38: 31.09 N

28: 37.50 W

I didn’t hear anything further from Melvyn after the missed Skype call of yesterday and I began to wonder if I had imagined it.  In desperation I sent a Skype text message saying ‘ring me, regardless of the time’.

I spoke to Melv this morning at 8.00am and he said he had been alarmed at the urgent tone of my message and enquired if anything was wrong back here…..!  He seemed surprised when I told him how concerned we had all been.  The problem had been exactly as Richard predicted – light winds initially and then from the wrong direction – compounded by an engine problem which meant he was unable to motor.  He said he had come close to running out of food, but there had been sufficient fresh water….I suspect helped by the fact he had washed infrequently!

He was planning to into the marina in Horta this morning and then take that much-needed first shower and shave.