Well it wasn't really a shock - the boat has been delayed for another couple of days.

I would be lying if I said I didn't expect it with all the other stuff that we have had to deal with regarding the transportation of the boat, it's just a little more annoying when you put it all into perspective.

This weekend we spent a couple of nights bonding at Murilo's reserve in the jungle. When I call it a reserve I mean it as well - this isn't one of those tourist venues with paths and a pool, this is the real deal. I won't blog about what Murilo has and hasn't done with the place because I can't do it justice, and he can tell you himself now, but I will however talk about what we discussed.

I can imagine the other two guys now panicking as they imagine a kiss and tell blog, don't worry fellas - what happens on the Amazon stays on the Amazon (and nothing really happened anyway). However we did talk about what was driving us to do this and we devised a little plan. We were due to start on the 10 September at 0900am, well between us we decided to just go when we were ready, maybe even 0200 on Monday local time which might annoy a few people but then so what? It would cement our relationship as a speedy no holds barred crew - which it appears we are.

As Patti broke the news to Mark about the new delivery time his reaction was very much the same as mine, neither of us are getting too stressed about the whole thing because we both know that along with Murilo we will give it our best shot. I recall being asked what I would do if I was 10 minutes late for a meeting? I said I would rush as quickly as possible as would most people I am sure, however I was told the best thing would be to go for a coffee. The justification was that if you were late it wouldn't matter if you were 10 mins late or 20 mins late, late is late. As I told Murilo the news he just said okay, no problem.

That's what we are becoming you see, a no problem crew, and a chilled out roll with the punches crew, not lazy or relaxed, just not stressing about the small stuff. As we entered the Amazon briefly on our return from Murilo's lodge we checked the stream using a GPS tracker, it was there, not huge but we know once we are going it will be with us, it will help to push us along and drive us all closer to our goal. The battle won't be with the river, the river wants us to finish, the real fight will be against the deadlines we have set ourselves and although we have had countless messages saying don't worry, we all want to achieve our finish date.

So the ever changing plan is as follows, Mike et al will join us in Nauta the night before to toast our endeavour and to show support, we will get underway as soon as physically possible. There is a good chance that the first indication that you have is a tweet (@rowtheamazon) from our amazing satellite phone saying we have gone and, well, that's it really, from now on and then on its all about the team, Mark, Murilo and I, and what a team. It feels a bit like destiny, a bit like fate but it definitely feels a lot like a winning combination. See you at the other end everyone x.