Trilleen is westward bound once more, heading for her new base in Scotland. I’ve just spent ten welcome days in Cowes recovering from my Round Britain and Ireland sail in aid of the Andrew Cassell Foundation. My arrival happened to coincide with Cowes Week, so instead of simply resting, I found myself photographing, managing media, and when injury left a gap—jumping aboard as a last-minute race crew for the Foundation.
It was a joy to get back into a Sonar not as a participant this time, but as a Foundation volunteer helping to push ACF Spare Part to her limits and rediscovering muscle memory I’d thought long lost. Watching two of our participants gain confidence and start making the boat sing on the racecourse was deeply satisfying. The Foundation had a strong week, racing four Sonars for the first time. ACF Dolphin took second in a nail-biting finish, spinnaker up, skimming inshore among yachts of every size with far fewer inches under the keel than comfort would recommend.
Completing the circumnavigation feels good. I began the challenge still physically and mentally fragile, intending it as both a test of seamanship and a check on my resilience. The constant technical problems turned out to be a gift: proof that my feet are under me again, and that I can adapt and endure under pressure.
I’m writing this moored at Yarmouth bows pointing into the sunset once again. I’ve picked up a buoy waiting for the tide to open a path west out of the Solent and wind to make it a pleasurable sail. Ahead lies a delivery up the Irish Sea, probably through the Caledonian Canal, to a winter berth in the Moray Firth. Having already seen Ireland’s west coast during the circumnavigation, this time I’m trying for a sprint north before, if time allows, slipping into the Sea of the Hebrides for a late-summer wander among the islands.