Well folks, this report is a bit delayed as we arrived in Tortola in the early hours on Christmas day. We motored down the island and into Road Harbour, where we tied up for a few hours at the Moorings base. Just after 8 am we cast off our lines and motored to the customs and immigration jetty and spent a frustrating two hours going through the process of checking in officially and declaring the cargo we had picked up in St Maarten. Then it was back to the Moorings base to off-load the cargo - all four truck loads of it.

We had Christmas lunch at the pool-side restaurant and then spent the remaining hours of the day cleaning the boat. The next day (Wednesday) was not much different and on Thursday morning we handed a sparkling clean boat over to the operations manager, had breakfast and headed out to Beef Island and the airport in a taxi.

Our flights had been changed and Terry flew to Miami via San Juan whilst Shaun, Shaheda and I flew to Antigua and then on to London. We then caught the BA flight directly to Cape Town, where I now sit and type up this closing report.

Thanks to all of you that have taken the time to read my ramblings - may 2008 be a year of happy sailing, be it in reality or from the comfort of your armchair. After a holiday in the Cape mountains I will know when an where my next adventure will be and will post it on the blog.

And, for those who are wondering about the photograph above, it was taken by Shaun from the hills behind Roadtown looking down onto Road Harbour, Tortola.

Best regards - John