ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thank You

• Aliisa Walve - the woman who gave birth to me and injected Love in my heart in such quantities that it still pours out to everything I involve myself in.
• Ragnar Strengell - the husband of my mom, my dad, and the ever supportive person who would never stop me from pursuing my passions, although rarely understanding why I'm doing it.
• Outi Peltola - My first love and a partner for nine years. She taught me how to be me. The result was for me to leave my native Finland for good. Outi then had to learn to be independent too!)
• Sonya Barnard - My second love and first wife. Sonya showed me what unconditional love is all about. She moved from a comfortable house to live in a rusty 32ft steel boat because she loved me. Sometimes love is not enough. She lives in a comfortable house again. Thank you Sonya for remaining a friend. I still love you.
• Bill Erich -I have never met the man. He had a dream much like mine; to sail his 32 footer around the world, or at least into faraway places for a very long time. In the process of realising his dream, he built a beautiful yacht which I now sit in. Thank you Bill! (I am the third owner)
• Tino - Tino is a German ship builder who has offered his help in welding and constructing changes in my yacht to prepare her for the big ocean. His generosity has saved me thousands of dollars. Thank you Tino!
• Craig Haslet - The man who did my rig for next to nothing and took no short cuts along the way. Like Tino, Craig knows his stuff and is always willing to help. Thanks Craig!
• Phil Nielsen - My boss turned into first mate. Until a month ago I had no idea how I'm going to do it. Only two weeks before the departure I realised that I could have not done it without Phil. He is an exceptional man who has intelligence, courage, passion and heart; all the qualities I respect in a human being. If Phil was a woman, I would marry him. Thank you Phil for sharing my adventure.
• Thank you Pauli Merilainen for a beautiful timber cabin sole and numerous timber jobs done for nothing in return,
• Pirate-Pete for his welding,
• Barry for letting me use his welder,
• John for his tools,
• Ross McKenzie for the prop jobs and looking after us poor yachties with all the small jobs that are not worth his time and yet he still does them,
• John from 'Aurora Blue' for helping me with my laptop computer,
• Jock for towing me in to the marina last year,
• Allan from CCYS Cairns for reluctantly selling that cute little tender to reduce our stress about that leaking Aquapro. Yes Allan, I will look after it and sell it back to you if I return.
• Thank you to all the rest of you who helped and encouraged me. At the end of the day, it made all the difference.
• Thank you Peter Hope, my best friend in Cairns who has seen me through being a backpacker, falling in love, going travelling again, getting married, buying the boat, getting divorced and now setting sail. Thank you for letting me use the torque wrench and welder too!
• Me - Yes, I have to give some credit to myself too. I've worked five years doing 60 - 70 hour weeks for shit money. I've compromised everything (including my marriage) for going cruising. Nothing annoys me more than people telling me how lucky I am. Yes, I've been lucky, but getting all that 'luck' has been bloody hard work!
• All the Cruisers - Yep, all the cruisers who went out there and showed me that it can be done. Thank you for your inspiration. One of them earns a special mention:
• Pertti Duncker - A Finnish sailor who spent six years sailing his self built steel yacht around the world. Pushing on the ice of Greenland and Antarctica, he showed me how to live life to the full. "All you need is a steel boat, high tide and a positive mind" - he told me. Well that's about all I have. See ya out there Pera! (Check out Merivuokko.fi)