And so the next long leg ever further south is about to begin. I have been out here in Piriapolis, Urguguay, for three weeks now and have given Wild Song the best fitting out any boat of ours has ever had. Things taken apart and put back together, annoyances dealt with, stowage sorted. It was a long list of jobs, many of which should have been done way back; but in the tropics it was just too damned hot to even think about getting out a screwdriver. So, the diesel problem is sorted. This has caused me much anxiety over the last couple of thousand miles. It is depressing to find the bilge awash with diesel and no one nearby who can fix it for you. At first I dreaded a leak in the tank - not certain what I would have done - but eventually traced it to a damned, tiny pin prink hole in the copper pipe deep beneath the galley. Anyway, that's now sorted. And everything looked grand till last Wednesday. Then the storm struck. This is a well sheltered harbour, as safe as anywhere this end of the River Plate, but force ten tests any marina and any boat. The violence and suddenness of it was overwhelming. It went from 20 knots to 55 knots in ten minutes, dragging a tidal surge which put the walkways two feet under water. Getting off the boat would have been a dangerous business. I thought we were weathering it well, then the wind go hold of a pocket of the furled headsail and it started to shred, then a bit more, and a bit more until the leech looked like Christmas streamers cracking like machine-gun fire in the wind. It lasted twelve hours and was gone. And so was the headsail which now sits in workshop in Montevideo and prevents my departure. Batteries have also been a problem. I would like new ones but the local offering is of poor quality and I am recommended to hang out for Trojan or Bosch. These have to come from the USA and were due in last Monday but the ship was late etc etc.. This is how things seem to work in south America. So I am waiting for a sail and a set of batteries. Just when I thought everything was ready to go. On the plus side, Piriapolis is a great little place; the people are friendly, the shops hospitable, cars stop for you to cross the street, the woman in the laundry does a mountain of it for you for a couple of quid. I like it here. Laurence and Elisa (Imperial Yachts) have been great; Laurence climbed the mast to cut away my shredded jib, Elisa drove me around town for diesel and gas. There is nothing they don't know about how this place works, both the pluses and minuses. If you are coming this way, make sure you make friends with them. Their workmanship, too, is of the highest standard. If you really want to be Big Friends with them, take out a tin of Golden Syrup from the UK. I am now awaiting crew, Chris Eakin. I shall have to explain to him that we are not quite as ready to go as I wished, but he's a boat owner. He'll know there's nothing unusual in a cruising plan going a little astray at the beginning. PS I've just been reading the pilot book again. Let the nightmares begin.