It’s so hot at night that a sleeping bag hasn’t been necessary. I just lie on my roll mat inside the liner of my tent, which keeps the mozzies out, but even with this set up it’s sweltering. When I went for a swim in the night to cool off, the water around me exploded with light, bioluminescent plankton sparkling like the stars. It was amazing.

Through the night there was a pitter patter of rocks landing on the pebbles from the cliffs above, and I became paranoid that a huge chunk was going to  shear off and bury me alive. I moved my tent under an overhang, but my imagination stopped me getting much sleep.

I woke up at 4 and lit a fire to keep the mozzies away, and then cooked a mushroom and cheese omelette. The sea had eroded away the base of the cliffs to create a notch under the water, and I enjoyed swimming along this watching the fish that had made it their home.

A surfski paddler called Mariano was in Gaeta for a sailing regatta and I met him in the marina where he arranged for me to stay at a canoe club in Bacoli that night. This was going to be a long day, but a nice tailwind was forecast and I’d be avoiding a section of coast where it was apparently not safe to camp.

I left at 11 and cut across the Gulf of Gaeta, taking the most direct line. Over the course of the 70kms or 8 hours I had a rollercoaster of emotions from feeling invincible to feeling very vulnerable. I’m getting used to the exposure of paddling 15km offshore, but I had a newly inserted, uncalibrated dexcom on so I was anxious about my sugars at times. The last headland seemed to never get any closer, and then it was a real drag to Bacoli.

My contact, Allesandro, told me to wait at a beach, and I didn’t have a clue what was going on when a bunch of people turned up in kayaks and set up a party. I had no food and after 70km all I wanted was to eat and sleep. It turned out this was an evening kayak trip that people pay to go on, run by Lorenzo, a friend of Allesandro’s. There was a strict one sausage rule but I was secretly given a second, and then we paddled back to the club.

By the time all the kayaks had been put away it was 2am and I was exhausted. I’m grateful for everyone helping, but I was just too tired to enjoy this. So thank you Lorenzo, Allesandro and Cania club Napoli. I managed to see the funny side and went to a bar with Lorenzo, and then finally fell asleep in the canoe club.

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Due to Brexit I’m being forced to make some plans, something I really don’t like doing. I can only stay in the EU for 90 days, which means when I’ve finished my insulin 360 challenge, I will have to spend the next 90 days somewhere else before I can return. My options:

• Get a visa – you can’t get a tourist visa in Italy.
• Overstay – too risky
• Go back to the UK for 90 days, do something useful, then return on 28th November
• Get my boat to Albania/Croatia (which don’t count towards 90 days)

I think it’s possible for me to paddle to the port of Brindisi/Bari and catch a ferry across to Croatia before insulin 360 starts. I could then spend at least 90 days paddling North up Croatia and renter Italy to spend my next 90 heading South.

However, I don’t like the time pressure of having to get to Brindisi and I will miss out on Sicily.

If I paddled across the Gulf of Taranto (pink arrow) this would save 300km. It’s a 100km crossing, so I couldn’t do this alone – if anyone would be up for this please get in touch. Alternatively I could get a lift in a car towards Brindisi if someone was willing to drive me.

I think I’ll carry on as normal, pushing big distances across the boring bits and enjoying the nice bits, and when I get to Calabria I’ll be able to make the decision. If you have any ideas, please get in touch!

Diabetes

Usual story: my dexcom wasn’t working. So I replaced the sensor – let’s hope this one works. It takes a while to calibrate so although it looks like I was high all day, when it says 12 I was actually at 7.

Some people ask why I don’t use an insulin pump instead of injecting, and this is the answer. Just like the dexcom, this technology goes wrong alot, especially when it’s being put through a trial like this.