04/06/09 End of Day 6 Throughout the passage I have taken over my watches from the YMC, as such I have been very conscious of not being late for the hand over. Given my advancing years and fondness for a minimum of 8 hours uninterrupted sleep it has been especially challenging to accomplish my goal. As it was likely to be our last handover early this morning i was anxious to not screw up. I handed over to Aisling at the end of my 3 hour stint last night and went to bed with my body clock set for a 6.00am hand over with YMC. To my horror i woke at 6.10am and YMC still on watch. My usual time frame to wake up sufficiently to be able to get dressed, put the kettle on and appear on deck is 25 - 30 minutes, no chance of such luxury this morning, i set a personal record, awake, dressed, kettle on and on deck by 6.15am, adrenlin levels sky high and heart pumping like trip hammer. YMC was busy on the laptop catching up on admin. Thank goodness i thought to myself he has been so engrossed in Microsoft Outlook he has not noticed the time, what a let off. YMC then peered over the rim of his glasses and said, Craggy Surgeon even by your standards this is a bit over the top 2 hours 45 minutes early for your watch, go back to bed we have a long day ahead of us. I was devastated i had missed out on an extra three hours sleep, my watch was 9.00am to 12.00 noon not 6.00am to 9.00am. Being an Olympic standard sleeper i had no bother settling down again to grab some more precious sleep. Suddenly after an hour I'm woken up by peace and quiet, no engine noise. I dash through to see YMC with tools spread over the salon floor and a shredded fan belt i his hand. No worries, he said, all fixed, can you give me hand jump start the engine the battery is knackered. The engine fired first time and off went. Looking back, as everyone does on the last day, the first few days were a baptism by fire. It was rough passage up through the Islands which got worse as we sailed in to strong gales. For Severance and the YMC it was just another day at the office. If anyone reading the blog is looking for a yacht look no further than a Naiad they are fantastic and have my personal recommendation, cruising or blue water passage you will find it difficult to find a better boat. Through all the bad weather there was a never a doubt about the boat only whether we the crew had enough bottle to handle the weather as well as the boat. Only two disappointments, One we did not get to see the whales close up and; Two, the wind let Severance down on the approach to Horto and Portimao in that we had to motor sail to both places and we were not afforded the grandiose arrival of sailing into the harbour approaches under full sail, still we all pictured it in our minds eye.

As this is likely to be the last crew blog posting of the passage i get to have the last word for the crew. We are now less than 100 miles from Portimao, ( as at 8.00am ) and YMC anticipates anchoring off or being tied up alongside at the reception quay by midnight tonight. Go Severance.................... The last day, wow, mixed emotions on my part, for Aisling too, and i know first hand how flat Tom Sargie felt when he left us in Horto to fly back to the UK, his mood reminded me of the Sundays evenings years ago when he had to go to school.

Elation and satisfaction on completion of an epic passage. Relief of no longer living life at a 30 degree tilt. With the main emotion beibng sadness at saying goodbye to the YMC, and our joint home and sanctuary for the last 37 days the good ship Severance. It has been a fantastic experience for me and i know Ailsing and Tom share my sentiments, Andrew thank you for the opportunity to make the passage, it has been a wonderful experience from beginning to end and we have been extremely lucky to make the passage in such a brilliant and well prepared boat and able skipper.

Andrew and Aisling , on the Portimao leg have again been the have been the best of crew mates, and Tom on the St Lucia leg, well I'm his Dad, what option did he have. Andrew as YMC has been our rock throughout the whole passage and the super glue which has held us all altogether. Thank you YMC. Not forgetting our life lines on dry land, especially Daniel for the blog support and Ben for the sporting updates. Sincere thanks to you all

In closing if any of our loyal readers are given the opportunity to sail with Andrew on Severance you need only ask two questions. What dates and where do i pick up the boat. I promise you it will be a experience you will cherish as Tom, Ailsing and I shall do for many a year. Adeus, Sarge , Aisling, Tom Sargie.