I started sailing about 30 years ago when I went with a group of friends on a yacht charter holiday in Greece.  It was a wonderful experience but to be honest I didn't have much clue about the sailing.  Two of my friends were experienced and they took care of everything - all I had to worry about was the sunburn!

It was enjoyable enough to want to go a second time.  This time there were many more people who wanted to come so we chartered two boats.  My two experienced friends each skippered one of the boats and having been once before, I was elected first mate on one of them.  This time the weather conditions were much more challenging, and on the first day's sail the whole crew fell victim to seasickness.  One by one we succumbed until only the skipper was left standing.  The conditions never really let up during the whole holiday but somehow we managed to bring our boat back.

Despite the difficulties, I realized I was hooked.  There were several more trips in the Mediterranean, and I took to sailing a small boat around the inland waterways in the Netherlands.

Together with a few friends, I started to take formal sailing courses with the RYA, with the aim of achieving the ultimate level of Yachtmaster.  A prerequisite was to have sailed a total of 2500 miles in tidal waters (i.e. not including the Mediterranean).  With only the odd week or two sailing a year, it took a very long time to clock up that many miles, but finally last year I made it.  I duly applied to take the examination, but it turned out that the 2500 miles had to be achieved within the last ten years.  I had taken 30 years to get there!