9 Fearless. 8 Courageous. 7 Protective. 6 Inspired. 5 Needed. 4 Never alone. 3 Alive. 2 Safe. 1 Human. When I was in the final stages of writing this book I went to stay on a friend’s sailing boat in Lymington. During my second morning on board, another yacht silently slid into the mooring alongside. She was a lovely young thing, navy-blue hull and as sleek as could be. Turns out she and her crew had just taken part in a race all the way from New York. Bloody NEW YORK!!! Pulling up to the pontoon were the last few feet of her epic journey. Incredible to think no one would know unless they were told. No crowds, no banners, just Arnie from Lymington Yacht Charter grabbing a line as she made her last turn of thousands gently to starboard. After a couple of hours, six of the seven crew on board had departed to go home, or have a drink. Only one soul remained, a lady by the name of Basia, a resident New Yorker who’d been enlisted as local crew a few weeks beforehand, happy to sign on the dotted line for this her latest adventure of many.
