0700 UTC and we are all ready to go after a final scurry of activity to fix a sticky solenoid valve on the water maker system. Final drinks with Richard and Angela on their beautiful Sophisticate and then a team dinner in the old town. Yvonne and Stephanie leave us today and we cannot thank them enough for their fabulous help in the provisioning and final preparations; it has been a real thrill to have them here with us and we look forward to seeing them again in St Lucia and Barbados respectively. Weather options have been well discussed and -I suspect like most people - we shall be heading south on port gybe for the first 18 hrs or so and then routing close to the Cape Verde Islands before setting west. Weather forecast is good so let's hope all goes well. I have wanted to do this all my life and never thought I would get the chance. The passages here from Ipswich have been fabulous as well as testing but this is now completely different. So here we go; I feel excited, nervous and want to get going. That is the magic of the sea and boats.