Dec 16th
After 19 days and 1 hour and 16 minutes at sea we catch sight of St Lucia. Emerald green rising up out of the sea we catch a glimpse of the mountainous terrain and sail across the finish line on December 13th at 13.33 GMT.
We made it, 2896 nautical miles across the world’s second largest ocean. It’s hard to know what I feel, we are tired and this ending is bitter sweet. I could just keep going and going. Relief, disbelief, joy and something that feels like loss creeps in as we drop our sails and turn on the engine. Of course, I am overjoyed to have arrived safely, we are all in one piece, our boat is in one piece, but I am sorry it is all over.
What an amazing experience. I have accomplished every major goal that I have set for myself and like other major goals once you are there you can always see that there is something further. Even though not off the boat I am thinking about my next ocean race and suspect it will be a transpacific Vic- Maui. This will be my next horizon beyond this horizon.
I have portrayed my experience as accurately as possible but I am coming to terms with the fact that it will be an imperfect representation of reality as so much of this voyage is inadequately decribed in words. Hopefully the blogs will provide a hint of the flavour of this voyage but there was always a richness and depth in my direct experience that is hard to capture.
I will add the posts over the next few days. Grab a coffee and enjoy the retroactive look of my adventure.
…and that my friends is how you cross an ocean.
Welcome back Anna, glad you made it safe and sound! Looking forward to hearing all about it!
Well done my friend! Can’t wait to hear every detail. I noticed a few days ago that we could finally see the location of the boat and it was close to or at st Lucia…so I was impatiently waiting for an update.
Thank you, Anna. I am sure there are no words to describe your journey and yet your log has given Bruce and I such vivid images. Brilliant. Get some rest. Safe travels home.
Bruce says, “Well done, mate”.
An amazing accomplishment Anna, well done!
Look forward to reading your retroactive update of your adventure.
Deb
A terrific achievement Anna, well done. Look forward to hearing about your planning for the next one….
Congratulations Anna! I loved reading about your adventure and was captivated by the description of your first 24 hours in the 30 knot winds and huge swells.
I look forward to reconnecting in our little Gibson’s Marina! It will seem very small after your grand journey!
Way to go Anna. I’ve really enjoyed reading your exciting descriptions of this epic journey.
Hope to have you share more on Sundays at Gramas when you’re back.