{"id":268,"date":"2025-08-15T14:43:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:43:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=268"},"modified":"2025-08-15T14:43:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-15T14:43:14","slug":"what-ive-learned-from-sailing-half-way-around-the-world-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yachtersworld.com\/?p=268","title":{"rendered":"\u2018What I\u2019ve learned from sailing half way around the world alone\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Midway on a solo cruising circumnavigation, James Frederick shares learnings from sailing around the world on a 30ft yacht<\/strong><\/p>\n

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I was a man obsessed. I longed to see the sea, to sail quietly across its surface driven only by a puff of wind, to smash through the night in a great tempest. I had become seduced by the books I read describing strange distant lands, postcard-esque shorelines, foreign cultures and a complete absence of bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic.<\/p>\n

William Albert Robinson\u2019s 10,000 Leagues Over the Sea<\/em> was the first cruising book I read, and it made me want to run away \u2013 or rather sail away \u2013 from home immediately. Robinson circumnavigated between 1928-1932 on his 32ft ketch Svaap and wrote tales of exploring then-still-exotic Tahiti and spending time with headhunters in Papua New Guinea.<\/p>\n

I went on to read Harry Pidgeon\u2019s book Around the World Single Handed<\/em>. Pidgeon built his modest 34ft yawl Islander in 1917 on the banks of the Los Angeles harbour, not far from where I refit my own boat, Triteia. Pidgeon was the second person to ever sail solo around the world, 23 years after Slocum. Reading Pidgeon\u2019s stories from my own local waters, coupled with the mantra of iconic cruisers Lin and Larry Pardey \u2013 \u2018Go Small, Go Simple, Go Now\u2019 \u2013 was all the inspiration I needed to charge forward with my own dream.<\/p>\n

The thought of going with someone else never even crossed my mind in the early days. On my 40th birthday I was recovering from double pneumonia that nearly took my life, and it was on that day I decided I wanted to circumnavigate. Life is simply too short to wait on dreams.<\/p>\n

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When his rudder failed Frederick improvised and sailed 1,000 miles to Hawaii steering using a towed drogue. Photo: James Frederick<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Self reliance<\/h2>\n

August 20th, 2021<\/em><\/strong>
\n28\u00b0 52.019N 131\u00b0 20.984W<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

0200:<\/strong> The winds had vanished, and the boat was being tossed around in a ruckus that made the cabin sound like a box of dishes in the back of a pickup truck. I climbed out on deck and steered us back on course. The wind is so light it seems hopeless because the windvane can\u2019t steer with no wind. <\/em><\/p>\n

Our course should be 240\u00b0 on the compass. I steer her to 270\u00b0 to try and get her moving and suddenly Triteia is screaming through the water like a Nantucket sleigh ride, but when I bring her back to 240\u00b0\u2026 not a breath of air.<\/em><\/p>\n

I started to wonder if I actually didn\u2019t know how to sail, before I remembered we were 700 miles offshore so at some point in the last eight days I must\u2019ve known how\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

This cycle went on for 30 minutes, with me mostly sitting in my underwear in the cockpit. I would get Triteia moving, climb back into my nest, then she\u2019d wallow again.<\/em><\/p>\n

Finally I\u2019d had enough, put on my foulies to climb out into the cockpit \u2013 only to find that we were sailing perfectly on 240\u00b0 making fine speed.<\/em><\/p>\n

The solo sailor, to a certain degree, is always on watch, even when you\u2019re off watch. There are no other hands to quiet the boat, to keep her moving efficiently and on course. The best we can do is be patient, keep the boat balanced and trimmed and hope the squalls are kind to you when they arrive. The trade off is you don\u2019t have anyone else to complain when the wind and seas are not co-operating.<\/p>\n

I departed Los Angeles and sailed for the Hawaiian Islands on my 1965 Alberg 30 sloop Triteia in August 2021. The passage ended up taking me 32 days due to total steering loss some 1,000 miles from the Hawaiian Islands. I resorted to steering by drogue for 18 days then proudly dropped the hook off the world-famous Waikiki Beach on O\u2019ahu.<\/p>\n

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Frederick sailed from Fiji to New Zealand and cruised the Bay of Islands without engine. Photo: James Frederick<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Solo ocean sailing means you must face all the challenges alone, but it also means you don\u2019t have to worry about a mate or crew member when all seems lost. I lay adrift for two days during that ordeal, attempting to dive on the rudder to lash a line, to no avail. A task I assumed would be an easy fix proved completely impossible. I was faced with only two options; call for help and scuttle my beloved boat that I had spent the last four years preparing; or find a way to steer her to safety.<\/p>\n

I have a chilling memory off imagining her filling with water as I scuttled her and climbed up a rope ladder on the side of a cargo ship. I recall saying \u201cHell No!\u201d out loud and realised for me, there was only one option; to find a way. And that\u2019s exactly what I did.<\/p>\n

If I\u2019d not been alone, I\u2019d have had to consider the well-being of the crew, who would have likely been pushing for rescue when all seemed lost. Being able to see it through alone allowed me the time to figure out a solution.<\/p>\n

Was it easy? Absolutely not, all the stresses of that situation laid solely on my shoulders, the weight was heavy and the consequences great. But I prevailed. Hopefully I won\u2019t face future challenges of that magnitude, but if I do I know I\u2019ll find a way. To sail around the world alone, you must be mentally fit and able to control your emotions and anxiety.<\/p>\n

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Squalls on passage from Los Angeles to Hawaii. Photo: James Frederick<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

August 30th 2021<\/em><\/strong>
\n24\u00b0 56.821N 142\u00b0 54.323W<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

2030:<\/strong> We have already done 23.5miles since noon, that was yesterday\u2019s entire noon to noon run. The sun is golden and threatening to set and I have a 360\u00b0 view of clouds that look like they were painted as a scenic backdrop for a western set in Monument Valley. But in the place of dusty plains and mountains is the steady rolling sea much further than I can see. <\/em><\/p>\n

We have had amazing and constant winds all day long and have been charging along or surfing down waves since sunrise. I had a wonderful visitor today \u2013 a White-tailed Tropicbird! He was majestic and beautiful and attempted to land atop my mast, but its motion was too unruly.<\/em><\/p>\n

Article continues below\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

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4 options for sailing around the world (from easy to adventurer)<\/a><\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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One of the biggest gifts you can give yourself is time. Time to do the things you love, time to\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n