Alex fishing in the morning. We both lost by the way around 4 kilos (9 pounds) on the Atlantic crossing though Alex is slowly getting back to his normal shape as you can see. Myself have also gained back my lost kilos, not in muscles though like this bodybuilder, but in extra fat from all the chocolate and tasty food I enjoyed in Finland and elsewhere. I'd definitely need to get swimming some more now.

He didn't get any (eatable) fishes this time so we went to the beach for lunch.

Was nice too.

My hair pretty much sums up how much I'm into superficialities nowadays. It's a long messy hippie hair you'll find me in today and also I didn't dye my hair for... what is it now? Three, four months? Looks catastrophic with dark on the lengths and blond/light brown by the roots and a reddish kind of shimmer on top of it all. Sorry for that, will take care of it one day when I'm more into hair and not enjoying life? Or maybe I should just continue with style naturel and bring back the color I'm born with to reduce hassle? Talking of my hair btw - here, on a car forum of all, you can find some guys discussing just my hair. It's an Audi forum, guys! Jeezus. 

Unfortunately we were not in the mood of either photographing or shooting videos in the stormiest part of the crossing as we had hard to eat, sleep or anything else for that matter, plus the cameras we got are non waterproof and as both the deck and the cockpit constantly got washed over with waves that made it hard too. Poor Alex could barely sleep for the whole last seven days, he was constantly worried for me. During my watches he woke up every 15 minutes checking: "do you have your lifejacket on?" "are you sure you're fasten in the clip?" "don't you go out of the cockpit whatever you do!!" I think that he might have been the slightly happier one of us two when we finally could see land on the morning of the 25th day. Finally proper sleep in sight.

Either way, on the last week of that ocean passage we came to realize that an ocean crossing could bring not only good and positive feelings, but also a lot of inner speculations and retrospective confrontations which one hadn't had the time to reflect upon when we've been busy running around on land in that typical wheal we all know of. One day it was like our brains opened up and we began to reflect upon millions of things which gave us reasons to discuss and discuss and analyze our lives over and over again. Nothing bad for the relationship or anything else for that matter, it was just things in our individual pasts, about our life stories, about things we've done, things we hadn't done etc which we might not have fully made peace with. We're extremely happy to have gone through it all on that lonely ocean though, especially with each other's support during those dark and cold days and nights as one most possibly would have gone totally crazy in case any of us would have done this crossing alone. This trip was more needed for us as partners but also for us as individuals than we could have ever imagined beforehand.

As we were so late in time to cross that damn ocean, we were quite sure to get good help by the established tradewinds for our passage. We couldn't have been more wrong. There was no wind for half of the time and for one full week, the last week, we had loads of more wind waves and rain than we've ever heard of anyone experiencing during their Atlantic crossing. We had imagined the max wind speed to be around 25 knots as many books and people informed us so, but when having had to dealt with near gale, +30 knots plus loads of gusts up to 46 knots, for almost a week, we were quite sure that this wasn't no longer a typical Atlantic passage. Were we scared sometimes, people ask us? Yes we were, or at least I was at a few minutes here and there, not maybe for our lives too much as I trust in the safety equipment, life raft, my destiny etc but much more for the boat, our home. It is a terrible feeling having to hear the rigging screaming and shaking like the shrouds would fall down any second, or experiencing your home banging from one side to another while you're getting 6 meter (19 foot) waves covering the whole boat over and over and almost knocking you down from the beam. There were moments where you thought you had it all under control and others when you simply said, this is it, it is all up to the nature now.  Imagine yourself putting all of your most precious belongings into one container and then trow it into an enormous washing machine and all you can do is to hope for the best. Obviously it is a bit stressful.

Of course it wasn't that bad every day. Many days were the total contrary of what I just described and we had loads of fun - fishing, cooking, discussing life and its wonders, reading, baking, making plans for our future and even dancing - but what I will remember the most will definitely be those nights of inner contemplations and hourly sessions of therapy conversations along with the stormy days and nights and those tremendous waves we surfed upon. Waves which I never seen in my life before except in movies and youtube clips. Waves almost as tall as our mast for christ sake - and all of those memories which at the time for their appearance might have been quite painful, have now turned into something extremely positive. I will always remember it all as something to be proud and happy for, glad that we were strong and confident enough to go it all through. It might have been hard and quite painful at many occasions both mentally and physically, but the strong feeling of proudness and the reward we got which was to finally arrive in the Caribbean and establish a new sort of life here, and from time to time being able to look at our boat and each other and say we made it - is much stronger than any pain we felt out there on the ocean. 25 days is a pretty long time if you think of it from one perspective, but such a very short period in comparison to how many days we'll be able to enjoy what we came here for. 

It also felt extremely good to be up in that airplane the other day, it gave me another perspective to what we've just gone through and a warm feeling of thankfulness and proudness washed over me once again when I looked down from above, 10.000 miles over those waves which we just had been fighting with. /Taru

It was my 29th birthday yesterday and for some days ago Alex asked me how I wanted to celebrate it. My only three wishes were: "Eat nice and simple somewhere on the beach (e.g. Paille Coco), drink loads of rum and get you wasted with me" - Mission accomplished. Happy birthday to me. And thank God for small and intimate places like C'bon in Sainte Anne where only the locals go and a bottle of the traditional rhum agricole from Martinique is billed at 19 Euros.

What is our financial situation and how are we be able to do what we’re doing? This must be the most frequently asked question we've received since we started this blog so let me now tell you a bit about it.

We had a bit of money saved when we decided to start this tour. Some parts of our belongings had also to get sold for us to be able to cast off and a part of the money came from savings. Most of the dollars went to equip the boat and get all things we needed for a journey like this. Boat mechanics, vaccinations, diving equipment, expensive satellite broadband and other communication devices, medicines, comfortable and cozy accessories for the boat, new rigging, safety equipment, a good insurance for us and the boat, documentation equipment - cameras etc, new anchors and all kinds of other technical and mechanical stuff we might've be in need of. Our strategy was to try figuring out what exactly in material would make us comfortable and happy living on a boat and we made sure to get everything we could possibly need and have the space for on a small sailing vessel, throw out the rest and thereafter live moderately inexpensive in the paradise. We also calculated to have enough money saved for around two years of traveling on a medium sized budget which would be good for all of our needs plus an extra buffer in case something would happen to us or the boat. Unfortunately we've had quite a few emergency costs already and we must admit that we've spent a bit too much from the original plan so we do most definitely have to think about what is getting spent and we can't go crazy on the shopping part for example. Not that we're in need of it anyway, and we definitely do not have any space left for anything even if we would want to.

We do not worry about the financial part too much though as we know that there are always ways to make money in case we would be in need of it. Besides of the successful mastering engineering carrier he left behind, Alex is also an extremely experienced and skilled skipper and he has the RYA/MCA Yachtmaster Offshore certificate. This license could get him a well paid job both here in the Caribbean or anywhere in the world for that matter. And myself will keep on with what I do best and continue my little struggling of a freelance photographer, writer and web designer and there will (hopefully) always be something creative to make some money on. Also we got the blog which is bringing in a few dollars every month. So, although it might seem like we're living a dolce vita, we - just like many other sailors/circumnavigators or other people for that matter, do live by a limited budget and it is all a life of compromises and prioritizations.

We are both pretty used to spend dineros and live a flashy life but we have lately figured that a life without too much things, is a very healthy and refreshing life. Real happiness doesn't come in silky packages and in diamond shapes like we all know, but in genuine and pure joy and love. Add freedom, sunshine, music and good food to that and we're more than satisfied. As long as we have the health and each other, as long as our boat and home is comfortable and cozy, as long as we're able to eat and drink well, able to enjoy music, sunshine, the ocean and inspiring cultures and people - then we're happy and do not need much else. And when the time arrives when we feel like we're done with the ocean to this particular extent, well then we’re always able go back to where we came from if we would want to. Or Europe doesn't tempt much at all for the moment, but I could do whatever I'm doing more or less anywhere in the world and the same goes for Alex, he could always open up a new mastering studio or start working with another well reputed studio somewhere in the world so there are always an endless amount of opportunities for us for that day we decide to say ciao and see you later to the ocean. Or best would probably be to try combining the best of two worlds later on.

For all of you people out there who're dreaming of doing something like sailing around the world or anything involving the meaning of casting off from the normality, we would like to give you some encouragement: Take the chance while you got it, the hard thing is to let it all go but if you don't do it now, when will you? And money is just money in the end, there will always be ways to make new ones. If you decide to take the step into a new era in life and you’re planning on getting beyond your normal security zone, try not to be scared. There will always appear a time and place where you can get back to where you started if you absolutely need to. Nothing is forever and a change in life isn’t that hard after all, just think about it, what is really the worst thing that could happen – and realize it isn’t so hard after all. Then think about all the wonderful, amazing, thrilling new things and experiences you would be able to gain and receive, if you just dared to take a chance.

For us is this part of our lives a very important one and we're willing to leave everything and every kind of security behind just to be able to take part of this wonderful adventure. Cost what it has to cost. The risks comes with the rewards. And would we never had tried this out we would never know what is the best way around. And who wants to die clueless? To dare is to live, like some wise man once said, remember that and get out there now and take some risks.

And hire us when we run out of money please. /T