The journey is almost complete

July 15th, 2010

Tomorrow I will be hopping on a train and heading up to Hull to welcome home the returning fleet of Clipper 68s as the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race 09/10 draws to a close. For the round the worlders on board, this has been a long ol’ journey.

I keep trying to imagine how they will feel. Are they desperate to get home, sick of eating tinned food and dying to see family and friends? Or will they be feeling incredibly sad that the adventure is over? Will they feel lost, not really sure what to do with themselves? Or will they have found a new purpose and know exactly what they’re going to do next?

I only spent 6 weeks crossing one large, but relatively tame ocean. In contrast, the round the worlders have seen so much more, experienced even more amazing things and been to so many awesome places. How can they try to describe what it’s been like? I battled to translate my short journey to other people, so how will it be for them?

I am so excited to see them all again, to catch up with friends I shared a 68 foot space with and to generally relive the experience (because only people who’ve lived on a small boat together can know what it was really like). At the same time, I am nervous that I’ll feel like a bit of an outsider too. Because I won’t know what it was like crossing the stormy Pacific or rescuing the Cork crew from the middle of the Java sea or getting the magnificent welcome going into Qingdao.

I think Saturday will be a very intense day, with too much catching up to do, too many emotions and too many people all trying to squeeze the very last bit out of this grand adventure. Because after this, it’s over. It’s probably the last time we’ll all be together. I’m sure there will be reunions and meet ups along the way, but this really is it. After this weekend, the boats that were our home will sail back to Gosport and probably have a little rest, before being overhauled and rebranded and prepared for the Clipper 11/12 race.

The crew of 09/10 (particularly the round the worlders) will probably stay in touch but gradually we’ll all just get on with our lives. That crazy year when we decided to throw normal life out of the window will get hazy, friendships will start to drift and memories will fade. But no matter how distant or remote the experience may get, there is one thing that we can hang onto forever. We did it. No-one can ever take that away.

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