He seemed caught off-guard. Maybe he thought we were having a moment or something, and there I was being all practical. ‘Uh, yeah. Sounds good. I’ll do the same.’ He reached into his pocket and pulled out his wallet, removing a fifty-euro note and handing it to me. ‘Make it a hundred from both of us.’

I took the note. ‘Okay. It’s not weird is it?’

‘What? That it’s from both of us?’

‘No, tipping Duncan. I mean, I had always planned to – I put this aside at the start of the trip – but that was when he was ‘the skipper’. Now, it’s …’

‘Like tipping your friend?’

‘Yeah.’

‘It does feel a little weird, sure, I guess. But didn’t that happen with you on your trips? Getting tips from people you became friends with?’

I sifted quickly through only a handful of memories of being tipped. Twenty-something tourists don’t really tip all that much. I remembered a time when a group of people had pooled their leftover foreign money and handed it over rather sheepishly.

‘Yeah, I did. Once or twice. It was weird.’

‘Well, I can give it to him if you like?’ Josh offered. ‘I’m sure he’ll appreciate it.’

I nodded and handed over my cash. I grabbed my bags and we made our way through the boat.

When we got to the ladder, Josh climbed up on deck first and reached down for my bags.

Gentleman. I handed them up to him, straining a little with the big one, and then joined him on deck.

The others were in the midst of saying goodbye to Duncan and Gerry, and we waited awkwardly for our turn. When it came, I had to remind myself how completely uncool it was to cry, especially as I would see everyone that night for dinner.

I kissed Gerry on both cheeks. She had essentially been our boat’s first mate, and I couldn’t imagine the trip without her dry wit and calming presence. ‘Thank you for everything.’

‘It was fun, yes?’

I smiled, that time unforced. ‘Fun’ was an understatement. As I turned towards Duncan, I saw Josh coolly slip the euros into his hand. Duncan, ever the pro, didn’t even glance at the money. ‘Thanks, mate,’ he said and they shook hands.

I felt like Dorothy saying goodbye to the Tin Man. Josh was the Scarecrow, in case you were wondering – sorry if that’s obvious. ‘Duncan, thank you so much,’ I whispered as I wrapped my arms around his neck. He folded me into a bear hug.

‘Of course, mate. It was beaut having you.’ He pulled out of the hug and said, ‘See you tonight, yeah?’

I didn’t trust my voice – I just nodded.