Chiles Continues Solo Circ in 24-Footer

After a southern-summer layover in New Zealand, irrepressible American circumnavigator and author Webb Chiles is poised to continue his latest solo lap around the planet aboard a remarkably small boat. From the Bay of Islands he writes, "The Southern Hemisphere Moore 24 fleet, aka hull #40, Gannet, will be departing Opua, New Zealand, when the wind comes up on Tuesday, April 26 — Monday the 25th in the US — to resume what, time and chance permitting, will be her first circumnavigation and her owner’s sixth."

Now 74, Chiles’ goal for this year is to reach South Africa, a voyage of roughly 10,000 miles with stops at Bundaberg, Cairns and Darwin, Australia. "The sail from Cairns to Cape York is my favorite coastal sail in the world," he says, and he will be enjoying it for the fourth time, having already done it in three previous boats. He’s contemplating making the 6,000-mile trip from Darwin, Australia, to South Africa nonstop, which is, needless to say, a very long trip in a Moore 24 — roughly three times the distance from San Francisco to Hawaii.

Chiles observes that during the 40 years that he’s been sailing the world, "the average cruising boat has become ever larger. Forty-five feet is now probably the norm. And the norm may be a catamaran. Obviously, Gannet is not a cruising boat and Webb Chiles is not a cruiser."

The solo sailor says that when he sails offshore he enters what he calls "the monastery of the sea" and does not communicate with resources on land. However, you can follow Chiles’ progress via his tracking page. For additional info, see his blog site and his website, where you’ll be greeted by his credo: "A sailor is an artist whose medium is the wind. Live passionately, even if it kills you, because something is going to kill you anyway."