Tasmania

Sailing solo through the Jungle and the Roaring Forties. Around Tasmania

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Tasmania is bigger than many people think – by far larger than any Mediterranean island – and a challenge for sailors. Situated in the Roaring Forties, with large swells on the west coast, caution is advised. I start in Launceston, sail along the north coast, encounter penguins and flocks of birds near Stanley. Then I head west in search of jungle and traces of the first settlers at Macquarie Harbour. An expedition that also involves dodging storms and crossing the jungle.

Go South! 1700 miles sailing alone, from tropical Queensland to Tasmania’s Roaring Forties

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1700 miles south, 3000 kilometres. Just one stop, Bundaberg. The trick is to catch the right wind. In the Coral Sea it blows from the front for 10 months as a trade wind. But now, in November, it’s not regular. In the Tasman Sea, from Bundaberg onwards, it can blow from bow or stern. Sometimes it changes directions within hours. And it’s almost always strong.

Arriving

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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

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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.