At the time of writing, a half moon is putting a magical glimmer on the wave tops, some stars are saying hello. Issuma is doing 6,5 knots, facing her bow eastward to Chile. She is going on tracks, it's a pure enjoyment, an honour to be night-watching her!

In mid October, I was still busy with charity-work in the Philippines. Me and my girlfriend went there to help after they got struck by the devastating typhoon Haiyan, in Dec. 2013. When our work there came towards its end, my girlfriend got an invitation for doing a yoga-teacher-training course in India. So of she went....and me, what should I busy myself with now? ...i asked myself. I Checked my "dream-adventure-shelf"....and came to the conclusion, I wanna go sailing!

After some longer research and a bunch of e-mails, I got in contact with Richard and Issuma. We exchanged some e-mails, soon I was invited and booked my flight.

(I joined as a crew on the 17th of November 2014, in Puerto Escondidio (Loreto), Baja California in Mexico.

And honestly, I was a bit nervous at start, seeing those two big masts and all the halyards and sheets. But it all settled in, thanks a lot to Richard's great patience, calmness and happiness in sharing his knowledge! I early on told him my admiration and deep respect for this.

It has been a full on adventure from the very start and ever since. Here are some of my best memories on Issuma:)

All the sunrises/sunsets. I been traveling for 8 years now and seen many of them in different places. But it is indeed something special far out on the open sea!
Catching fishes. All the attempts, all the "almost-ones", the raw and delicious wahoo-wahoo, ceviche, fish stew, the doublecatch of the 2 tunas. Followed by 8 days of 3 meals a day of tuna eating.
Sailstiching/Cooking. Sitting in my favourite lotus position, the smiling sun above me, focusing on the white sail and go in-out, in-out with the needle. So meditative, no wonder Gandhi loved spinning wool so much! Probably the task I enjoyed the most after reefing/shaking the sails, and cooking of course. Which I have been enjoying a lot, I just love making people happy, and especially through serving them a good meal.
Time. All the time in between for reading books, writing my diary and especially for personal reflection. An absolute treasure.

( In these months I have got so much practise on sailing, and I do for sure have a crush on it!
Richard always has an ear open for your questions and he is a great captain. He is obviously telling you how/where things have to be, but is always open for an discussion/consulting. Not at all a classic; command-you go scrub the deck-captain. He treats his crew with humbleness and makes sure they are feeling the teamspirit)

(If a full on adventure is what you are looking for, great sailing practice, alongside good conversations and laughs, then Richard is the man to talk to.)

I'm sure that this isn't our last sail together...
For now, I wish Richard and Issuma all the best on your further adventures.
Fare winds....a Big Viking-Hug!

Tack så mycket.....Max.