New York is amazing. We arrived after traveling for 28 hours, so needed a good rest before going out to explore this amazing city. We went to Coney Island and Chinatown the first day. The next day, Jillian and I walked from her neighborhood in Brooklyn all the way across the Brooklyn Bridge. From the middle of the bridge, I spotted this beautiful old schooner and just had to go check it out. So when we got to the Manhattan side, we walked down to South Street Seaport to Pier 17 to have a look. As we were admiring the boat, the people aboard asked us if were looking for work. At first we said no, but after a nice conversation and a second thought, I asked more about it. And after one test run, I got accepted as crew on Clipper ‘City’! She’s a 160ft schooner that sails charters up and down to the Statue of Liberty. So I’ve got a job now, which is really awesome because after not sailing for a few weeks, my eyes were already turning to the water and the horizon again. This way I can make some money and be on the water at the same time. It’s really hard work, hoisting all the huge sails six times a day without winches, but it’s a great workout. We are also very busy with the documentary Jillian is making about my journey. And of course my birthday! Almost forgot to tell about that. Thanks for all the birthday wishes, it’s been amazing! I had a great birthday sailing on another beautiful classical schooner called ‘Shearwater’ on the Hudson River and past the Statue of Liberty. After that we had some friends come over and I made real dutch pancakes, the good ones with cheese and bacon. Then we rented Big, a movie by Penny Marshall about a little kid who wishes to be big, and then it comes true. It still feels unreal to be 17! So yeah, long story short, I’m having a great time in this enormous, busy, and interesting city!

Laura