Oct 8, 2020

Arriving Stockholm – Mission completed!

Sailing the last mile into the heart of Stockholm was fabulous, Before docking at the pier outside our "base camp" Glashuset on Strandvägen, we just had to taste the sun, the wind, and the water in front of the Royal Castle. And wave to the Royal family of course. Couldn't see that any of them waved back, but a few tourists outside the Grand Hôtel did in fact wave to us.

Little did these friendly visitors know what they waved to a climate statement project that just came sailing back from the other side of Sweden, Back home again after 3 years and 6.000 Nautical Miles. Back home after having been sent off from Oslo by an Admiral in the Royal Navy of Norway. Back again after having visited 7 countries along 3 bodies of water and having been accompanied by more than 40 young crew members from 5 continents. Having participated in 5 sail racing competitions with an all-female crew, practiced a zero waste lifestyle, been guided by one of the world's most experienced female sailors – our Project Patron Dee Caffari MBE, cooked food on solar beams, trawled for microplastics, sailed with an electric engine and with toxic-free coating, picked up plastic trash on beaches, morally supported by numerous of partners and friends, stopped the plans of a mega oil refinery together with the iconic Rainbow Warrior, harvested yummy herbs from an onboard compost-garden on the transom and raised awareness for United Nation's Agenda 2030... all along the way and in an uncountable number of marinas.

Little did they know that the colorful ocean art on the sides of the boat was a message from dead fishes and coral reefs in the oceans. But, when they see the art next time – on the news, at an art gallery, in a video, or their social media feeds – they will hopefully burst out and say: "Wow, I saw that boat in Stockholm!" And then they will learn more about all of the above:-)

Our eye-catching art has helped to spread our messages – one day our little sailboat might pop up and be seen on a screen by all the ones who have waved to us along our voyage. Here we are, screened in a Swedish TV news report when sailing with Greenpeace's iconic ship Rainbow Warrior in Lysekil, Sweden.

Arriving in Stockholm single-handed at sunset. Sailing all the way with confidence, knowing that the electric engine never fails to start and always will be there to silently help with the last fine-tuning at the pier.

Celebrating an arrival on a cold October afternoon calls for a nice restaurant. Celebrating anything at all during Covid-19 calls for a gathering with as few people as possible. Thank you Stockholms Hamnar (Ports of Stockholm) for the docking and thank you Glashuset for letting us sit outdoors under your cozy heaters.