I’m sure this will disappoint some of you, but it’s not for the reason you may think.

From tomorrow, Kudu will have a guest on board until Tuesday. I had decided a while ago to take a friend for a trip down the Caledonian Canal. Not because I needed help, not because I couldn’t hack it any more, but because it’s an inland leg of the trip, there’s loads of pubs (apparently) and I haven’t seen a single one of my old friends since I set off in May.

Just over two weeks ago I asked Rob Graham, a good friend, ex housemate and colleague, and co adventurer, if he would like to join me on the Caley leg. He’s just getting in to sailing himself having recently completed a competent crew weekend, so he jumped at the chance.

I thought two weeks would give me plenty of time to get to Inverness, but oh how the weather had other plans.

Since Rob had already booked his flight to Inverness, I couldn’t exactly tell him to cancel the whole thing because I’m still in coastal waters, so I’m meeting him here in Stonehaven tomorrow, which is the reason I didn’t leave this morning.

I’m not going to lie about it, I’m seriously looking forward to going for a beer with my old mate with whom I’ve shared many an adventure. We’ve snow holed in the alps, snow coffined on Ben Nevis (was supposed to be a snow hole but we couldn’t get through the wind slab), wild camped on islands, and he was crew when I made an almighty cock up with my first boat, thus parking her in a field for a month.

Do I think I’m losing anything by taking on crew for a few days? No. I’ve proven to myself what I set out to do, I’ve got this far, and when he gets off (likely before the caley) I’ve still got a long way to go. I haven’t invited him because I failed in anyway, except for maybe missing friends a little too much. Of course I’ve met a lot of great people and made new friends on my way around, but 4 months is a long time to not see somebody you haven’t known for just a few weeks or minutes. All I can say is, it’s a shame he’s not a girl.

What do the jury think?

Oh, while I’m here, and since his boss, Daniel, is a friend too, I’ll mention his company. If you’re in the legal profession and have continued professional development to contend with, check out cpdcast.com