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The dark and starry night sky slowly vanishes its floating lights sprinkling to dust as small islands appear on the horizon. I can see Sint Maarten very far in the distance. St. Eustatius is behind me, Saba is abeam and St. Bath is on starboard. The Simpson Bay bridge opening is for 3 pm this afternoon so I have to keep at a maximum speed of 4 knots but even with the mainsail reefed, the Genoa furled and the mizzen Guppy is still going at 5,5 knots... 366 days ago I was sailing by on the opposite side of those islands heading southward as I watched Sint Maarten fall over the horizon. Now I recognize the shape of the islands and it sinks into my mind that Sint Maarten is just ahead, that I have circumnavigated the whole world in one year... solo. I decide to bring about Guppy as a strong squall is coming on us and anyway she is already going too fast. A heavy curtain of rain hides the islands from me and I am annoyed that even though Sint Maarten is right there close, I still have to wait. But two more hours are nothing to 41 days of sailing. So I am an hour away from St. Barth, and I have stopped our progression to wait for the signal from Sint Maarten to come in. I sailed around the world and I am still surprised that it just feels so incredibly normal... And then here goes Guppy all sails up rushing to Simpson Bay with more and more boats coming on side. On one of the boats I can see my father and my mother, and I have to look twice to recognize my sister who turned up with bright red hair. With the boat flotilla in tow I slowly manoeuvre Guppy under the bridge (this makes it the second time) heading for a huge crowd of people waiting just for me! It is overwhelming, too fantastic and most of the time I don't believe it is really happening. Then it is family hugs, some interviews and much action and it is over before I can take it all in. But after a good night sleep it all slowly sank in. All but for my feeling that what I did is totally normal. By the way I am not disappointed at all that the Guinness Book of World Records won't recognize my attempt. Back in 2009 Mike Perham was recognized as the last ever of the now abolished youngest circumnavigator category. In any case I did not start on my trip to achieve any record but I did it just for myself. It is sweet to me that I won't be sailing for a while, that I don't have to keep everything in order all the time, and that I get to see my parents if I feel like it , even though that may take getting used to. I still don't know how long I will stay here or where I will go next. For now I am having a great time and enjoying my family. Then in early March I will be back in the Netherlands to attend the HISWA [ Amsterdam Boat Show, March 6 to 11, Amsterdam, http://www.hiswarai.nl ]. And then I want to sail some more with 'Gup' over to the Panama Canal again and the Pacific to New Zealand as my final destination. I have been asked many times if I will keep blogging. Of course I will keep on writing my blog but certainly I won't be writing as much as I did in the past year. I don't have internet access aboard Guppy, Sailmail only and I don't want to keep bothering my father with putting my texts on my page. So when I am ashore I will update my blog but not in Dutch since most people understand English but not Dutch. Because I barely spoke Dutch during my trip, going from English to Dutch and back is a bit difficult, in fact writing the blog in a single language was only half the work... Back in 2009 and 2010 with the boards putting on the pressure the sponsor who had agreed to lend me the Hurley 800 withdrew his offer and I was left without a suitable boat at the beginning of 2010. I would like to thank my family who put up all their money together so I could buy the boat I was dreaming of, a battered 33 year old Jeanneau Gín Fizz that underwent a complete refit before I could go sailing on her. I want to thank my father for helping me get the boat in super good condition again. I also would like to thank each and everyone of the people who supported and helped me, and again I want to mention my sponsors, my family, my friends and especially my father. Without you all I would never have been able to do this, to learn much about myself, to learn about the world and to fulfill my lifelong dream. And finally many, many thanks for all the comments in my guestbook and in so many languages, it's really just amazing!
Laura & Guppy
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