I’m not a natural sailor; I was born on the Canterbury plains in New Zealand and raised with soil beneath my feet, the wind in my hair and a reverence for the land and what it provides.

To find myself embarking on this adventure with Novara has me some days (metaphorically) running for the hills. Yet there is something about sailing that has crept under my skin and lodged itself in my veins.

It’s hard to explain, but it’s that moment when, after raising the sails and you cut the engine, that I love. The sound is the epitome of peace – not necessarily quiet, but that everything is in its right place. Taking a breath at that moment is breathing in the soul of sailing. It’s just those of you on board, the boat, the ocean and the weather. It’s a primal call to adventure, to travel into parts previously unknown to me. It’s the moment on any voyage that I treasure and reminds me of why I’m doing this.

Interestingly, I find that there are elements of that childhood spent roaming paddocks on the Canterbury plains that make me feel I’m in the right place on board Novara and that come in handy.

Firstly, there is no shop anywhere close by. In both places, you can lay money that something will break and the question then becomes how to fix it, get around it, or do without it. The ingenuity, or in New Zealand, ‘Number-8 wire mentality’ combined with self-reliance is essential to survival.

Another element in common is the weather. The weather is indifferent to the land and sea it affects. Storms come and go, the sun rises and sets, the tides and currents move around the planet; hail, thunder and lightning all tumble to the earth being perfectly as they’re meant to be. The trick, as humans on the receiving end of the vagaries of the weather, is to go with it, to adapt, knowing that despite devastation sometimes, this too will pass.

A third element is that you’re with the people you’re with; family, friends, crew and visitors. They are who they are and you’re living together whether you want to or not. On a boat, of course, you’re in a confined space and occasionally need to retreat to your own bunk – or find some space no-one else is occupying – which at times may only be inside your head.

Although I have a few thousand nautical miles in my log book, I am an absolute beginner when it comes to sailing Novara. Yet, I am committed to learning, to doing what it takes, in all weathers and with whomever I meet.

My childhood and being on the ocean both have space – vast amounts of openness and a feeling that I’m a tiny particle on this precious planet, which I adore. I reckon the ability to tackle this adventure is in my blood.