So general feeling that we’d done much of what needed to be done, but some tasks remain.

Nick & the younger Baines set about the winch, removing bits one by one, with no obvious failure point and were becoming concerned about their ability to rebuild it. Fortunately, at this point Jerry the rigger appeared (looking for the boat, which turned out to be the one adjacent to us) and swiftly disassembled the remaining components and indicated the failed part – a tiny spring – so we bought some new ones and with only a little difficulty reassembled the winch.Without Jerry's confident disassembly, it'd have taken a few hours longer! Nice to have done it & we'd be more confident about this sort of thing at sea...

Nick & Mike departed to town to buy fresh meat, thinking that we’d have meat for the first few days before relying (maybe) on the fish that we catch. Bill & Richard went to be ‘briefed’ at the skippers briefing and the younger Baines set the sextant-clock and sorted out some comms.

Swimming in the afternoon near the girls flat. Lovely and warm, nice invigorating bit of surf and then supper in a restaurant by the sea.

Gentle walk back to the boat (with the washed & ironed shirts thanks to the girls). All a little on edge for the forthcoming adventure

the boys in boat uniform, courtesy of the Tailor (Richard Baines)...left to right: elder Baines (Rich), younger Baines (Paul), Nick Homan, Billy Cuthbert, Mike Hughes