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everything in the world – everything.
    I stepped off the stage and began to battle my way through the crush of well-wishers. It seemed to take forever, but I was finally able to touch Maya. I wished we were alone, not surrounded by hundreds of people. Holding her hand as if it were my lifeline, we slowly made our way down to the water.
    The jetty was crammed with family, friends and everyone from the Kijana office, while thousands more lined the shore. Outside the marina lay dozens of spectator craft waiting to escort us down the bay. It was chaos.
    Beau, Mika, Josh and Nicolette slowly made their way to the boat, wishing their loved ones goodbye. The media was clamouring to get their best shots and the TV crews staged a mini press conference with the crew on board. Josh had brought along his fake teeth and put them in for the photographs. We had a group photo of the land and sea crews together at the front of the boat, then Maya and I sat on the deck talking and smiling at each other.
    Suddenly it was 11 a.m., the scheduled time of departure – an around-the-world odyssey had to start sometime. I said goodbye to Mum and Dad and started the engine. Maya was trying not to look at me as she wiped tears from her face. I told her she was beautiful but she said she thought she looked horrid.
    I wasn’t the only one being torn from a loved one – Mika was leaving her boyfriend of seven years.
    People started to step off the boat until only the crew remained. Beau and Nicolette undid the lines tying us to the jetty and pushed the bow out. I gave it a bit of throttle and Kijana began to move.
    We rounded the breakwater of the marina, where the water was covered in streaks of wakes as yachts, motorboats and windsurfers followed us towards the heads of Port Phillip Bay.
    Gradually they dropped away as we sailed the four hours to the heads. By the time we got that far there were only three boats left – Dad on his small catamaran, the office crew on a power boat and Mum and Maya with our friends, Steve and Julie O’Sullivan. Eventually they could hang on no longer, lest they end up on their own around-the-world voyage, and were forced to turn back.
    With the boats disappearing from view, the only thing left to do was what we had all dreamt of doing for so long. We raised the sails and hit the big blue ocean. The Kijana adventure had begun.

CHAPTER THREE
FINDING OUR SEA LEGS
    THE MILE-WIDE OPENING INTO PORT PHILLIP Bay from Bass Strait may be one of the most treacherous port entrances in the world, but it is a special place for me. Each time I’ve passed through it I’ve felt something new, as if being reborn by Mother Nature. Today was no different. The sunlight splashed across the coastline and a stiff wind sent spray flying over the cockpit, giving us our first taste of what was to come as we turned east. We were finally on our way.
    Aboard Lionheart I had felt like a small dot in the middle of the ocean. Now, on Kijana , I felt like the captain of a real ship. While not exactly the size of Captain Cook’s Endeavour , Kijana was much bigger than Lionheart , and was also much more sturdy and took on the waves like an experienced traveller. The conditions Kijana faced as we entered Bass Strait were far from dangerous but still uncomfortable enough for us to realise we were on an adventure, not a pleasure cruise.
    I stood in the cockpit holding the wheel, every shudder of the wooden hull being relayed to my fingers. The crew was positioned across the deck, up the side ladders and on the bowsprit. I had an overwhelming feeling that my crew would prove just as sturdy as the wooden planks we were standing on. It was this feeling of adventure that I loved. With the salty spray hitting my face, the realisation of something that was once only a dream was satisfying beyond words. I wondered if the rest of the trip would continue in the same vein.
    Dusk fell, revealing a starry sky that marked our first