Position: N 45° 35' W 016° 36' UTC 1200

Nautical miles left: 547

In about five days Cantare and I will have completed an Atlantic circuit. Falmouth is the first place that we return to and it is also the place where I feel that our long-distance sailing experience started. There we got to know the Norwegian yachts Escape, Johanna and TimeOut, the Danish boat Ing and the Swedish yacht Inga. We became a part of the big sailing family and exchanged power-walking and running for beer drinking and new friendships. I remember the excitement that we all felt right before it was time to leave for the Biscay, we were running around on the pontoons hugging each other and wishing the others fair winds. We gathered in front of Escape and took a few pictures of the group, we were dressed in waterproofs and ready to go. Together with the Norwegians we left in the sunset, small shadows with glowing lanterns on the rough sea, friends in the dark. Cantare returns without the others. But they are in my mind.

Escape was somewhere on the Atlantic on the way to Horta when we left seven days ago, hopefully they have reach land now, from there they will take the Caledonian canal to Norway. Johanna and TimeOut planned to sail around the world, but right now the yachts are left in the Caribbean waiting for the return of the guys who have gone home to Norway. Ing is somewhere on the other side, they took the Panama canal and do what I dream of, continue around the world. Where is Inga? I don't know. They should be on their way home to Gothenburg as well, but no one I've met has heard anything. I'll have to search for their email address.

I look forward to being back in Falmouth, I know that the showers are fantastic, the beer is good and the stores are well stocked. There is also another reason that I long to Falmouth. One of my best friends Sandra and her boyfriend Erik (boat bunny 2) will be arriving around the same time as us. They will sail together with me until we reach Denmark. I haven't seen Sandra for more than a year since she left for Australia half a year before my departure and didn't return to Sweden until I was gone. She is also the girl that I started to plan a trip like this with many years ago. To be able to sail together with her means a lot to me and I see this last part as a new adventure. It is now less than a month before we are to sail into Höganäs harbour, a frightening and exciting thought. But, a lot can happen and the fact that Sandra will join me makes me appreciate these last weeks even more. /The Captain