Race 12 - Day 13
Crew Diary - Race 12, Day 14: New York to Derry-Londonderry
09 July

We're on deck, music playing – "I will survive" – sailing the end of our race.

Dancing, reminiscing, looking forward to sighting the shores of Ireland. Stripey seabirds circle overhead. I idly wish I could name them but have long since resigned myself to the lack of ready data, and let them fly.

Apples are passed round freely, a bounty of victuals as we empty our boat, our race nearly done. Dolphins! Forty thousand miles, eleven months at sea, and we still cheer every dolphin.

My goodbyes must be said in Derry. I leave soon after landing in Liverpool for my next adventure – I've been invited to sail the Northwest Passage home to Seattle from Greenland. No matter how grueling, relentless, this journey has been, how will I step away from these friends, this life?

Oh! Land ho! LAND HO!

Shannon Dean

ps: Goodbye, Clipper Race friends and family. I'll be a bit longer making my way home – I'll share photos and plans for the next adventures with you soon as can be.