Friday 16th October

Set sail at last, with ARC flags flying and a big send off from the Sail Ionian team. Motor sailed round to the south of Lefkas and then raised the sails to take the north-westerly wind past Vasiliki and out into the Ionian Sea. On into the night. Louise not feeling too good and took to her bed to avoid the night watches! Some good night sailing, with speeds of up to 8-9 knots at times and not much traffic.

The team comprises Matt the Sail Ionian skipper, ourselves, the adventurous Abi, a care worker, Iona, an air-hostess, and Barry, a retired Spanish-villa owner (and good cook).

We will sail the boat in turns or watches, especially when sailing the longer day and night passages. Essentially these are 3 hour shifts in pairs 1.5 hours as crew and 1.5 hours as helm. With the number of crew we set out with (until some of the changeover stops) this means we get 4 hours rest in between watches.