A lot has happened since I arrived in Portland three weeks ago. Lots of presentation requests came in while I was already in the area. I tried very hard and managed to squeeze in a few more in my already tight schedule. It would have been sad to be in the area and not be able to go to certain places.. Whoever needs to sleep anyway?Such a time consuming thing to do..

I figured I could catch up once I was on a plane somewhere. So far that hasn’t really worked out, so I’m glad I have lots of experience with sleep deprivation and forcing myself awake 🙂  

All the travels and talks have still been amazing though. Even with little sleep I could enjoy the past few weeks very much. While I was here I have seen the trees change from green to amazing shades of red, orange and purple.
During the time in Vancouver I had the chance to meet up with family that I hadn’t seen in a while. They live in Victoria (which is on Vancouver island) so I had to take the ferry across,I left just as the sun started to rise behind the islands, which made for amazing colors and shades on the water and transported me back to the many breathtaking sunrises which I saw out on the oceans. Good that even in these busy ‘land days’ I get moments where I can dream back to some of the amazing things that I saw along my journey.

I actually quite enjoy giving presentations if its not too often. It helps me remember some of the lessons that I learned along the way – but also to still learn new things from it, as I always get some new questions and have to think about how and why I did certain things. It’s a great way to reflect and learn from experiences.
Mostly in life we’re so busy,running around, rarely do we stop to think about all the amazing things we do. And that’s quiet a shame. Because I feel I only really get say 10% out of the experience if I just do it and then keep going with life. But if I actually take the time to reflect on some of the things I did and the people I met, I get so much more out of it.

When I gave a talk in Vancouver I even met two couples that I got to know on my journey at the San Blas Island (on my first landing there) and on Bora Bora. What a small world!  Meeting all those amazing people along the way was such an great part of the circumnavigation. I learned many lessons from people along the way, wether they were sailors or locals. And now also – even though I am not sailing – meeting people in all these different places where I go, is what makes the places more special.
Still,… by now I’m quite ready to go sailing again – to have some time alone and to think about all the great places and people I got to meet. Quite ready for a trip, just as the trip is ready for me 🙂

I also made a short stop in New York and while I was there I got to sail on a Nacra 17 with a great girl from the Oakcliff sailing centre. That was AWESOME!
I have sailed a lot of different dinghy’s but mostly monohulls. Of course I have the Minicat and even though it sails very well, this is still something completely different. I was amazed at how steady it was when up on one hull and the speed at which it accelerates when a gust hits, is just mind-blowing!

I also sailed on a boat that is pretty much the opposite of a Nacra 17, when I was in Port Townsend on the west coast.
It was the more than a 100 year old schooner ‘Adventuress’. I talked in Bellingham for the Waldorf school and every year they take their 7th graders on a sailing trip on this historic ship. But the parents need to come up with the funds – so half of of the proceeds from my talk went to their fund too, and I got to sail therefore – it was a good deal 🙂
I stayed onboard for one night together with the rest of the crew and it turns out that there is a lot of musical crew and instruments onboard. We had a very nice evening just playing along on several instrument. About 1.5 years ago I started to practice the violin, so by now I can play a few songs and it was so much fun to play with some more people for a change 🙂
I’ve now arrived in Hong Kong. I was expecting to be completely overwhelmed, but so far I have acclimatized quite well. I am staying onboard a boat in an area with lots of green hills and mountains, which is quite lovely. I went into the city and it felt very international.There wasn’t much of the a culture shock. Of course it’s different, but I think Hong Kong is so big that it has adapted to a lot of western styles and ways.( well and it used to be a british colony) All of the signs are in chinese AND english. Which is incredibly helpful as I would have had a hard time finding my way otherwise. I probably would spent 15 minutes at each sign just trying to figure out if the signs matched with the signs of the directions that I have to go to… But it would force me to learn some chinese, which it doesn’t this way as I instinctively choose the convenient language… Well, there’s pro’s and con’s to everything 🙂
For now I’m just super exited that I’m not stuck in the big city but on a boat instead – with a view of lots more boats and mountains – that’s more the way I like it 🙂

Once work’s done here in Hong Kong, I will fly to the Solomon Islands where Anna Rose (a 45ft yacht that I have delivered before) waits for a skipper to take her back to Hobart. A skipper and her man, in fact ;P
A longish trip but at least it’s not storm season this time so I probably won’t have to dodge any hurricanes – but the Tasman sea can be unfriendly at any time of the year. So we’ll still have to see what the weather has in store for us, but at least we’re out on the water, which is where I really want to be! 

Laura