Geoff Holt MBE Completes Latest Challenge

A man who is paralysed from the chest down said he circumnavigated Great Britain in a power boat to prove to “other profoundly disabled people that barrier free boating is possible”.

Geoff Holt MBE, originally from Portsmouth, set off from Tower Bridge in London on 13 May and returned after three and a half weeks.

He said crossing the finish line felt “euphoric”.

The challenge has so far raised more than £75,000 for Mr Holt’s charity Wetwheels, which provides specially-designed accessible boats to disabled people of all ages to use.

Mr Holt said he drove the boat for the whole trip but travelled with two other crew members, with his wife meeting them at each of their 19 port stops with an accessible motor home for him to sleep in.

In total they travelled around 1,800 miles (2897km), spending up to 10 hours a day at sea.

Mr Holt said the challenge took its toll, with the movement of the boat causing the wheelchair to rub the skin on his back.

But despite that, it was “an incredible trip”.

“It’s only pain,” he said.

The trip also raised awareness of the charity and its fundraising initiative, Finishing The Dream.

“My inbox is bursting with people wanting to get involved,” he said.

The money raised will go towards buying four more accessible boats, which Mr Holt said he “designed so that everyone can drive the boats”.

“For a moment in time they get to sit in the captain’s chair,” he said.

‘Overwhelming’

Mr Holt said the trip was a “physical and emotional” challenge for him – not least because he had kidney surgery just two weeks before setting off.

But he said it was also “amazing”, especially the leg along the west coast of Scotland, which had “some of most beautiful scenery” he had ever seen.

And coming home, he said, was “overwhelming”.

“When we got round the corner and saw Tower Bridge… it was just euphoric,” he said.