Descibed by our jet-ski guide as ‘a drinking town with a sailing problem’, Airlie has been a fantastic stopover.  After several tough races, and aware of my fatigue levels gradually rising after my extra circumnavigation at Christmas and the all-too-brief pause in Hobart, it has been wonderful to have had nearly a week in which to stop.

Not that there hasn’t been plenty to do: there was the usual deep-clean and maintenance and then, as I’ve now stepped into the role of bosun, a couple of trips up the mast for one of the Sisyphean chores on board these boats – namely the repair of the spinnaker halyard blocks.  Dangling in the tropical sun 75ft above the deck, in a rather snug climbing harness, I couldn’t help but feel that the Greek bloke had it easy by comparison.

But once the chores were done, it was play-time. I’ve been jet-skiing, snorkelling and tried scuba-diving (apparently I breathed too much – you’d think that would be a good thing…), we’ve been shouted dinner by Garmin – our boat sponsor – at the Rum Bar, and various crew members have hosted parties and barbeques.

 There’s been the fun of collecting our third third-place pennant, and the sadness of saying goodbye to the seven crew who finish this leg.  In particular I’ll miss Leo and Mal, who’ve been with us since London. 

We’re off in 40 minutes – motoring out through the Great Barrier reef and then the race proper starts tomorrow. Next stop Vietnam…