37:05.677N 13:56.719E Sat 3^rd Oct 2020.  69nm 10hrs

Our last night sail certainly started off delightfully – everything we had hoped for.  A good breeze from just behind the beam, calm seas and a harvest moon.  The warm air and really warm water (over 28°C) was almost soporific – for once the forecast was right!  That wasn’t to last though – the winds just got stronger & the seas more boisterous until we were haring along doing 8-9kts in strong winds, mostly in the mid 20s, forcing us to reef several times.  With loads of large ships crossing our path the seas were quite unpleasant and, despite the reefs, we were going way faster than planned.  We had expected a slow-ish sail arriving around first light, instead we arrived 3 hours early and had to enter the port and anchor in the pitch black at 0450.  Goldcrest as ever looked after us perfectly, with all systems performing at their peak.

However we do think this was our last ever sail on Goldcrest.  We put her on the market during lockdown in the UK, anticipating it could take a year to sell her and we’d have a last season in Greece next year.  Instead a couple from Goldcrest’s home country made us an offer we couldn’t refuse and, assuming the survey & sea trial at the end of this month go well, we will be moving on.  Next adventure: building a zero carbon home on the north Devon coast and seeing much more of friends and family, especially all our little ones!