Fred Griffin
Artistic Designer and volunteer crew |
Adrian asks, ”how did you start in
sailing?”. Well, I started at the age of five by damming the local
brook and building a raft. As I come from a farming family, boats did
not figure much in my day to day life, but something urged me to ‘get
a boat’.
During this fifth summer of mine, I
contracted polio. Sport then took a back seat. However, at school I
was able, again, to mess about with boats.
I was a keen supporter of the Mirror
dinghy. I taught both my daughters to sail in one, mainly off the
coast of south Devon. I have now just ended, twenty odd years of
racing in various types of boats.
Now retired, due to the late effects of
polio, I help to run Post-Polio UK (no;1053269), a charity which
helps other sufferers of polio. In fact, I am co-founder and
vice-chair so I have to fit my sailing in when I can.
I am going on this first leg, with
Adrian, to go out of sailing on a ‘high’. My polio has not left much
in my tank, so I intend to use my reserves of energy on a sailing trip
that will give me enough memories to last me to my end.
I also hope to come back with some good
photos which will give me ideas for a few watercolour paintings
(another passion of mine). |