Taking the Long Way Home

As soon as we reviewed Geoff and Karen Arnold’s entry application for the 2006 Baja Ha-Ha rally we knew their plans were more ambitious than most. "We plan to take the long way home," they told us, meaning, "we’ll keep heading west until we come back around."

Today, more than two years later, they and their daughters Claire, now 15, and Alexandra, 13, have sailed their 1978 Dufour 45 ketch Fafner three quarters of the way around the world. Currently in Argentina, they’ll soon set off to explore the Strait of Magellan.

Having circumnavigated as a child with his own parents, Geoff knew long ago how such an adventure can strengthen family bonds. But he probably had no idea that the shared love of ice cream, which has developed aboard Fafner, would galvanize the bonds within his own nuclear family. "Back at our house, ice cream could sit in our freezer until it grew ice crystals. Not so while cruising. We start having daydreams about mint chocolate chip cones three days out and progress to drooling while describing black cherry sundaes . . . ." Look for further details on the Arnolds’ cruise — including the best ice cream stops — in the January edition of Latitude 38.