Sailing slowly up the western Solent late on Monday evening we were greeted by a huge yellow-brown cloud, presumably the result of a bank holiday’s worth of pollution, finally blown clear of the land by a late breeze, and stretching from Southampton to Portsmouth.

You could actually taste this one – our crew’s tongue and eyes were stinging – sulphur dioxide dissolving to form a mild sulphuric acid?

Whatever the cause, it was an unpleasant welcome back to land and civilisation – and made me thankful I’d been breathing clean, fresh sea air all weekend.