Final Debrief
San Francisco Bay | Monday 25th of August | Local time 10:30
Well … it’s a wrap. Another trip complete. And this one was, as they always are in their own unique ways, quite the adventure.
Our last morning started with weighing anchor in thick fog. We set out for what we thought would be a four-hour motor into the Bay. Then, as if the Universe was gifting us just what we were hoping for, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and the wind started to blow. We hoisted the sails and a few miles later bore away left, sailing under the bridge, gybing back and forth across the Bay. A Golden Gate entry of dreams!
As is custom at the end of every trip, we spent our last night reflecting on the 882NM voyage we had from Victoria. This one was a touch different to normal as we opted to stay onboard and get Thai takeout for our ‘last supper’. We sat in the cockpit, clean (thanks to liveaboard Crystal for lending 11 women a key to the showers on a Sunday evening!) and cozy under our makeshift atmospheric red head-torch under-boom lighting, eating and drinking long into the evening.
I wish you could all be flies on the wall during the close of one of these trips. Last night, belly laughter, tears, and deep heartfelt expressions of gratitude ping-ponged around the crew as we looked back at our trip. Each ‘final debrief’ has its own personality—this one particularly entertaining, as every so often a song would be turned up on the speaker and the girls would launch into a sailing-inspired dance. This was followed by more roars of laughter, and then back to another grounding, inspiring reflection.
Many of the women shared how tough they had found the trip at certain moments, and how empowered they now feel after realizing—wow—“I am stronger than I thought I was.” That confidence can be a seed for new sailing dreams, and it was so brilliant to hear a few comments like, “I’m excited to go explore now on my own boat.” Because, isn’t this what it’s all about in the end? Dreams. Exploring. Discovery. For more of us to be brave enough to think up a dream and then maybe even make it happen.
As Amy so aptly put: “Find the line. Believe. Execute.”
- Nikki
Well … it’s a wrap. Another trip complete. And this one was, as they always are in their own unique ways, quite the adventure.
Our last morning started with weighing anchor in thick fog. We set out for what we thought would be a four-hour motor into the Bay. Then, as if the Universe was gifting us just what we were hoping for, the sky cleared, the sun came out, and the wind started to blow. We hoisted the sails and a few miles later bore away left, sailing under the bridge, gybing back and forth across the Bay. A Golden Gate entry of dreams!
As is custom at the end of every trip, we spent our last night reflecting on the 882NM voyage we had from Victoria. This one was a touch different to normal as we opted to stay onboard and get Thai takeout for our ‘last supper’. We sat in the cockpit, clean (thanks to liveaboard Crystal for lending 11 women a key to the showers on a Sunday evening!) and cozy under our makeshift atmospheric red head-torch under-boom lighting, eating and drinking long into the evening.
I wish you could all be flies on the wall during the close of one of these trips. Last night, belly laughter, tears, and deep heartfelt expressions of gratitude ping-ponged around the crew as we looked back at our trip. Each ‘final debrief’ has its own personality—this one particularly entertaining, as every so often a song would be turned up on the speaker and the girls would launch into a sailing-inspired dance. This was followed by more roars of laughter, and then back to another grounding, inspiring reflection.
Many of the women shared how tough they had found the trip at certain moments, and how empowered they now feel after realizing—wow—“I am stronger than I thought I was.” That confidence can be a seed for new sailing dreams, and it was so brilliant to hear a few comments like, “I’m excited to go explore now on my own boat.” Because, isn’t this what it’s all about in the end? Dreams. Exploring. Discovery. For more of us to be brave enough to think up a dream and then maybe even make it happen.
As Amy so aptly put: “Find the line. Believe. Execute.”
- Nikki
NikkiHenderson
View more passage logs
Dolphin party!
Kate was about to yank the spinnaker’s sock down when I spotted a stampede of fins heading straight for us. ”Dolphins!”, I yelled back to the cockpit excitedly. Post dinner dish duty was halted down below for the show.
The pool is open!
We stopped the boat, got the ladder down and put out a line with a fender behind the boat. I love swimming in the middle of the ocean, and a bit scary when you realize its more than 4000+ m deep! Love it!
Big Pink Sail Day
I had a most fashionable pointed striped hat at dinner, and out of the depths of a cupboard a cake was created, after 14 days at sea. A group of people I had never met two weeks ago made me feel very special today.