Now we come to the end of our tale As we cross the Atlantic by sail As the sun rises high And St Lucia is nigh We still haven’t spotted a whale.

We left west Argyll in the rain For Cork Barracuda did aim With Cameron Clark We had such a lark Learning cribbage, a fabulous game (amongst other things).

The start of the tale that we’re telling, Was in Islay, where Mum has a dwelling We had supper with Pat And a good family chat Then headed to Cork from Port Ellen

In Cork we said farewell to Cam And picked up our next sailor man. With David in tow Across Biscay we’d go For Spain and Iberian ham

For Dave it was then a farewell As we headed on south in the swell The Galician Rias Were able to please us With wine and good seafood as well.

In Muros we made ourselves merry With our neighbours, Andy and Kerrie Who just happened to be Visiting Spain by the sea And came aboard Bazza for sherry (well probably something stronger actually but we needed a rhyme)

To Portugal next we would go Trying port in the town of Porto In Lagos we’d stop For K’s birthday bop With mussels alive alive o-o (well actually it was Cataplana)

Then Pat flew down south on a whim To Vilamoura, to meet with her kin Then Barracuda did go To the town of Faro To catch up with Oonagh and Tim.

The Raineys arrived at the station, Their first ocean passage awaiting. All eager and keen To join this cool team The Canaries their first destination.

Large swell, and strong wind from behind For four days â€�" but they didn’t mind. We made Lanzarote Then stopped feeling grotty, What a beautiful island to find.

This land of volcanoes and lava Has Manrique (Cesar) as its father Though we liked it the best, We had to move west To Las Palmas, the home of good cava.

The whole of the ARC fleet was there Preparing their boats with great care Ship’s biscuits galore, Tea-bags, coffee and more And hardly a moment to spare.

So off to the ocean we sally For 22 days on the rally. In St Lucia we know There is rum on the go, So it’s time to make haste and not dally.