Alexia Barrier resumed her forward march off the coast of Brazil after experiencing a period of calm winds that offered her a spectacle she will remember for a long time.
This Thursday, four skippers are expected at Les Sables d’Olonne. A small group who are sailing at full speed as if eager to finish after 95 days at sea. “Of course, being at the back of the fleet is a bit different, some skippers have been home for a week! I don’t think about that, I just keep in mind that I’m lucky to be here,” says the Azuréenne, who also posted a nice average speed of 12 knots yesterday, something she hadn’t experienced since her dismasting on Christmas evening. Proof that “the Penguin” is back in fine form!
Because yesterday wasn’t joyful, entangled in that cursed zone without the slightest breath of air. A difficult time to live through but one that needs some perspective: “I take things day by day as I have from the start. I enjoy all the little moments like having my coffee outside, looking at the sea, the clouds, the color of the sky… All the moments of contemplation.”
And you have to enjoy these little timeless privileges. A sort of hundred-day exemption allowing her to break the curfew as she breaks the waves since the start of her world tour. A simple happiness she is obviously not ready to give up for another good fifteen days.
Step by step, Alexia Barrier is getting closer to returning to the reality of land-dwellers. For that, she’ll have to cross the Equator once more before tackling the Doldrums. A zone she will face tomorrow if all goes well, unless she decides to ease off the sails to continue enjoying the beauty of our planet and its ocean full of creatures to protect for a while longer.
