We start the day with an appearance on BBC Breakfast, which has been following our journey from the beginning then say goodbye to our loved ones at the airport. When we arrive in La Gomera, it is time to check Rosie, our high-tech, custom-made boat, and ensure all of our equipment has arrived intact.
Tuesday
First thing in the morning, I get a spare hour to check and respond to a few of my work emails. I run StanfordRhodes Wealth Management with my husband. We are a small team of five, and most of the client-facing tasks are managed by the team back in York. Today in particular, I am responsible for keeping our clients up-to-date on the developments in the recent Autumn Statement.
Wednesday
The day begins again by checking work emails. As part of my role, I am responsible for managing the staff, so today I am preparing all of the material and documentation for our one-to-one meetings. Early afternoon it is back to training for the race. We were due to set off today, but because of the change in the direction of the wind, we have been delayed. We take Rosie out to sea and go through the motions of some of the challenges we may encounter on the way. We test our water maker, as we are only able to produce all of our drinking water from the sea, as well as testing how to use our specialist anchor and learn how to deal with whatever complications could come our way.
Thursday
I start the day putting together and reviewing our month-end figures and send the documents through to the team back in the UK. I have also been in touch with one of our clients who received a document from his insurance provider asking him to make a decision on whether he would like to cancel or renew his policy. I had to make sure the details were communicated back to the team in the office and the matter was resolved with the client. I spend the afternoon with my team in a range of briefings preparing us for the challenge which is due to start on Sunday. They include medical, safety and crisis briefings preparing us for anything that could come our way when out at sea, as, when the challenge starts, we will be completely unaided and cannot accept any help or supplies once we leave La Gomera. In emergency situations a rescue can be two to three days away so we need to be prepared for anything.
Friday
Today is our last full day of training and preparation before we set off early on Sunday morning. Our mandatory kit list (which is 11 pages long) needs to be thoroughly checked by officials, so we spend a whole seven hours laying it all out and having each individual piece scrutinised. If the kit does not pass, then we cannot take part. I spend the last few hours of the day double checking that the new content we have just published on our company website is compliant with the regulator and signed off for use.
Niki Doeg is practice manager at Yorkshire-based StanfordRhodes Wealth Management
