Two Solo World Circumnavigators Stay in Touch with WL2K

I was interested to read your report on Glenn Wakefield on 'Kim Chow' when I made landfall in Trinidad recently to complete my Atlantic crossing, as part of my own solo circumnavigation which started 26th March '07 and will hopefully end in May '08.

I've been talking regularly to Glenn via SSB, using Winlink for emails as a back-up when radio propagation hasn't been so good for chatting - We've both been crossing the Atlantic - he, of course, on a more southerly course than I have been, since he's heading for Cape Horn whereas I'm headed for the Panama Canal. Both of us are aiming for the Pacific to complete our circumnavigations - his in Victoria, on Vancouver Island in Canada, and mine in Zihuatanejo, Mexico, from where I took off across the Pacific towards the Marquesas last year after sailing from Hawaii to Alaska and south via Canada & California (see www.svnereida.com). We're hoping to meet up in Victoria when I reach there from Hawaii in August.

I can't say I envy him his task - sailing westabout nonstop is a very difficult task and he has had many breakages to contend with. Not that I haven't also - I had to sit in the cockpit and handsteer the last 10 days of my passage to Trinidad, heaving to every so often for sleep, after my autopilot broke down and my windsteering gear was already broken - both not repairable by me! I'm now busy getting several major items repaired before sailing on to finish my circumnavigation.

Emails via Winlink for both myself and Glenn play an important part in helping both of us not to feel isolated as we sail on long passages - again, even more so for him than for me since he has seen no-one to speak to face-to-face since leaving Victoria last September. I look forward to his successful completion in July.

Regards,

Jeanne, KC2IOV