Dear diary, and kev, tree, scott, wally, jessica and jan,

I have been back in California for 2.5 weeks. It is good to be home again for a while. I am busy working my way through a long list of repair and maintenance items and trying not to get too frustrated by all the Trump stuff. Is it time to go back to the boat yet!!

I wanted to thank you all again for helping me get Galatea safely from Simons Town all the way to Cartagena via the Balearics. It was a looong  trip - total elapsed time 6 months; total mileage covered 7500NM (6700 ST to Cartagena, 800 to the Balearics and back). It had it's moments - lots of good laughs, some scary bits (Gates of Hell, Devil's Cove in particular), the odd difference of opinion, some rough bits (particularly when leaving Cape Town and Gibraltar), but, all in all, it was an incredible trip.

As incredible as it was, it wouldn't have happened without your collective assistance. I truly am blessed to have such good friends who will put up with me for extended periods, come to the rescue on short notice (thanks Wally), fly long distances to get to and from the boat, some even through Russia (thanks Jessica), endure miles and miles of open seas, and, most amazingly, do it time and time again.

Hopefully you will all be able to join Galatea next year on her travels through Italy and Croatia. Looking forward to it.

In the meantime, enjoy the rest of the year and see you in 2018, if not before.

My best to you all,

Neil