Photo: The boat which was wrecked in Sunday’s storm was finally lifted out onto the hard, the huge metre-square hole on her port bow testament to the ferocity of the weather.

Quadriplegic sailor, Geoff Holt, who is attempting to sail around the coast of Great Britain, finally left Brixham, Devon this morning, having been weather bound in Brixham for over a week. Geoff will sail to Salcombe today and, weather permitting, on to Plymouth at the weekend.

Geoff left Southampton on 20th May on a voyage which he describes as his own ‘Personal Everest’ and which should take him around 60 days, but his progress around the coast has been hampered by severe weather conditions.

Last night in his blog on his website (www.personaleverest.com) Geoff said:

“It’s hard to believe we’ve been in Brixham for a week now, it seems more like a month. I’m writing this sat in the motor home looking north across Torbay towards Torquay. I can’t see Torquay because of the rain nor can I hear myself think as it pounds the roof of the van. The first of the dozen or so coaches bringing tourists into the town has just arrived and we feel like goldfish surrounded in our iron-fence compound as hundreds of people file past and stare in at us all day. For the past 7 nights we’ve gone to bed in expectation of leaving the following today, this morning, like the previous 7 mornings, we’ve awoken to the disappointment of strong winds, rain, and the utter frustration of spending another day just waiting.