Retrospective

World Circumnavigation, a retrospective, 27 july 2016

Back at home, moved most of my stuff from Stamper to my home, initiated renovation work on my home and Stamper; time to close a ten year period of my life.

The last stretch from Falmouth to Colijnsplaat was somewhat of 'the last mile is the longest'. An unreliable engine, losing cooling water and again a solo trip, this time only three days and a break in between in the Solent. The risks this time were a lot higher due to the intense traffic and the closeness to shores and shallows. Two incidents showed me that I was courting danger this time, more so then the 30 days solo crossing from St Helena to the Caribbean: I woke up from a dog-sleep sailing only 50 m from the beach of Dungeness head and I had difficulty sorting out the complex traffic around Zeebrugge in the night. Two pilot stations, one for Zeebrugge and one for the Westerschelde, attracting three big freighters, fishing vessels, tug boats and lots of other traffic were a new experience for me. Even Singapore with its 700 AIS targets was simpler to navigate than this situation. I ended up waiting close to a big buoy for the situation to clear out.

The round the isle of Wight race is attended by many thousands of yachts.

The exhaust manifold after 24 years had corroded through and coolant was leaking into the exhaust. Delta Yacht in Colijnsplaat did a perfect job to weld the aluminium again.

I set out ten years ago with my wife and no grandchildren to follow a life long dream. Now I am a widow and have five grandchildren. These ten years, of course, have changed me, not all due to the travels. Nearly without awareness I have transitioned from a working life to a pensioner. The period of farewell to my wife who died of pancreatic cancer was fundamental, changing my view on death and life, only comparable to having your first child. She loved to have been able to travel around the world with me for the 7 years we had. The joys of five grandchildren in this world have been a magnet for me to return home and dedicate time to transfer my addiction to sailing to this generation.

And yes, I can recommend to everyone with a wish to go long distance sailing and see the world in a way that no other transport means allows: Go! The things you do not know yet, the uncertainties and risks; you can sort them out and learn what needs to be done while underway. You will get many more friends scattered around the globe, there will be hardly any country where there is not a welcoming home with friends after you return. The camaraderie in the nomadic sailing community is very special. The countries you see all have their own charms and it will be nearly impossible to tell which one you liked best. One place remains in your mind because of its wild nature, another for is peaceful tranquility, others for the very friendly people or its exotic culture. The striving of people to improve their life and create a better future for their children will teach you respect and you learn not to judge but try to understand why things are different by looking at the history of a country. An experience that taught me humbleness.

I would only give this advice to wanna-bee circumnavigators: make sure you have a minimum stable income, start of with a robust boat where the construction itself will not give you troubles. Ocean sailing will test the construction to the max, all other things can be improved while underway. Do not go too late, once you pass the 70 year mark, your strength and agility can quickly get less making ocean going sailing a lot bigger risk.

In the ten years of circumnavigating we only had one big storm, 50+ knots of wind for 12 hours. The danger were the waves building up and crashing over Stamper. We had some damage but the situation never got dangerous. You do learn to handle the boat with broad reaching trade winds of 40 knots of wind and not be afraid, minimise chafing and wear on the rigging and boat. Everything breaks down and you learn how to repair, in many cases with the help of cruising friends. My principle always was to try to improve anything that broke down.

I am trying to anwer your questions about my favourite spots..... just a random list:

    • The polynesian cultures in the Pacific, experiencing that these amazing sailors have colonized this huge ocean in canoes and spread a common culture with dancing and friendliness hospitality (and cannibalism) .

    • The peacefulness of the las Perlas island in Panama and the Darien area where it van be so quiet that you start checking if you are deaf

    • The wilderness of Patagonia

    • The magical night light in Antarctica and disorientating visibility that makes you think that mountainous island 100 miles away only seem to be 20 miles away. An area where man is only guest and must tread careful

    • The overwhelming hospitality of Indonesia

Just a grab of things that come to mind. I could tell similar things of any place I have seen. Of course you also notice possible improvements; the complete lack of garbage collection in Asia. Also in the ten years of sailing we, and many of our cruising friends, noticed the effects of over-fishing in the oceans. We started off trailing fishing lures and mostly got a nice tuna or Mahi-Mahi within 24 hours. We ended being unable to catch any fish except in rare occasions or only the very experienced fishermen would catch something. We blame the many thousands of Chinese fishing boats roaming all oceans and grabbing whatever they can catch claiming that there are 'endless riches of the sea'