A disabled seafaring explorer is set to embark on an epic sailing adventure for a cause close to his heart.

Geoff Holt MBE DL will be skippering a boat around the UK in aid of his charity Wetwheels Foundation.

The 58-year-old from Titchfield will be taking on 1,500 miles around the country’s coastline in a period spanning four to six weeks.

Speaking on the challenge, Geoff said: “Knowing the challenges that lay ahead, this will be the most daring and demanding project I have ever undertaken.

"I have been in a wheelchair for 40 years this year, although wiser and more experienced, my body is not as forgiving as it once was.

"The 1,500 mile journey will be a test for not only my physical endurance but also a mental challenge as I juggle the logistics of navigating through some of the most dangerous and congested waters in the world.

"Only when I cross the finish line back in London and we hit our fundraising targets, I will allow
myself to relax.

"Meanwhile, I look forward to another amazing journey around our beautiful country and meeting friends old and new.

"Hopefully, by demonstrating that a quadriplegic, 40 years paralysed from the chest down, still has the ability to achieve his dreams will inspire more disabled people to find out about Wetwheels and support the amazing work we do.”

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Setting off from St. Katharine’s Dock in London on May 13, Geoff will be calling in at 17 ports along the way.

These are: London, St Katharine’s Dock; Dover; Portsmouth; Torbay; Falmouth; Dale; Holyhead; Belfast; Tobermory; Stornoway; Scrabster; Peterhead; Edinburgh; North Shields; Whitby; Lowestoft and back to London.

He hopes to raise £1.2m for four new Wetwheels boats which allow disabled and disadvantaged people of all ages to access the water in the custom vessels.

The boats are designed specifically for wheelchair access.

He will return to St. Katharine’s Dock in June after completing the challenge.

Geoff was paralysed in a swimming accident in 1984 and has spent 40 years in a wheelchair.

In 2007 he became the first severely disabled person to sail single-handed around Great Britain, and in 2009 he was the first quadriplegic to sail across the Atlantic Ocean unassisted.