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Nereida's Travels

My Nonstop Solo Circumnavigation Starting Early October 2009

This will be totally different from the first - in the new "Nereida" (Najad 380) going the opposite way around the globe, starting from the Canaries as the Southern winter is finishing, and sailing non-stop around the Five Great Capes - which, of course, includes Cape Horn! It will be quite a challenge - but it will also feel like a definite achievement if I succeed after the expected 6-7 months of ocean sailing, with just emails and occasional radio contact with people to keep me company in often rough seas and weather.... Wish me luck!

My First Solo Circumnavigation from 26th March 2007 to 19th June 2008

One major reason for wanting to do a solo circumnavigation was definitely the challenge of all that it involves. I enjoy being at sea, as well as meeting people & seeing places on shore, but time doesn't stand still (& bodies don't get younger!) so I felt that it was the right time for me to 'sail around the world' in a reasonably short time, as a sailing challenge, rather as the sailors of olden times did, rather than continuing my previous slow cruising & taking a lot more years to get around (that could always come later). I became quite excited at the prospect of it all ... In the back of my mind also was the thought of several good friends who had recently either succumbed to cancer or been diagnosed with it.... Maybe they'd be able to see through my eyes and enjoy the sailing through me?

Preparing "Nereida" in San Diego early in 2007 took quite a time, but I finally sailed down to Ensenada mid-February to complete Mexican check-in formalities and then headed towards Zihuatanejo - where their Guitar Festival finished 18th March. By the end of March, I was well on my way to the Marquesas after fresh food provisioning from the local market.

In planning my route, I had to avoid the cyclone season in the southern hemisphere - November/December to March/April. Clearly, weather is always a major concern and any planning has to be flexible - but with good weather information (via SSB & VHF radio and onboard barometer), I expected to have sufficient advance warning of possible problems to stay safe.

Having left Zihuatanejo on Monday 26th March 2007, my route took me through the S. Pacific: Marquesas (arrived April 19th) - Rangiroa (Tuamotus) - Tahiti - Bora Bora - Niue - Tonga - Fiji - Vanuatu - Cairns (arrived 11th July) - Darwin (left 1st September) to Indonesia (Bali) then across the southern Indian Ocean (Christmas Island - Cocos Keeling - Rodrigues - Mauritius - Reunion), reaching Richards Bay, near Durban (S. Africa), on 16th November. I left Cape Town for Namibia in February 2008, then sailed across the S. Atlantic (to St Helena & on to Trinidad), into the Caribbean, across to Panama & back into the Pacific. Delayed by unavoidable repairs in Trinidad and a long wait in Colon to transit the Canal, I was leaving Acapulco around sunset on 18th June 2008 for the short passage to Zihuatanejo..... but we grounded in surf before first light on 19th June..... just 60mls short of completing my circumnavigation!!

I report my current position regularly as I sail from place to place.

Click on the link "Where is Nereida?" to see a map display of my latest travels, as reported to the Winlink 2000 system.

Click on "Past Travels" to link to ShipTrak - which gives an overview of all my travels from 2004 on!

See my complete Web Log here!