Position: 1200UTC N 020° 42' W 030° 51'  

When sailing at night, having the night watch and the sailing is going just smooth, one get a lot of spare time. Yesterday night was one of those nights, the sailing was absolutely perfect, no need for any hair drier. The last 24h we have done 139 nautical Miles towards goal and 147 nautical Miles in total, that is new Cantare record! We really needed that, the competitors are picking up on us and it would be really nice arriving in St Lucia before the finishing line is closed. During my 3h watch yesterday night I didn't need to adjust neither the course nor the sails. Everything went just fine, but after having finished the book I was reading, my neck yelled painful at me to stop me from reading. Nowadays, thanks to a kind a tacky, but very useful headlamp we can read also during nights. To rest my tired neck I leaned backwards watching the stars, started thinking. Believe it or not, despite the romantic scenery I didn't start dreaming of Prince Charming. Instead I came to think about how my life looked a year ago and how different it was compare to the sailing life we are living now. Exact one year ago I was in the middle of final exams, about to finish my semester abroad at a business school in Germany. Back then life was kind of stressful, the days booked from early morning until late night, in a good way though. I am a person who likes having a busy schedule. But in those days there where also other demands and requirements one had to fulfil. One had to do this and that and pass an exam in a certain way in order to succeed. Then there were also the financial crisis still threatening round the corner, making it harder for graduates to find a job. Now I hear from lots of friends back home who are about to graduate, that it is still very hard finding a job and companies having employment freeze. So for me, postponing my graduation and taking this "year off" couldn't be more timely.

Before I was to finish my watch and hand over to Maria, I also had little time to think about the future. What will I be doing in a year from now? The future is a big topic of interest onboard. We have lots of discussions concerning what will happen to us, what choices we will make etcetera. Life is in many respects about choices. I know I want to go back to school and finish my university studies with a master's degree, but I have to choose what kind of master I would like to do and where I would like to do it. Maria and Emelie have also choices to make. Maria intends to do some more studying, maybe try the real university life and Emelie is about to start studying as well. The period of application is first somewhere in March/April so we still got time to think. However, time is ticking faster than you would want it to, and making decisions concerning your future can be much harder than you expect.

PS. For those of you curious about how the shower was yesterday I can tell it was little cold at first but afterwards you felt like a whole new person. Then for dinner the fresh fish tasted absolutely delicious. Isn't it funny how minor things like that can make ones day? Love First Mate Sofia