Welcome

In the summer of 2004 we began discussing a dream of ours; to make an extended sailing voyage. Quickly the dream became a reality and by the end of the year we had bought a yacht - 'Free Spirit of Itchenor', a Vancouver 32. We sailed from Brighton in June 2005 crossed the Atlantic Ocean, cruised the tropical islands of the West Indies and we returned some 9,000 nautical miles later and expecting a baby in June 2007. Our baby girl Bea was born in November 2007.

The greater part of this website consists of our journal – that is the record of the trip, written as it happened. We’ve now added a SUMMARY section giving an overview of the trip and shortcuts to the different sections – this is a good place to start if you are new to the site.

We hope you enjoy reading about our sailing voyage.

Mark and Natalya Ricketts