Sailing Around the World

The Circumnavigation

When my parents were still in Sydney and my brother had just been born, my father decided it was time to settle down and so went to a bank to secure a home loan. They turned him down and, as normal people do, he went to the nearest boat yard and bought a yacht. We then left Australia in 1985 and, after circumnavigating the globe, returned in 1991. We eventually traded the yacht for dry land in 1993. I spent 12 years of my life aboard a yacht named Pampero II. I loved Pampero dearly and I regularly visited her even after we moved to land. When I was 18, I asked my father to give her to me. He turned me down and some years later sold her to a guy who fixed her up nicely. She's now yet another owner away and down in Melbourne, last I heard.

During the twelve years we narrowly escaped coups, officials demanding bribes for clearance, storms, and regular groundings.

Countries are listed in order of visitation over alphabetical; they come to some 32, not including Christmas Island, which is an Australian dependency. Everything was accurate when I wrote it in 1999, and much in each country has changed since. Flags depicted are those used at the time of visitation, as are currencies mentioned and place names. My mother kept a journal during our trip, which I referred to while writing the following.

At the bottom of each country's page there are a set of arrows. These are to navigate onto the next or previous country. (updated 2010-07-16)