Sailing alone. How? The technical issues for solo sailing across oceans

Sailing alone means: no crew, no arguments, no bad food. It’s just me. I’m responsible for everything. I am free. But sailing alone also means: danger. When do I sleep? What if I fall ill? There are no sailing courses and only a few books. You have to learn by doing. You make mistakes and in the best case you learn from them. Sometimes that’s hard and expensive.

Gale or Sturm?

Im Sturm

Gale is part of the risk while sailing the world. Gale guarantees clicks on YouTube, surrounds the sailor with the aura of a hero. No wonder this word is used so often. But if you really get caught in a gale, it changes the ship and the sailor massively. ‘Sturm’ is wind with a speed … Read more

Arriving

They say the journey is the destination. But what happens – after having crossed two oceans and more than half of the world – when you finally arrive at the destination of your dreams? I’ve met Patrice and Bill twenty years ago on the Larapinta Trail in the hot centre of Australia. It was the … Read more

Finally my dream comes true: Tonga to Tasmania

I started 2020 from Fehmarn, Baltic Sea. My vision: to cross the Atlantic and the Pacific, then up the Tamar River to Launceston, Tasmania. Like Joshua Slocum, the first solo sailor around the world, 124 years ago. But then came Covid and restrictions everywhere. I wasn’t able to cross the Atlantic and had to move to the Mediterranean.

But now I’ve almost made it. I’m in Tonga. It’s 3000 nautical miles, 6000 kilometers, to Launceston. This video is about the last leg of a long crossing: three years, two oceans, one destination.

The spell is broken

For eight weeks in French Polynesia, I was enchanted. Landscapes I’d never seen before, friendly people, unspoilt nature. When I arrived in Samoa and Tonga, the feeling of flow changed. Suddenly everything becomes difficult and tedious. Why? Is that also part of travelling? Apia harbour in Samoa. I’ve been waiting three hours for the harbour … Read more

Gale and doldrums. Sailing from Bora Bora to Samoa

Life goes differently than my planning. Actually, I wanted to sail to Penrhyn, the northernmost Cook Island. Instead, I end up in a Doldrum area, a stationary zone with no wind. New plan, new course. And instead of doldrums, now gale is predicted. Will I find shelter in the middle of the open Pacific? Or do I have to go through it? My route: from Bora Bora via Suwarrow to Samoa, in the middle of the Pacific.