32:44.499N 16:42.734W

Well , we’ve made it battered but not bowed ! It’s been a fantastic last 7 days , sometimes tough , sometimes magical and other times tedious but all times something special. It’s not as if we’ve just conquered Everest without oxygen but we have in our own little way achieved something quite extraordinary and I think , without quibble , we can count ourselves up there with Drake , Slocum , Blyth , Tabarly and Moitessier as great ocean wanderers.

With all this experience under our belts I think it important that I urge anyone attempting this sort of venture to study two things in great detail before departing , namely , balance and gravity . Forget the sailing bit – that’s just string and canvas , and a 10 year old will master that on their own in a matter of hours.

I would heartily recommend the Rick O’Shea School Of Movement to any future mariners. Let me explain.

Whilst at sea , should I wish to move from the saloon  couch to the chart table – a matter of 50cm at it’s closest point of approach – it is not possible to go directly from one to the other . As you leave the couch you instantly find your left foot shy of the cockpit floor by 60cm and not getting any closer thus propelling you into the heads door and then the companionway steps before finally arriving – in reverse – at the chart table.

It is not possible to predict where your feet or hands will make contact with something solid but the Rick O’Shea method teaches you to adapt and thus ‘ricochet’ without harming yourself.

This method also teaches you how to spout profanities like a demonic tourettes sufferer as Janet has ably demonstrated throughout our travels.

To arrive at your destination with a maximum of two bruises per limb is , in my opinion , to be considered a triumph and a tally of said injuries should be carefully logged so as to be sure you don’t double count at your next port. Gradually over time one’s suntan does seem to develop a slightly greenish tinge .

On a serious note I have often looked at the reviews of the new mass produced  production boats in the glossy magazines and envied the open plan saloons , big spacious galleys and dance-around cabins . I now am in no  doubt that they have no place on the open sea unless the owner has a death wish or alternatively intends to buy a job lot of second hand underground train grab handles and fit them a 60cm spacings across  his ceiling.

As I say , it has all been worth every moment and I would not have swapped it for anything ( excluding anything involving Kate Bush , Liz Hurley or a lock-in at the Adnam’s brewery )

Quinta do Lorde marina is lovely and the staff are incredibly helpful , already arranged a food delivery and a corona test for us later today so that we can be set free as soon as possible.

Once we’ve had a chance to tidy up , put the cans in their proper places , rehang the doors , put the oven back the right way up and find the saloon table we’ll have a glass of wine then send some photo’s.