LONG WAY TO GO FOR A CUP OF SUGAR...:

Rescued at sea - by the neighbour he'd never met (Cahal Milmo, 18 May 2007, Independent)

For most neighbours their first meeting is over the garden fence or while washing the car. Few get to make their introductions 4,000 miles from home during a storm in the Caribbean.

This was the stroke of good fortune that befell a British yachtsman, John Fildes, 32, when he put out a mayday call after spending two day adrift off the coast of Puerto Rico in treacherous seas.

The distress signal was answered by a passing multi-million pound cruise liner, the Crown Princess, which is captained by Alistair Clark, who has sailed the seas for 33 years from his base in Hampshire.

It was only when Mr Fildes had been safely extricated from his damaged 40ft trimaran that both men learnt they lived just a few yards from each other in the coastal village of Warsash, a fishing hamlet turned sailing haunt.