Nick Jaffe Arrives in Oz

When we interviewed intrepid singlehander Nick Jaffe for the July issue of Latitude 38, he confessed that he’d been told time and again that his goal to reach his homeland of Australia by November was unattainable. Small boats such as Jaffe’s Contessa 26 Constellation aren’t known for speedy ocean crossings — indeed, it took the little red boat 27 days to cross from Half Moon Bay to Honolulu — but the naysayers weren’t taking Jaffe’s single-mindedness and determination into account.

On November 18, the 28-year-old Jaffe sailed into Coff’s Harbor on the north coast of New South Wales, Australia, finishing a journey that began 743 days earlier in Amsterdam. Through his popular blog, Jaffe brought armchair sailors the world over along on his shoestring journey. No big sponsors, no media hype, no record aspirations — just a young man on a sailing adventure. And it was a roller coaster ride. From the triumphant highs of finishing a lonely crossing to the extreme lows of leaving new friends . . . yet again . . . we’ve followed Nick on his physical and emotional journey.

Now that he’s accomplished what he set out to do, Jaffe refuses to wallow in the sometimes-inevitable depression that comes after such a feat. "I’ve come out of all this having twice as much energy and hope for the future, even if sometimes I come across depressed and anxious," he said. We’ll have more on the final legs of Nick’s journey in the December issue, and what he’s planning for the future — do we smell a book deal in the works? — but in the meantime, you can catch up on his adventure at his website www.bigoceans.com.