Quadriplegic Sailing the Atlantic

Quadriplegic Sailing the Atlantic - Bon Voyage Geoff Holt!
Canary Islands - Many Yacht Pals cross the pond each year, but this transat is quite special. Our friend Geoff Holt, known both for his historic sail around Britain and his work in creating the model for modern disabled sailing programs around the globe, has cast off from the Canaries, and is currently bound for the Spanish Main. When he makes it, he will be the first quadriplegic to solo the Atlantic Ocean. His aptly named 60 foot catamaran Impossible Dream is now making way on the 2700 mile journey.

By the age of 18, Geoff had sailed in excess of 30,000 miles at sea, including 3 trans-Atlantic crossings and several solo voyages. His career was cut short in 1984 by a life changing accident which left him paralysed from the chest down. Diving into shallow water broke his neck causing a complete spinal cord injury and he has used a wheelchair ever since.

He has remained passionate about sailing and keen to support any initiative which provides sailing opportunities to other disabled people. In 1995, Geoff was a founding Trustee of the national disabled sailing charity RYA Sailability and now, through a network of more than 150 Sailability clubs and groups, more than 20,000 disabled people a year experience the freedom of sailing in the UK.

For more than 15 years he headed up regional marketing teams for two of the world's largest firms of accountants. He holds a degree in Fine Art Valuation and has sat on just about every sailing committee representing disabled sailing both nationally and internationally.

More than 20 years after his accident, Geoff became the first disabled person to sail single-handed around Great Britain in an expedition he called Personal Everest.

“Sailing has given me so much in my life. It was my livelihood before my accident and it was to be my saviour after it. The freedom I experience on the sea is like no other; I am free of my wheelchair and free of my disability. When I am on the water, it makes me feel alive and any sailor, regardless of their ability, will know exactly that same feeling. Sailing is my life.” says Geoff.


http://yachtpals.com/node/5936

http://www.geoffholt.com/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/hampshire/8405295.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8404713.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8261578.stm

Bataan ARG Returns from Deployment

From Bataan Amphibious Readiness Group Public Affairs

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Sailors and Marines of the Bataan Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) completed a successful seven-month deployment Dec. 8 when USS Bataan (LHD 5) and USS Ponce (LPD 15) arrived at Norfolk Naval Station and USS Fort McHenry (LSD 43) returned to Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek, Va.

The Bataan ARG is composed of the Bataan, who served as the flagship for the ARG, Ponce, Fort McHenry, Amphibious Squadron 2, Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 22 Detachment 4, Fleet Surgical Team 6, Tactical Air Control Squadron 21 Detachment 1, and detachments from Assault Craft Unit (ACU) 2, ACU 4 and Beachmaster Unit 2.

http://www.news.navy.mil/search/display.asp?story_id=50073

Pearl Harbor Rememberance Day

Captain Phillips - Grand Marshal

http://www.wvec.com/video/featured-videos/DNCParade.html

Maersk Alabama Crew Repels Suspected Pirate Attack

U.S.S. Bainbridge ( DDG-96 )

Captain Phillips visits the USS Bainbridge and the Maritime Museum at Nauticus in Downtown Norfolk

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=56740

Maersk Alabama Crew Repels Suspected Pirate Attack
By Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Nathan SchaefferSpecial to American Forces Press Service
MANAMA, Bahrain, Nov. 18, 2009 – The U.S.-flagged Maersk Alabama’s security team repelled an attack from suspected pirates this morning 560 nautical miles off the northeastern coast of Somalia, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command officials reported.

Maersk.com

New pirate exhibits to open at Nauticus

NORFOLK, Va. - The lifeboat that rogue pirates commandeered from the Maersk Alabama to hold Captain Richard Phillips hostage arrived at the Nauticus National Maritime Center Wednesday. The lifeboat, on loan from the National SEALs Museum in Florida, will serve as the centerpiece of a Hampton Roads Naval Museum exhibit on "Piracy Today: Modern Terror on the High Seas," which is scheduled to open on November 21.

http://www.nauticus.org/index.html

http://www.wavy.com/dpp/military/local_wavy_new+pirate+exhibits+to+open+at+nauticus_20091011

Captain Phillips is scheduled to visit Norfolk on November 19 to publicly thank the crew of the USS Bainbridge for rescuing him on Easter Sunday, April 12 during a dramatic confrontation at sea between NAVY SEALs and the rogue pirates. The ceremony will take place on the fantail of the guided missile destroyer at 2 p.m. During a gala ceremony at 7 p.m. on November 19 in the Nauticus Theater, Captain Phillips will receive the inaugural National Maritime Medal of Valor from the Board of Directors of the Nauticus National Maritime Center.

Foiled Pirate Attack Encourages Defense Officials

http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=56759

The Congress shall have Power to define and punish Piracies and Felonies committed on the high Seas, and Offences against the Law of Nations.
The Constitution of the United States ~ Article. I, Section. 8

USS New York Receives Official Commission

The USS New York is commissioned in New York, Nov. 7, 2009. The Navy ship was named in honor of the courage displayed by New York City's residents during and after 9/11. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Dan Meaney

USS New York Receives Official Commission
By Gerry J. Gilmore
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7, 2009 - A new Navy ship named in honor of the courage displayed by New York City's residents during and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks received its official commission today.

The USS New York recalls "the searing memories of Sept. 11" as well as "the bravery of the rescuers, the resolve of the survivors, the compassion of this city and the patriotism of this great country," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said during the ship's commissioning ceremony at New York City harbor. Clinton was a member of the U.S. Senate representing New York state during 9/11.

Part of the bow, or front, of the new ship, Clinton said, is constructed of 7.5 tons of melted-down steel taken from the wreckage of the World Trade Center's twin towers that were destroyed during the terrorist attacks.

The motto of the USS New York, Clinton said, is "Strength Forged through Sacrifice: Never Forget."

No one "will ever forget the image of twisted girders and shattered beams looming above the smoldering pile" of wreckage, Clinton said.

The USS New York is a San Antonio-class amphibious transport dock ship. It was christened March 1 in a New Orleans' shipyard by Dotty England, the ship's sponsor and wife of former Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England.

The USS New York and its crew, Clinton said, will join in the fight against terrorism and extremism and also perform humanitarian missions worldwide.

The new ship's first commander is Navy Cmdr. F. Curtis Jones, a native of Binghamton, N.Y. The vessel has a crew of more than 350 sailors and can transport a landing force of 800 Marines and their equipment.

Clinton was accompanied at the ceremony by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus; Navy Adm. Gary Roughead, chief of naval operations; Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway; and other senior officials.

Mabus hailed the USS New York as "a visible testament to our resilience, to the character of this city, to the strength of this country."

The 9/11 attacks, Mabus said, failed to destroy neither America's spirit nor its resolve to defeat worldwide extremism.

"And, that's what this ship represents," he said.

Mabus saluted the men and women who comprise the New York's crew.

"The nation and our Navy are incredibly proud of you and all that you have done to prepare the New York for her operational life," Mabus said of the ship's crew. "You have begun to shape the spirit and the soul of this ship, just as surely as the builders laid the keel, placed the engines, [and] installed the weapons."

The New York and her sailors and Marines are now "ready to sail in harm's way, on any point on any of the world's oceans, to prevent conflict, when possible, and to win decisively, when necessary," Roughead said.

The U.S. flag that waves above the New York's decks, Roughead said, serves "as a symbol and a message of freedom, of commitment and of resolve."

As the New York embarks on her maiden voyage, Conway said, the warship "will carry the spirit, the determination, and the defiance that has always been America."

And, though terrorists attacked the American homeland eight years ago, they "will not change who we are or what we believe," Conway vowed.

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http://www.navy.mil/ussny/index.htm

2009 Caribbean 1500 rally to begin Nov 2

The fleet of 60 boats is gathering in Hampton, VA for the November 2nd start of the 20th Caribbean 1500 rally.

Cruising Rally Association - Home Page

http://www.carib1500.com/events/caribbean1500.html