well! Only 19 days to go before we depart for La Gomera and 31 till the start!

We had the boat up at GOSH and had good support from the metabolic clinical team, and the whole hospital which was very important to us .

Jane Collins and Charles Denton came as well, along with Jamie Hopkin our sponsor.

My poor parents drove all the way fromNorth Wales to Portsmouth to collect "Dream Maker", and then escorted by the Jameson family drove her carefully through the streets of London. We then made our way up to Newark, Notts and watched in fear as she was craned to her cradle for shipping! It was a long week, but a small sense of relief that we are so near now to starting the challenge ...

Jobs left to do, download music on ipod, make sure sat phone works with laptop, double check sun cream quota! And my best bit - eating as much as we can to bulk up! Not so much of a need for me I hear you say!

Anyway, please keep an eye on this page for updates on our progress while we're gone. I'll post sat phone number when I know it, you can compare our progress to the other on the woodvale page http://www.woodvale-challenge.com/Atlantic+Rowing+Race+2007 and for those of you on Facebook - join our nautical nurses group!

THANK YOU to everyone for your help and support so far. There's no way we would have made it this far without all of you. I hate naming people as there's always a risk of upsetting people when you leave people out - but the following has to be acknowledged for their remarkable effort ... Ian Roots, Mike Baker, Lucy Jameson and the gang, Jamie Hopkin, Mel & Kathryn, Lindsey, Joanne (&Bump), Katy and Joan.

Lots of Love

eXX