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It is always a bitter-sweet moment when something wonderful comes to an end, and so it is that "Knotty Girl"s season is almost done for one more time. Rather wonderfully, Roberto shot me an email in the summer to ask if I would join him and Tanya for the final run up through the Kornatis towards "Knotty Girl"s winter home in Venice. As luck would have it, the dates coincided with my son Georges half term, so he and I now find ourselves sipping cool drinks in the evening sun in the beautiful town of Mali Lošinj.

You've got to want to get to Mali Lošinj - its entrance is well hidden and protected, but what lies herein is quite beautiful. Palm trees lines the quayside, fronting restaurants, museums and galleries of many pastels shades, all topped with classic Croatian red roof tiles. It is picture-postcard stuff, and quiet at this time of the year. We head north from here today to Pula, then onwards overnight to Venice, with a planned arrival at the most famous of waterways mid-morning on Friday.

Our week started in Sibenik - a city famous for its ancient history and stunning castles. One of the most famous cultural sights - St.James Cathedral - is on the UNESCO World Heritage list. It is well known by yacht charterers as the town you pass in order to get up to Krka Falls. A few years ago, Sarah and I chartered a yacht with her brother and headed up to the Falls with our families. An awesome experience. This time, we were heading out to sea, past the submarine tunnels, and north through the Kornati National Park. With the wind behind us, Roberto was itching to get the spinnaker up - something that he had not managed to do all year. In fact, we were barely out of Sibeniks dramatic entrance before he was off up to the foredeck to get ready! Such is his enthusiasm for this, that we have had the kite up three times since. And with an eager bowman in George, we think Roberto is very happy!

Of our stops so far, snorkelling the wreck of the Michelle at the tip of Dugi Otok was definitely a highlight, as was the overnight anchorage of Ist that followed. The latter is dominated by a church at the top of the hill above the village - a climb of some 600ft. Sunrise brought mist in the bay, above which the church could just be seen. George pulled on his running shoes, hopped in to the tender, and headed off. The photos that followed from the above the clouds were quite simply breathtaking.

And so it is that the end of the season is almost upon us. The signs are there - we are eating our way through the things at the back of the fridge, we are getting ready to fuel the boat up so her tanks are full through the winter, and we're giving some thought to the jobs that need to be done ahead of a well-deserved winter break for "Knotty Girl". For me, the whole experience is rather emotive. Not only are we lucky enough to be helping Roberto and Tanya close out the season, it is almost exactly five years to the day since we gathered in Las Palmas for the start of the ARC to St.Lucia. What they have achieved since is very impressive, and "Knotty Girl" has served them well through this wonderful journey of some 25,000 miles.

Well done "Knotty Girl". Enjoy your winter break.

Alastair

(Hello to Tanya's mum!)