The Route

There are various definitions of how to proceed with a circumnavigation. The main definitions I follow are as stated by the Ocean Cruising Club. A circumnavigation is

“A circumnavigator will have made a continuous circumnavigation entirely on water, crossing all meridians, in the same vessel of no more than 70 feet LOA. “

For sure, it would entail the following too.

1)      Starting and ending at the same location

2)      Minimum distance travelled to be 21650 nm

Having said that, I was thinking which route I will need to take. At the point, it must be remembered , neither Destiny nor I had ever travelled more than 500 nm in one go, ocean crossings would be much further. Besides the distance, I would also have to contend with various weather patterns , seasons to sail in.

Typically an ocean crossing would be from East to West, through the Suez into the Mediterranean, to the Atlantic and then using the Panama canal into the Pacific.

Or one could use the great capes, Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn. ( this being the capes used when doing ocean racing in the higher southern latitudes.

The Proposed Routes and completed ones

One could also sail variants of these routes, but eventually, the plan will entail a selection based on the boat's known abilities. It was then decided that I would sail across the Indian Ocean, with stops in Chagos and Seychelles, before completing the crossing in leg 1. Once the journey is over, it will end in either Tanzania or Kenya.