The last night brought plenty of wind — over 30 knots at times — but luckily no big squalls. And when, in the morning, a pod of dolphins started jumping through the rather big waves next to Akuna, it almost felt as if they were cheering us on.

Since we’re still making good speed, it currently looks like this could be our final night in the open ocean. Tomorrow night, we might already be navigating through the Broadwater of the Gold Coast.

And knowing that this might be the last one has made me think about all the other nights we’ve spent out at sea: our very first night sail on this boat, when we picked her up in Port Grimaud and had the most amazing champagne sailing towards Corsica — no waves, but a beautiful 15 knots of steady wind – Nino still in Nappies back then. Or the rough nights after leaving Bonaire, when I somehow found myself standing in horizontal rain.

In total, since we set off last August, we will have spent more than 100 nights at sea. More than 100 nights of watches, alarms, cooking at impossible angles, trying to sleep while being thrown around, staring at weather forecasts, wondering why the wind is never quite where it is supposed to be — and occasionally wondering why we thought this was a good idea in the first place.

But there have also been the magical ones. The sunrises. The stars. The moonlight on the waves. Those moments when you’re completely alone in the middle of the ocean and the whole world feels impossibly big and beautifully quiet.

And although I am very much looking forward to having a normal sleep pattern again, I know I’ll miss those sunrises, those stars, and the waves glowing in the moonlight.

Wow. It is really hard to grasp that, in about 180 nautical miles, we will have crossed the entire Pacific Ocean… and tied up in Australia!

But for now, there is still some sailing to do. And with Mark still a little under the weather, I’m doing my best to keep Akuna pointing southwest!