Crossing the Bay of Biscay ALONE on my sailboat

Day 11. Today was kind of lucky and kind of unlucky at the same time. We were quite slow overnight, which normally would’ve been frustrating… but it actually turned into a blessing in disguise. Because it meant I reached the Bay of Biscay traffic zone later than expected and could go through it during daylight instead of at night. And honestly, that made a huge difference mentally. I got decent sleep, could actually see what was around me, and didn’t have to spend the entire night stressed about traffic. What’s funny though is how massive the ocean still feels. On the AIS there are boats everywhere, but in reality, I barely actually see anyone. Most of the boats never came close enough to matter. We all just kind of slipped perfectly around each other without anyone needing to change course. Which honestly felt pretty cool. I did run into the charging issue again though, the same one I’ve had before. Luckily I now know how to work around it, so it wasn’t a huge problem today. But it is still a bit concerning long term, because if this keeps happening during the GGR, I’ll probably need to make some changes to the system. But honestly, one of the funniest parts of this whole journey is waking up every morning and realizing the community has created something new while I was asleep. Today I woke up and realized… apparently I now have a cat named Windy. Somehow my tiller got a name. There’s lore. There are ongoing jokes. There’s apparently a whole parade happening onboard half the time. I’m always the last one to know what’s going on in my own community. But it honestly makes me so happy. People are so invested in this journey and they keep adding their own little stories and characters into it, and somehow it’s become this giant shared adventure instead of just me alone on a boat. And I feel really lucky to be the vessel for all of it. 🌊🐦 ⚓ Life on the Showgirl is my journey toward one of the toughest solo sailing races on the planet: the Golden Globe Race — sailed solo, non-stop, and without modern technology. Follow along as I learn, prepare, and chase a dream that feels bigger than me. ------------------------------------------ New videos EVERY 7th of the month ------------------------------------------ EXCLUSIVE CONTENT!!: https://www.patreon.com/classicmara ------------------------------------------ Follow Mara: https://www.instagram.com/classicmara_/ __________________________ Support me: PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/helgamarielk Vipps: 39088 - Classic Mara Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/griedy1 GoFundMe: https://gofund.me/173a9a5e6 __________________________ Affiliate links: Dakota Lithium Batteries: https://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=79634&awinaffid=2732466&ued=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dakotalithium.com Orca Navigation System: https://getorca.com/?via=classicmara PitViper: https://www.pitviper.com/discount/CLASSICMARA?redirect=%2F&utm_campaign=money%2Bcounters&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=upfluence