NORTH-WEST

retireMent voyage ‘Horrendous weather’ scuppered newly-retired Nik Lever’s round-UK challenge and led to him selling his yacht of 14 years.

The 58-year-old set sail from Whitby in his Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 24.2 Papillon on 30 May as a retirement project, bound for Maryport via the Caledonian Canal. However, after 19 days at sea, the former digital technology company owner abandoned ship and put his yacht up for sale.

Nik told PBO: ‘Relentless rain, cold and strong winds on the bow eventually sapped my spirit. The lesson I learned is it is a real challenge to sail solo in a small boat for any more than a week.

‘While the rest of the country

basked in a heatwave, in western Scotland it was endless rain, 12° temperatures and 20-30-knot winds!

‘The boat is now up for sale – I’ve had her for 14 years – and the proceeds will go into a boat share in the Med.’

Nik’s blogs of his voyage are online at www.withthetide.com.