Now well into our third week with only a day still to go, I’m astonished that we still have some fresh vegetables and fruits in really good condition, and am very chuffed that on passage I have only ‘lost’ two oranges, early casualties of a lax couple of days checking when we were sailing close-hauled and getting about the cabin was hard! Everything else has kept really well, and either been eaten or chilled in good time.

On the fruit fruit front, the sweet little local bananas I bought took weeks to go from green to yellow, I used a couple of green ones in a Thai curry, but now we’ve been eating two or three a day as they ripen. There are still half a dozen crisp apples, too, and I’ve just cut into the second (but last) melon. We have four cans of apricots and pineapple in fresh fruit juice if they’re needed.

The keep-for-an-emergency (in case of fridge or freezer malfunction) cabbage and butternut squash are looking good, and we still have quite a few carrots, some potatoes, one or two courgettes, beetroots and peppers, as well as some radishes, chicory and radicchio, half a cucumber and a tomato!

Not surprisingly, in these last few days long-keeping vegetables and store-cupboard ingredients have featured more. For lunches we’ve been eating a lot of slaw-type salads and rice and grain combinations; and in the evenings there have been carrot, chickpea and courgette tagine; cod, potato and sweetcorn chowder; and a chicken braise, made with a jar of roasted artichokes and canned cannellini beans for supper.

Having a fresh-caught tuna has added a bit of excitement, though. Six huge chunks have gone in the freezer, but the last of the potatoes and peppers - ear-marked for other dishes - were used to make the chunky Spanish-style tuna stew. (It was truly excellent. Ed)