Donna Lange Out of Africa

"One more milestone!" wrote Donna Lange in her sailing blog last week. "I am now past the Cape (of Good Hope) and Agulhas Point, the southernmost tip of Africa."

This is the first of the five great capes the 53-year-old grandmother, former RN, and Rhode Island-based singer-songwriter must leave to port on her quest to become the first American woman to sail singlehanded around the world via the traditional ‘clipper route.’

As we reported in ‘Lectronic on July 8, Lange departed Bristol, RI, on July 26 on her Southern Cross 28 Inspired Insanity on her second — you read right — solo circumnavigation. The first one, which ended in 2007, had stops though. This one has no stops and no outside assistance. At least that’s the plan.

And Lange, it seems, is pretty good at planning. For starters, she’s three months out and pretty much on schedule. And — as planned — she has gotten this far using only celestial navigation and an SSB for radio, weather and email communications, the better to be ‘in tune’ with the ocean. When not writing her blog, playing music, or tending to the boat, she’s also followed through with her plan to monitor sea life, sea birds, and even local radiation levels for various agencies.

She celebrated the Good Hope passage — which is roughly a third of the way around — with "smoked oysters for lunch and my favorite, chicken soup, for dinner."

Despite the currently cold and challenging conditions 500 miles south of Good Hope, Lange says she is happy to be sailing the southern latitudes during their soon-to-be summer. If all goes well, she will round the biggie — Cape Horn — sometime in March, and be back in Bristol by next May.

Lange’s life voyage is as fascinating as her sailing one. (She started sailing only 15 years ago, at age 38.) You can find more on that, and her current Twice Around campaign, at www.donna-lange.com and read her blog at www.sailblogs.com/member/sailtwicearound.