There was a lot of chat about what route to take to Capri. Naples is one of the busiest harbours in the world, and some people were worried I’d get in trouble with the coastguard, so said I should hug the coast. At one stage I was going to have a support boat and paddler, but when it came to it, everything fell through and I was on the water alone, taking the most direct route.

I waved goodbye to Francesco and Vicram and set off at 6.30am feeling quite smug to be kayaking with the water glassy, air cool, and bay free from boats.

I knew I had a lot of insulin in my system after I’d injected in the night to try and bring down high sugars, but I went up to 22, and couldn’t resist injecting. Immediately my sugars plummeted and I kicked myself for being impatient. I ate all my sweets and a whole loaf of bread, leaving me with just some honey and an energy gel, so I decided not to risk the rest of the crossing with limited sugar supplies, and paddled the 5km back to Posillipo to buy more.

Setting off again, I put some intervals in to avoid collision with the hydrofoil ferries and a couple of container ships. A gentle breeze came from the side, and I felt strong despite my sugar rollercoaster.

I was glad to have bought more sugar, because my levels dropped to 3.4 and I had to drink 2 cans of coke to stop going hypo. It’s the most volatile my levels have been on this trip, and I felt pretty vulnerable and scared. So it was reassuring to see Lauro paddling towards me as I approached Capri, and we paddled in to the Spiaggia Marina Grande together.

I may have got used to Francesco’s driving, but Lauro’s was on another level. He lived on top of Capri, and the road to get there zig-zaged up the mountainside, narrowing at points with a drop to the sea on one side and a wall on the other. I winced as we sped along at crazy speeds, overtaking buses around corners and through the bottlenecks.

I survived to meet Lauro’s wife Antonietta and three children Hari, Shanti, Gayatri. Antonino came over from Naples and we took a chairlift up to a viewpoint for panoramas of the whole island.

It’s only 16km around Capri, and we decided to circumnavigate it as the sun was setting, Lauro in a single and Antonino and I in a double. On the way around we swam in to a cave where the light streamed through an arch beneath the surface, making the water as blue as the sky on a crisp winters day.

I’ve reached the tipping point where the pain of managing my diabetes outweighs the enjoyment I get from eating delicious but carbohydrate rich food with my hosts. So tomorrow I’ll go back to low carb and get my levels stable again.