February 14th – An Unromantic Cyclone

We've missed the cyclone, but we're struggling through the swell that it's created. A night of banging, crashing, shuddering and creaking, was followed by a slightly improved day of lurching and wobbling our way through 20 feet high waves.

Feeling nauseous all day, doesn't make you feel particularly romantic on Valentine's Day – which, combined with losing yet another hour's sleep overnight as the clocks were set back again, gave me a thick head until the evening, when at last the seas began to calm as we approached Réunion.