The first woman in Korea
405 days, 17 countries, 33,000 km sea route
The story of Captain Kim Young-ae, who completed the race on a yacht.

The story of Captain Kim Young-ae, the first Korean woman to complete a 405-day, 33,000-kilometer sea voyage across 17 countries, has been published in a book.
"Raising the Sail Between the Sky and the Sea" is a moving essay that records the author's journey of self-discovery as she sails the world on a yacht in the latter half of her life, having lived as an ordinary housewife in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province.
The author, who was gradually losing his sense of self in the midst of a repetitive daily life, began to challenge himself with various leisure sports, starting with paragliding. He overcame depression and finally challenged himself with yachting in his 60s, sailing across the Mediterranean, the Atlantic, and the Pacific Oceans for 405 days, visiting 18 countries, and compiled his records into a book.


The journey from Croatia to Spain, Morocco, the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, an uninhabited island in the Pacific, and Okinawa, Japan, before returning to Korea is more than just a travelogue; it is a moving drama about a woman who lost her way in life and finds her way back to herself.
The book honestly and cheerfully captures the fear of facing a typhoon at sea, encountering a pod of dolphins, a birthday party on a deserted island, connections with people met at ports around the world, and the regret felt while celebrating a grandchild's first birthday at sea. The book also provides information on the sailing route, coordinates at sea, and videos via QR codes.
Captain Kim Young-ae's honest voyage log, which proves with her whole body the life change that everyone dreams of but is difficult to challenge, is expected to resonate particularly with readers who relate to the keywords "women," "after middle age," and "adventure."


Captain Kim Young-ae's story of sailing around the world delivers a message of hope that anyone can start a new life at any moment.
The record of sailing the sea is itself a record of living life, and the voyage of reading the wind and adjusting the sails was also a journey of getting to know the author himself.
This book expands the 405-day voyage into a voyage of life through various keywords we need now, such as challenge, recovery, healing, and self-discovery.
The author offers warm encouragement to all those who dream of a better life, especially those who feel anxious about life after middle age, and emphasizes that now is the time to set sail for life again.

In the early fall of the 1990s, when I was going through such a difficult time, my husband suggested that I try paragliding.
At first, I just thought, 'Why are you asking me to do this?', but this new challenge marked a huge turning point in my life.
--- p.6

And finally, the project of sailing through 17 countries including the Mediterranean, Atlantic, and Pacific Oceans for 405 days was launched.
This challenge was a turning point in my life, a journey that forced me to confront my own limitations head-on.
As with everyone, as we get older, beginnings become more and more frightening and difficult.
But that fear made me want to complete this sailing project even more.

--- p.7

As I endured each moment and moved forward, the voyage became not just a simple movement, but a time of deep inner encounter.
The sea has always tested me, but at the same time it has made me stronger.
Sometimes, I learned to believe in myself in the quiet darkness where I couldn't see even an inch ahead, and at other times, I gained the courage to go beyond myself by riding the strong wind.

--- p.10

Even before I got married, I was like that, and even after I got married, I always had to go somewhere like a wanderer.
Especially after watching a movie or reading a book, I would get lost in the fantasy of being the main character, and I would have to go to that place and see and experience it with my own eyes, like doing homework that had piled up, to feel better.
--- p.23

Finally, it's the day to leave for Croatia, where the yacht is.
The journey is to Croatia via Moscow on Aeroflot, the Russian flag carrier.
I leave the house wearing the comfortable Crocs shoes my pretty daughter-in-law bought me.
The hearts and smiley faces hanging from my Crocs seem to be cheering me on in the future.
From now on, hardship ends and happiness begins!
--- p.27

The day my grandson was born, I was sailing off the coast of Saipan in the North Pacific.
Now, a full year has passed and I am annoyed that I cannot attend the first birthday party because I am preparing for a new voyage.
Rather than feeling the joy of the first departure, I feel sorry as a grandmother for not being able to attend my grandson's first birthday party.

--- p.39

Looking at the sky, it is a war of stars.
The stars that rise every day also have different brightness depending on the weather that day.
Today, it looks especially sparkling, as if it were sprinkled with jewels.
It's such a shame that I can't take pictures of the stars with my camera on the rocking yacht.
On days like this, I miss my family.
--- p.65

I remember when I was little, I would light a mosquito coil in my grandmother's yard in the countryside, lie on her lap on a mat, and count the stars.
The fact that I came to the middle of the Atlantic Ocean and am sailing is largely due to my grandmother's influence.
My grandmother always said.
Don't be discouraged just because you're a woman, live your life like a man.
I wonder if my grandmother's wish has come true to some extent, but now I live with the feeling that I am just a woman in name only, even though I can't do ten things as well as a man.
--- p.142

When setting sail, we fill 200 liters of water on each side, a total of 400 liters, but that is not enough.
So we have to save water.
Since there is no water maker to turn seawater into freshwater, on occasional rainy days, a water tank is built to collect rainwater and use it.
It's been raining continuously since last night.
To collect rainwater for domestic use, buckets were tied to the fenders in two rows.
A fair amount of rainwater had accumulated along the line.

--- p.201

How could I have survived this long voyage without a portable gas stove? While yachts are equipped with basic kitchen facilities, special circumstances always arise, such as LPG gas filling taps (plugs) of different sizes depending on the country, making them unusable, or running out of gas.
Even gas ranges can be damaged by strong winds.
...
The value of a 13,000 won Korean portable gas range is beyond measure.
--- p.219

Last night I had a dream that my grandson was on a yacht and I was worried that he might fall into the sea.
I didn't have any toys, so I tried to blow up balloons on the yacht, but they kept popping and tearing every time I tried to tie them.
I tried to tie it with thread, but the thread was too short.
In another dream, the house I live in was an apartment building that was floating on water, and the water was rising in a flood and the house was about to float away.
Strong winds blew throughout the afternoon, reaching 25 to 34 knots.
I'm scared of the big waves and it's so hard.
A large oil tanker passed by in the distance.
I tried to contact them by radio, but I couldn't hear them clearly because of the sound of the waves and the engine.
I tried to ask about the current weather in Okinawa, but failed.
--- p.309

After sailing through 17 countries, stopping at over 50 anchorages, and traveling over 17,000 nautical miles, I finally set foot on Korean soil again.
It's been 4.05 million days since I packed my bags to board the flight to Moscow.
The long journey has come to an end, but a warm wind still blows in my heart.
My next destination? The Indian Ocean, and Antarctica!

--- p.334