Firstly I would like to thank Mikkel for organising this project. I had such a fantastic time on Oceans of Hope and it really changed my outlook on life.  Before Oceans of Hope I had lost a lot of confidence in myself, having retired from work at 38 and relying on my husband a lot. Now I have so much more confidence, my friends and family have really noticed the difference. It has changed my outlook on life, realising I can achieve more. It has also rekindled my love of sailing. Now every time something seems too difficult my motto is 'I went to the USA alone to join Oceans of Hope, so I can do this!'

I have so many fantastic memories from our voyage, some of the best are:
Arriving in the Florida sunshine - sailing without waterproofs and eating our meals on deck (after lots of rain in south Carolina).

I also loved working together to provision the boat and feed everyone, sailing through the night looking at the stars and chatting and arriving in new places and exploring them.  Also I felt very proud to be part of Oceans of Hope and loved telling all the friendly people at marinas about our project.

Since Oceans of Hope I have made many more Oceans of Hope friends, and some of us are arranging other sailing trips together. At the Barcelona event we are planning to hire a yacht to stay and sail on.