Am loving a wonderful 24 hours shore-leave with Mark and Poppy, who have driven all the way up here to Oban to see me. Soooo just what I needed. Thank you!

My life at the moment...

Each minute of each day is an adventure in itself. I feel as though we've been at sea for four months not just four weeks. My emotions are running rampant - wonderful highs, inexplicable lows and every shade in between: laughter, self-doubt and times of quiet reflection (although not many of those)! A constant bombardment of new experiences. The abnormal has become quite normal.

I realised, as soon as I stepped off the boat in Oban last night, just how tired my body and brain are. If I'm not busy, I'm asleep. I've had hallucinations whilst rowing at night, fallen asleep at the oars, fought through 25ft waves and got more bruises than a boxer. I've seen shooting stars, phosphorescence, sun fish, jelly fish, dolphins, sea eagles, deer, puffins, guillemots, oyster catchers and gannets galore. It's a sensory overload.

Four weeks to go. Two until I see Mark again in Fraserburgh and then two more until arriving back at Burnham-on-Crouch. Can't imagine there being many more adventures left to be had; but I know the next four weeks will be just as challenging and busy as the first - maybe more so as my body is starting to feel tired.

I'll need to be alert to the fact that my mental processing time could be longer than usual - it's not that fast at the best of times! And, as a card-carrying introvert, I'll need to to stay on top of my myself; so I can continue to enjoy sharing life on board with everyone else.

I will get there though. My crewmates Laura Try, Steve Sidaway and Angus Collins are really lovely. I couldn't have hoped to be amongst a better group of people.

The support and good wishes from friends and family continues to be invaluable, with messages often arriving at just the moment when I need a lift. So thank you everyone!