One Year Ago Today . . .

• I stepped aboard a 70-foot racing sailboat in Portsmouth, England – CV28, Team Qingdao – as a Clipper Race “Round the Worlder” and Team Qingdao’s victualer (food planner and provisioner) with the dream of circumnavigating the globe by sailboat
• I walked away from life on land for the foreseeable future, and up to 11 months
• I left behind loved ones, friends and family alike
• I chased a dream, nervously excited for what my future held

And, Today . . .

• I am back home in Astoria, Oregon as a Circumnavigator – one of approximately 70 for the 2025-26 edition of Clipper Race
• I relish being on land once again, but still step on a boat when I can (whether it be to sail or fish)
• I am reunited with loved ones, friends and family alike
• I am proud that I achieved my dream
• I am still processing who I’ve become by way of this incredible journey

So, join me during this next stage of “becoming.” I’m beginning to find the words to moments that shaped, and ultimately, defined my experience. There will be tales of tears, elation, teamwork, ultimate emotional breakdown, and so much more.

My hope is that I begin to identify value in all these experiences – to identify how they have strengthened me as an individual. Today, I am stronger than I was a year ago; but I am also softer, calmer and kinder. I can see it in my daily being.

I Intended to Write More

My hopes and intentions for this blog were to be a more real-time account of my experiences as I progressed through the race. The reality is that the race demanded much more of my physical and mental self than I imagined. I was often left quite depleted by the end of a shift on deck, and I simply couldn’t bring myself to write something polished enough to be put online. I also didn’t have anyone back home to post my writings while I was at sea without internet access.

Our in-port stopovers were often filled with work. While I was the victualer, the early days of a stopover were filled with inventorying dry goods, revising portions and meal plans based upon changing crew, crew feedback, and other realities previously unconsidered. The latter days of a stopover were consumed with shopping and packing food. Warehouse store shopping with six or seven trolleys (carts) filled to their brim was normal; and it was also normal for all that shopping to still have not fulfilled the shopping list. Final moments of a stopover were for quick runs to the grocery store because I forgot something small like more hand soap, enough butter or extra lighters for the stove.

Other team members were busy working on getting the boat ready for the next race: servicing winches and jammers, conducting rigging checks, de-salting shackles and tether carabiners, servicing life jackets, installing anti-chafe on halyards and sheets that had worn, re-wrapping the helms for better grip, and so much more. There was always something.

It made writing nearly impossible – and usually last-minute in nature. I guilted myself into staying up late the last night or two before the next race to crank out a blog post. I felt obligated to the few that follow me here. After all, I invited you here, most likely. I felt like I was letting you down by not letting you in – by not providing a lens inside my experience. That’s on me. No one ever made feel this way, except me. But now. . . now I have time and space to write. My thoughts are beginning to bloom like spring’s cherry blossoms. So here we go!

For now . . . please enjoy this slideshow of images from the days leading up to August 31, 2025 – the start of my Clipper Round the World Race adventure!