Up to now I have done lots of sailing challenges but no real racing, so now I have a sail number and can start taking part in some racing!

I have signed up for this year’s Round the Island Race for my first race.

Last time I sailed round the island it took 12.5 hours now I have a code zero I am hoping i might beat my time !!

This week I have been doing some practice with the team who will be for the Round the Island (mike and Cherrell – Cherrell isn’t a sailor but my PA but she is really excellent as crew! ) so we have been practicing with the code zero in some breeze. Which was lots of fun in 21/222 knots 😁 everyone got wet!

April 2018

As my dream is to sail across an ocean , we have been looking at bigger boats and how it could be done…… so I had the chance to charter a 42ft Catamaran in Croatia and try it out, With my family and friends.

We spent a week sailing round some islands off Split. We had mixed weather but mostly sunny 😎 from hardly any wind to 35knots so sailed in different conditions. The boat was not adapted in any way. I had to be carried across the gangplank by Dad and carried up and downstairs. We spent nights moored in marinas and at anchor.

Loved living on the boat even though there were lots of things not ideal we managed! I know it could work and we’ve talked lots about the kind of adaptions I’d need!!!

By the end of the week i didn’t want to leave we had all had such a good time! I absolutely love living on a boat!!!!!!!!!!

Natasha uses a walking aid to help her stand and walk. Natasha has used this since the age of 3.

It has been the most important piece of equipment she uses, using it daily. Over the years we have had a total of 9 new ones and literally hundreds of spare parts.

With using the walker daily and moving about as much as possible it has kept Natasha fit making sure she uses her all her muscles has helped bone development reducing fixed deformities and contracture, helping her lung development and capacity, it has had a huge positive impact on her general health. Natasha has needed no operations and needs no medication she is as fit as any of her able bodied piers!

It takes about 15 minutes to help Natasha get into her body brace and walker and in a typical day Natasha will use it twice, morning and afternoon for about 4hours.

Walking varying distances, often up and down the lane where we live, she loves a walk in the countryside, so not just flat pavements and seafronts, Hills forests and sometimes mountains!!

Over the years we have worked closely with David Hart the inventor of the walker, who started from a small clinic in Yorkshire (to which we have made over 50 visits!) laterly David lives and works in France and we kept in contact and helped as he developed the original walker that had 4 small wheels into a more robust all terrain version. He would send us new parts that Natasha’s Dad Gary would construct and then Tash would Test the new versions and parts with bigger wheels and springs on various terrains, videoing and reporting back, eventually now the all terrain Walker is available and sold all over the world!

It was a great project to be involved with and one that will hopefully help hundreds of other youngsters with mobility difficulties stay active.

I’m Amanda, Natasha’s Mum and I will be blogging mostly about Natasha’s equipment.

To enable Natasha to lead the very active life she loves, there are various pieces of kit that help her – our house is full of specialist equipment, wheelchairs, walkers, Physiotherapy aids , tech stuff and lots lots of Velcro and lots of spare parts! Gary is always fixing or adjusting something! I spend lots of time ordering the spares, looking at new bits of kit and making appointments! For example Today’s job is replacing a knee joint on the walker and then ordering up some replacements…

• The Calvert Trust is located in the lake district, and offers tons of great outdoor experiences for people with disabilities (and their families!). We recenly visited them for a weekend, and Natasha hadn’t been back since she was 10! This was where she originally fell in love with sailing.

It can be hard to know what Natasha is capable of until you meet her, but our guide, Chris, did an excellent job of sussing it out when we arrived. We traded the (somewhat passive) canoe ride for a morning spent rock climbing and swinging from the ceiling. We traded a leisurely walk in the valley of the mountains for a hike up Latrigg. It was great fun and the views of the beautiful lake district were paired with a fantastic facility. The food was pretty great too!

Natasha likes to be as independent as possible, so the more she can particpate in the activities, the better. Chris picked up on that and made our experience there really wonderful. Next time, though, an even bigger mountain!

by sarah