9:35 set off at last from Southampton. Winds forecast force 5-7 and sea state moderate to rough. Even worse the wind is on the nose and it is raining. British summer time at it's best! Decide if weather is not as bad as forecast will go to Weymouth. Our alternative destinations are Lymington or Poole. After 5 hours into rain and wind gusty to 29 knots decide to cut short to Lymington. Whilst sailing notice the starboard running backstay is sticking out of the ma...

Final sail before the trip on Saturday. All went well in lively force 6 winds. Fuelled up the diesel when the filler cap chain broke and the cap fell into the sea. In Javelin tradition fashioned a temporary cap from bung and gaffer tape. See the picture. Next morning it was off to the chandellers to try and find a new cap. Good news they had one of the right size. Tried to screw it in and found out by 1 millimetre! Only alternative was to fit a whole new ...

Trip to chandlery to get last minutes spares and then day getting Javelin ready for her voyage. Spent ages on the navigation lights which have gone on the blink again. Only 12 days to go!

Crew meet at our house, only 17 days to go! Keeping our fingers crossed for good weather. Many tasks to do before we are ready to leave. We will be busy for the next two weeks.