Sailing alone over a benign sea - far from the worries of everyday life.

 In 1968, Bernard Moitessier who was taking part in a single-handed race around the world, and stood every chance of winning, was having such a lovely time as he neared completion, that he turned his bow away from the finishing line, and headed off to go around again.

The sea, when it flows through your veins, is enchanting and leads you to act in ways that seem unexplained to landsmen.

This is the bowsprit of Hesper, a modern classic built by Luke Powell of Working Sail. We made the mistake of challenging Hesper to a race, once...she won in spite of the fact that we were sailing at speeds of up to 10.2 knots. Heaven knows what speed she was going.

...and here’s the bowsprit of Caol Ila! She was built by ourselves - starting with the trees. She was our home for 7 years and is moored outside the Caol Ila distillery.