What do you do when you reach the half century especially when you are disabled. I was going through a list of things. All the usual, I suppose, but it is difficult  because most ask are you fit? How do you answer that? When you have arthritis throughout the body, have had a spinal fusion, spinal chord implant and a minor stroke. Yes?

One thing I wanted to do was have ago in a Thundercat, I have been following them on the Isle of Wight at Wight Air for about  3 or 4 years. And the crowd has always been so friendly so at the P1 Grand Prix in Cowes I asked Hilary if I could get a ride out this year.

She told me to get down to Wight Air the following week and they would arrange something. When I got there I was introduced to Fiona who sorted out a time and then after signing the relevant forms (Waivers for the insurance, The Will for the wife.). I went down to the beach and was introduced to Danny who was taking me out. The safety gear, buoyancy aid and crash helmet were donned after a quick safety briefing and we were off to launch the boat. I had my son follow me into the water to bring my crutches back ashore. It was not difficult to get in as you don’t need a lot of depth to float a Thundercat as they are designed for the surf. As a co-pilot/navigator or whatever you want to call it, you have a rope with knots in it running diagonally the length of the boat, to hold with your right hand and ropes around the tubes to hold with your left.

We did a straight run out to a point offshore where Danny stopped and showed me the position I needed to take for the turns. You lean into the turns and have to move about in the boat, which isn’t as difficult as it sounds. We then went off and did a series of left and right turns, which was absolutely exhilarating. Mind you it felt to me like we were going really slow, but my family said we were bombing it. All too soon we were heading towards the shore and I was transferring back to my wheelchair. With the biggest grin on my face!

My thanks to Hilary, Fiona and everyone for making this happen and especially Danny who took me out.

All credit must go to the Thundercat crowd who at no stage have seen someone disabled, but a person that happens to need a wheelchair and crutches to get about.