I can't quite believe that I have been back on land since Friday afternoon (09/04/21), after successfully completing my first solo Atlantic crossing from east to west in 25days!

Please excuse me having been off the radar, it is quite a shock to the system after 25days alone at sea to get back to land...in a lot of different ways!

I loved the Atlantic crossing, I already knew when I was motoring up the buoyed channel to the harbour in Martinique that I am going to be back out on the Ocean as soon as I can.

Nevertheless that afternoon I was also relieved to be able to enter port, the autopilot needs fixing, in the morning my Blue Water Runner halyard had chafed through and I fought to recover that huge sail for some time and I really needed a good night of undisturbed sleep!

But my days, I really didn't think that the transition back to land would be so challenging, apart from extended burocracy due to covid I struggled with fatigue and the come down of a lot of days with more adrenaline than usual... All in all- it took me until today, Tuesday to acclimatise!

Nevertheless I am back on track with workouts, I had a physio sort out my back and neck pain (must go back, apparently I am very tense- can't imagine why;)) and I am refuelling on fresh fruits and veggies!

Freedom is getting some serious TLC (tender love and care) and apart from desalting through layers and layers of caked salt, there are a couple of small construction sites I am working through to be back in ship shape as soon as possible!

A lot of people ask me at the moment how my crossing has been, and it is difficult to boil it down to a couple of words but I shall attempt it anyway!

Overall there hasn't been an awful lot of wind, apart from five more lively days, which made it all in all relatively slow but gave me lots of time to fully take the adventure.

I truely believe that spending time alone is the best thing ever, especially when you are able to combine the solitude with something that really fills you up with happiness, like sailing does for me.

There were so many beautiful moments amongst the sleep deprivation and smaller quarrels with Freedom, it's impossible to pin point THE BEST, it was all rather divine and fulfilling (which highlight anyway...).

I am really glad that I prepared Freedom with my thorough approach to details, it gave me a lot of trust in my beautiful girl and peace of mind when I needed it, and that counts a lot out there.

Now the amount of preparation pays off double because I really don't need to fix too much before we are good to go again, and that after all is what I am all about: about the sailing!

After the sail is before the sail, in my books anyway!

Where to?

Stay tuned for updates coming towards the end of this week!

Before I go, a huge THANK YOU again from Freedom and I for all the encouraging messages, congratulations, dms, comments... I was really touched by the amount of love you all showed! I am starting to get back to you, again please bear with.

⛵❤️