One of the Paragon Data Services directors found out exactly what hard work really means on a recent adventure.
Knowing that Glen Davis’ birthday was coming up, managing director Iain Bland arranged for him to set sail on a 10-day challenge on-board the CatZero yacht.
CatZero is a registered charity designed to develop and deliver specialist programmes to meet the needs of children, young people, their families and the local community. When the yacht isn’t in use for its specialist programmes, members of the public can pay to take part in the sailing experience themselves.
While on board, Glen performed the role of a real member of crew. He carried out a four hour on, four hour off watch system for the full duration of the trip. His duties included everything from the preparation of meals and cleaning through to helming the vessel, navigation and engineering.
“When I was 19 I was sponsored by Holderness Rotary Society to sail on the Winston Churchill boat for two weeks. Ever since then I have always said I would like to go back and repeat the experience, CatZero certainly came close but it was much harder this time than when I was 19,” said Glen. “The team at PDS surprised me with the CatZero experience for my birthday and I was over the moon.”
The yacht was bound for The Azores, in the North Atlantic Ocean, when Glen set sail. “We really did get the full sailing experience,” he added. “We came across wind, rain, snow and hail – we even had to pull into Weymouth on the way back while the weather calmed down. It was fantastic, I had a brilliant time – I think if I’d told my wife how dangerous the conditions were at certain points during the journey, she would have told me to get off and come home though.”
It’s safe to say that Glen enjoyed his experience, but he’s pleased to be back in the comfort of the PDS headquarters in Hull doing his day job!
