From Hamble to Falmouth was horrendous. We had c.25 Knots from the west all the way plus rain. The engine was put to good use. On the first night, following a pasta with lardons and mushrooms, cooked by yours truly, everyone was sick. 

The resilience of the crew was awe inspiring. A few pints in Falmouth, followed by Rick Steins fish and chips, plus a couple of rums, and they were all raring to go again.

From Falmouth to Baiona in NW Spain was better. The Bay of Biscay was kind to us. We had good winds averaging 20 knots, mainly from the NW, a moderate sea and some exhilarating sailing, especially at night. There was a close encounter with, what we decided was, a crane ship one dark night and a calamity with the electrics (which were fixed on arrival) but, otherwise, it was a great leg accompanied frequently by dolphins and porpoise. Our meals, which were conceived and cooked mostly by Peter, were absolutely fabulous and no one was sick.

After two nights in Baiona we shore hopped down the Portuguese coast to Lagos on the Algarve. All very pleasant and sunny. The Portuguese fishing boats do not carry lights or AIS, however, which made it interesting at night, and the harbours do not ever respond to VHS or mobiles. You just sail in and hope for the best.

After a 4 week stop over in Lagos, and a holiday with Dingle there, we set off on the last leg. This was the best leg, from Lagos to Las Palmas in Gran Canaria - we had myself, Mike, Peter and Joel on board for some perfect sailing weather and more dolphins. After a slow start the wind increased to average c.20 knots all the way, mostly from the NE and NW. The mailasail weather forecasts were excellent and we were able to plan our gybes to make the most of the wind. We had some fast, 9+knots sailing with the Code Zero up, and even an afternoon fishing. I spent most of this trying to get hooks out of my shorts and the ensign. The fish were totally safe.

After another couple of weeks holiday with Dingle in Las Palmas the boat was moored up for 4 weeks. Mike went back down on 8th Nov with the rest of us joining him on 15th. Then it’s down to prepping for the ARC start on 23rd!!!