DORSET explorer Bear Grylls and his intrepid team have reached the Faroe Islands in their bid to cross the Atlantic in an open-topped rigid inflatable boat.

Here is Bear's latest diary entry, via satellite phone: August 13, 3.28pm (GMT)

"We left the dramatic cliffs of the Westmann islands with a gentle following swell. No one dared to hope that this might last, only too aware that our two most frightening legs started out so calm as well. But the forecast held true this time with these waters proving much more reliable an area to forecast.

"It was a pure joy to watch the sunset over the horizon behind us to reveal the clearest of nights with bright bright stars. We had always expected the nights this far north to be much lighter like this, and now we realised that the nights had been so dark purely because of the looming dark clouds and angry skies that have been our companions for so many of these miles. Now these were gone the sky was alive around us with shooting stars and phosphorus.

To be on this small boat with these guys with whom I have shared so much emotion and cold moments over the last weeks was now a dream for me. The boat surfed along gaining speed with every hour. We passed through several squalls of rain that pebbled the waves before us and Iceland soon fell away. Dawn brought us within 150 miles of the remote Faroe island and slowly their stark cliffs appeared from the mist- an imposing heaving jumble of rock faces covered in grass and round the far side of them, the small port. This was a hillside town littered with houses perched on the cliff tops above us. We have refueled and got a clear forecast for our final run home - some 200 nm south to the north coast of scotland. Northerly and stronger winds should see us surfing the waves home and there is a huge sense of excitement among the guys that we are coming through this now and home is so close.

We will have a small gathering of family in Scotland before the final run along the coast for 50miles to John O Groats where we officially finish.

Everyone just cannot wait to see the sight of the Scottish headlands and sometimes it is not until we leave that we realise out of all the vast and at times daunting world we live in - home truly has a flavour that is just pure gold.

Our meteorologist has just contacted us with a latest weather update to say that force 6/7 winds are blowing up from the Shetland Isles. These should pass during the night and the team are revising their departure time to leave the Faroes until 4am."