In brief - I left Dover and started the swim from Samphire Hoe at 3am Wednesday morning. It was cold dark and choppy, and as always I started grumpily and slowly.
Then, as the sun rose and my first caffeine gel was ingested (~2 hours in), my spirits lifted and for the next 8 hours I had the best swim of my life. I was fast, fluid, and everything was awesome.
At the time I had no idea how quickly I had made it to within a sniff of Cap Gris Nez, the ideal landing spot (see photos below).
As you can see from the other photo when the tide turned I was swiftly washed past the Cap and faced another 90 minutes of swimming to get into the beach at Wissant.
No matter - I made it. 13 hours 17 minutes which is excellent from my perspective.
Now tired, sunburnt, but happy. Thanks for all your ongoing support. It's been an epic journey.