A year ago, I wrote about being a reluctant sailor. We had just purchased Novara and the whole project; sailing, community engagement, things breaking – all of it filled me with dread. Yet I persevered; put one foot in front of the other, and walked forward to change sails with my eyes open and my heart in my mouth.

Now, with around another 3000 nautical miles of sailing under my belt, I am more inclined to describe myself as a determined sailor; determined to learn, determined to put a reef in up forward when green water is washing over the deck, determined to figure out a way of fixing that part that is no longer available to buy. Mostly, I am determined to keep going.

I once watched a documentary ‘Following Seas’, about a couple who had sailed the world and it started with the protagonist saying ‘Most people don’t have the confidence to make their own major decisions, so they’re afraid to cast off’. A year ago, I definitely did not have the confidence, yet I committed and did it. That commitment is what has carried me through the last year. That commitment, determination, stubbornness, or sheer bloody-mindedness, not to give up is what will carry me through the coming years and thousands of nautical miles.

I have so much to learn, and I will figure it out as I go along.