Living on Guppy in the Maritime Museum has been great. It can be a bit rolly at times with the passing ferries, and noisy on the weekends from the bars we’re surrounded by, but most of the time it is just lovely. Living in a big city and not having plans to go on a big sailing trip anytime soon still feels really weird though. I’ve already started missing the islands in the Pacific where everyone lives off the simple things on the island and thinks about the easy and good things in life. Back in society, you can’t survive without keeping up with the flow. I am really busy settling in and getting things sorted and I’m starting to love having a place like this to call home. With the summer coming fast, I’m able to escape every now and then from busy Auckland. In between all the organizing, I am still sailing a lot. I’ve been sailing on Akatea a couple more times, and sailed around Waiheke Island with a friend on a very slow 8-meter boat. A few days later I sailed around Waiheke again on an open 40 which was definitely a lot faster and great fun. An American family lives on the boat, with two kids and a third one on the way. The four year old girl on the boat has sailed her whole life with her two adventurous parents, just like me. They are here now until the baby comes and then they will continue sailing around the world. It’s been great talking and sailing with them. It’s still such an awesome way to live life. Yesterday, we went racing on Waitangi, on an old classic boat that’s also based in the Maritime Museum. I skippered the whole race which was really awesome. Meanwhile, Guppy has enjoyed having a rest while I do some maintenance on her, like stitching up the suncover, greasing the winches, and many other small things to keep her in good condition.

Laura