Crusader continued to sail extremely well, and on 2nd June, Naomi was only 75 kilometres away from Dartmouth. Unless there was some terrible disaster, she was going to beat chichester’s
time easily . but she knew that she could not arrive before the agreed day and time: 9.30 on the morning of June 8th. Hundreds of people would be there on that day , waiting to welcome her back from her long voyage . Anyway, now that she was almost these, Naomi realized that she was no longer in a hurry . she wanted to enjoy her last few days of being alone. She spent these days cleaning the boat so that Express Crusader would look beautiful for her entry into Dartmouth harbor.
As she sailed into Dartmouth on the morning of 8th June 1978, Naomi was certainly not alone . She was surrounded by boats, large and small. She could see reporters and TV cameras. Her mother and father were there, and Juliet and Heini . . . and of course Rob . Everyone was looking at her , cheering , welcome her back from her voyage . As she greeted them , she realized she could never be really alone again . She also realized that , althougg she was happy to be back , she was going to miss that wonderful feeling of freedom , of being alone with the sea.