With our arrival at Mindelo on São Vicente Island in the Cape Verdes earlier today, "Egret" crossed her outward track, and so we have completed our circumnavigation of the world. The distance sailed was about 34,000 miles which has taken just under 3 ½ years. We celebrated with a bottle of Villiera 'Tradition Brut Rosé' that had travelled very well from South Africa up the Atlantic in Egret's cellar (i.e. the bilges).

We previously departed Mindelo on the 6th December 2011 for the start of our fateful Atlantic crossing, during which "Egret" fractured her rudder in collision with a semi-submerged object during a dark and blustery night. After completing the crossing by jury rigged steering, and fitting a new rudder at St. Lucia, the rest of the voyage has gone relatively smoothly. We have seen so many amazing places and met such wonderful people that it is hard to say what the highlights were. However, cruising through the beautiful Pacific islands from the Marquesas to Vanuatu has got to be a top contender. We are looking forward to starting soon on the final 3,000 miles back to Chichester via the Azores to complete our voyage.