Solo around the world. She was mistaken for Christ, walking side by side with the pirates, and experienced several storms. The story of a 29-year-old American woman swimming solo around the world.

In January 2010, the young American Emily Richmond left Los Angeles on a rather shabby sailboat to sail around the world on her own. She was mistaken for Christ, walked side by side with the pirates and survived several storms. She sailed through Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Galapagos Islands, Pitcairn, Samoa and New Guinea. The editorial staff of itBoat publishes highlights from her interview with itBoat during a stay in Barneo.

About the reasons

Romance. Everything about a sailing yacht around the world seems logical, beautiful and smart to me. It's a really valuable way to live. It's a big project that doesn't require much investment. That's enough wind.

About schedules

I left a world where the routines were everything. That's where I knew it wasn't. Graphs do not mean anything in my life, how far I will swim, will determine the weather, the state of my boat and what I am.

About New Guinea.

On the way over there, I got into a quiet place without a motor. I couldn't do anything about it, just waiting. So I decided to put the engine on the boat when I got to New Guinea. The construction company pulled «Bobby» (my boat) ashore, promising that I would be on the water again in two weeks. A couple of days later, they turned their camp around and moved to the jungle to cut down trees to plan palm oil.

So me and my boat got stuck for nine months.

It was really pretty cool there.

It was about a boat.

My boat is still alive, it's an old workhorse with a ton of little things that need fixing. If you're traveling for a specific purpose or you need something done, you'll meet more people on the way.

When I arrive at the port and know that I have something to repair, I look forward to communicating with new people. Most of my communication circles are built around that. If all was well, I would die of boredom and loneliness.

About me.

I really like the rip-off»word«, but I would never describe myself like that. I feel like a child more often. But I think if I just keep going, people will still think I'm cool.

About being ready for the trip.

When you go swimming around the world, you don't have to do everything at once. In fact, a big trip is just the sum of the small ones.

You get to the port, you fix what's broken, you get to the second one, you fix it again, and you go on like this.

If you think about it this way, when I went on the road, I was ready: I had everything I needed for the start.

I had everything I needed for the start.

Not for Christ in our understanding, but in their understanding of Christ. New Guinea has its own Black Jesus. It's a cult, not Christianity. They believe that when you die, you come back to earth white. White people aren't there, so my appearance shocked them.

They slaughtered a pig and had a big dance festivity.

They gave me everything I could on the road, and to be honest, I felt bad and I didn't know what to do with it at all. I just wanted to scream: «It wasn't me!»...

When I left, their spiritual leader was sobbing.

About a dream on the high seas...

Crossing the ocean, I go to bed in the relative certainty that there will be no ships around to ram me. Although last year, wherever I go, I've been on shipping lanes everywhere.

Ships go to and from China, they cross everything in the world, and it's constant stress.

Then I sleep for 10-20 minutes, wake up to see if there's anyone nearby and fall asleep next.

There were times when I jumped up because of the shaking that was caused by a wave from a big ship and realized I was two seconds away from death. But you have to sleep, the lack of sleep will drive you crazy. You'll lose your mind and get nervous during the day or you'll fall asleep and fall overboard.
There's not much you can do about it. People put up radar reflectors, but ships just don't notice little ships like mine. Almost always when I call them on the radio, there's nobody on the bridge. How lucky.

About the pirates.

A few times I ran into guys who were walking a couple of motorboats without any fishing equipment. They were easy to I.D. the pirates, but nobody tried to kill me yet. When I see them coming, I hide my dress and shrug some rags in my shoulders, trying to act like a guy. Most likely, it helps that my boat is not flashy: it is rusty, and as you can see, it is not wearing powerful radars, navigation systems and other fashionable things.

About other travelers.

I imagined how I would meet other young travelers at sea, but it wasn't there. They, in their 20s and 30s, must explore all these wild places, look for adventure.

I walked halfway around the world, and I only met them on Easter Island.

About money...

I don't give up money. I don't stop at marinas, but otherwise life in Southeast Asia is cheap. At $30 a week, you can live happily ever after, even if you eat out of the house.

I made a little money through Kickstarter, but it didn't last long. Some money is sent through my website, but mostly I work where I stay.

About garbage islands.

I've seen a lot of things to worry about. Off the coast of Panama, I came across a huge island of plastic trash that had never been explored before. I marked it on a map for researchers.

Here in Southeast Asia, sharks have disappeared - I think 98% of the population is extinct.

People don't spend

time in the wild and don't see it. Cousteau said that his motivation to make movies and go on expeditions is that people only protect what they care about. I think that's what it is.

It's about the weather.

The perfect storm» hasn't hit me yet. But I got into the weather when the waves were higher than my 45-foot mast. That's pretty lousy.

You just have to put up with it.

It can go on for seven or eight days, you wake up and you think: «Today will finally stop pouring». But it all stretches and stretches, it's all gray, and it's gray. In this sense, my state of mind is closely related to what's going on around me.