulders of giants may be an overused statement, but I know I didn’t start standing barefoot on the workshop floor. So as I go, I will be reading Facebook, looking at YouTube, dissecting all the websites I can find. But more than that as in order to be on that start line I will need to have built a boat, and that will be all about the blogs!