Looking back at it summer 2003 seems to have flown past so quickly. We spent the summer bouncing back and forth along the Riviera, it is not as fun as it sounds, but we had a few laughs and managed to sneak out a couple of times for a glass of wine with some good friends.

Once we arrived in the Med we went straight to Barcelona for a quick yard period. Even a little paint work needs a lot of preparation so while the painters did their thing, we enjoyed Barcelona and got the boat ready for the summer.

After Barcelona we headed to Monaco for the Bal de Mer, a charity event for yacht owners that raises money for environmental causes, one of the biggest hypocrisies out there as they all own huge diesel guzzling motor yachts but that's the way it goes. This was our first big public event on the new boat so everyone was a little nervous but it went off without a hitch.

The rest of the summer went by at a seemingly glacial pace, we spent the majority of our time in Cannes, Monaco and Antibes.

Day to day things get pretty repetitive: wake up, wash the boat, dry the boat, take the boat out, get it covered in salt, return to the dock, wash the boat, dry the boat and so on……

Occasionally we are lucky enough to tie up next to some friends, more usually they will be pulling out of port as we arrive

During the summer we saw some of the huge fires that plagued Europe this year, it was definitely one of the hottest summers we've seen.

At the end of the summer we headed for Ft Lauderdale, Florida crossing the Atlantic by way of the Azores and Bermuda. Apart from picking up a big piece of line in the props it was an uneventful crossing, though we had a few days in Bermuda waiting for hurricanes and heavy seas to abate.