Our journey started in Torquay Marina and, after saying goodbye to friends and family (Sarah's Mum, sister and niece waved us off in Weymouth Harbour), Serenity left UK waters from the Helford River in August 2015.  Over the autumn we travelled down the coast of Spain and Portugal, through the Madeira and Canary Islands getting used to longer passages and living on board. In December we were in the warmth of the Cape Verde Islands stocking up ready to leave on our first big ocean passage. 

On Christmas Day we had lunch on board Serenity with Manice and Larry from 'Tern' and then on Boxing Day we left Mindelo a short while after them, both bound for Barbados. We rolled our way across the Atlantic, mostly with just a poled-out Genoa set, staying in touch with 'Tern' on the long-range radio.  The two boats were well matched for speed and on two or three occasions we actually crossed close enough to see them.  On New Year's Eve we had a radio chat with Tern, our friend Thomas on Saga and the crew of Long John Silver and 16 days after leaving Cape Verde we motored into the cruise ship harbour in Bridgetown, Barbados, just a couple of hours after Tern.

In early 2017 we left the Windward and Leeward Islands to sail to Panama, with brief stops at the ABC Islands (we visited Bonaire and Curaçao, but not Aruba) and Colombia we made our way to Guna Yala, the beautiful San Blas Islands and our first experience with coral atolls.   In Shelter Bay Marina we were measured for our transit of the Panama Canal and arranged our lines, fenders and line handlers for the transit.  We went up to Gatun Lake in the evening with Emily, one of our excellent line handlers, on the bow and rafted to a boat destined to be a sailing school boat in Korea.  It was quite an experience and if you want to know about it you will have to look back through our blogs.  After a night tied to a buoy at the top of the locks, we motored the 30 miles across Gatun Lake before going down the 3 locks at the other end.  The moment when the final lock opened and we were in the Pacific Ocean was an emotional one.

Before crossing the Pacific Ocean, we made two stops in Ecuador, with our first crossing of the equator on the way.  Firstly, we stopped in Bahia de Caraquez, once a thriving seaside resort which was still recovering from a recent earthquake and took a bus ride to Quito to see the Andes.  We were piloted back out of the river by the marina's boatman, Arios, who took a fancy to Sarah's straw hat.  As we had recently bought Panama hats in Panama City she was happy to part with it.  Then we made the 600 mile passage to the Galapagos Islands to experience the amazing wildlife before setting out on the 3,000 mile passage to the Marquises Islands in French Polynesia.  Again, Serenity looked after us well coping with the squalls and calms, and we arrived in grey and rainy Hiva Oa 21 days later to be greeted by Inge from Saga with gifts of fresh fruit and French bread.

In 2019, after several months back in the UK, we sailed to Fiji and the passage was a real test for Serenity and her crew with winds up to 45 knots and big seas.  We reduced sail to the 4^th reef and working jib and Serenity kept sailing like a trooper.  Travelling on Serenity we were able to visit the fabulous Fulaga, an atoll in the isolated southeastern Lau group with a protected lagoon of crystal-clear water, white sand beaches and mushroom islets.  We sailed in company with Double Trouble and Forever and the photo of Serenity under sail was taken by Michelle from Forever, while the ariel shot was by Darren the Drone, flown by Rob and Jo from Double Trouble.  Our host in the village was the schoolteacher, Maree, who gave us Sunday lunch after the church service.

We returned to New Zealand from Fiji, another rough trip that Serenity coped well with, and after an extended refit were almost ready to relaunch and sail away when New Zealand closed its borders and locked down at the start of the pandemic. We spent the 5 weeks of the first lockdown living aboard in Norsand Boatyard, part of a community of about 50 in the same position.  We decided to stay with Serenity in New Zealand rather than flying home to the UK and for the next two years we sailed the east coast of North Island from our base in Whangarei Town Basin marina enjoying the many beautiful islands, bays and walking trails.  We toured by land in both islands and even had a ski holiday.  In our final summer we sailed around the north end of North Island and down the Tasman Sea for a few weeks in Nelson-Tasman and the Marlborough Sounds before returning up the east coast to complete a circumnavigation of North Island.

In June 2022, when borders had reopened and the risk of cyclones had passed, we set sail again.  Our first stop was New Caledonia, where we fulfilled an ambition to swim with Manta Rays.  COVID also finally caught up with us and two weeks spent recovering in Noumea as well as the need to replace faulty navigation instruments stopped us carrying on further to Vanuatu.  Instead, we made an early crossing to Australia and took the opportunity to fly home for the first time since the start of the pandemic.  On our return, after a great introduction to Australia from the team at Down Under Rallies in Bundaberg, Serenity gave us front row seats for Sydney's New Year firework display as we anchored in prime position in the harbour.  In January 2023 we sailed south to Tasmania, the furthest south that we have been with Serenity and cold enough to need full waterproofs while sailing, then we sailed the full length of the east coast, through the Great Barrier Reef, to Horn Island, ready to depart for Indonesia.  We took a break from the sea during the year to visit Sarah's cousins outside Sydney and in Perth.

We spent four months in 2023 crossing Indonesia from east to west with the Wonderful Sail to Indonesia rally. It was fun to be traveling with other boats, but anchorages could get crowded and on more than one occasion we ended up with the boats anchored stern to the shore and rafted together to make space for us all.  Being an archipelago of 17,000 islands, boat is the ideal way to travel.  We found the Indonesian people with their love of ceremony, selfies and a party so friendly and welcoming and the diversity of landscape and wildlife was stunning.  From climbing the second highest volcano in the country (Phil), racing buffaloes (Sarah), to snorkelling over beautiful coral in crystal clear water from Serenity's stern, a river trip into the jungle of Borneo to see orangutans and a visit to the Komodo National Park to see the Dragons, we crammed a huge amount of fun and exploration into that short time. 

Last year we found we weren't ready to leave South East Asia so braved the Straits of Malacca and Singapore again to take part in the Sail Malaysia, Passage to the East rally.  This took us away from the shipping and murky water of Malaysia's west coast to the clear waters of the east coast where we took part in games with the locals on Tioman Island (the sailing women were soundly beaten by the women in the tug of war) and saw an example of the largest and smelliest flower in the world, Rafflesia.  Then after a short visit to the Indonesian Islands of Anambas and Natuna we crossed to Malaysian Borneo, Sarawak and Sabah.  The crossing of the South China Sea from Natuna to Miri gave us the strongest winds we have suffered at sea, with up to 55 knots.  With no sails set and the self-steering in charge Serenity sailed a perfect straight line throughout the storm.  In Sabah we were introduced to elements of the traditional culture, experienced the jungle at the Mulu National Park, anchored in beautiful lagoons in the coral triangle and sailed (motored) 50 miles up the Kinabatangan River seeing Proboscis monkeys, Orangutans and crocodiles on the way.  We didn't get to see the Pygmy Elephants and our stay was cut short when flood waters brought dangerous amounts of debris down the river.

While in Thailand we made the decision to make an offer on Meikyo and, after some negotiation, we came to an agreement to buy so we started taking photos of Serenity ready to market her.  So here she is, the beautiful boat that carried us more than halfway round the world, was our home for 10 years and took us on so many amazing adventures.  Thank you, Serenity of Swanwick.