EASTBOUND EPIC

A DOUBLE-HANDED PASSAGE FROM TURKEY TO SEATTLE WAS AN ADVENTUROUS SOLUTION FOR PETER AND GINGER NIEMANN

- PETER AND GINGER NIEMANN

Departure time is a time of optimism for Ginger and me. All the stress of decision-making and the work of planning and provisioning is behind us, and we are almost always full of good hope for an upcoming passage. Last year we were readying to leave the Mediterranean, departing on a voyage to home half a world away near Seattle.

Our ketch, Irene, was ready to go - with new bottom paint, fresh varnish, and full fuel and water tanks. Her lockers were crammed with excellent and inexpensive Turkish produce; olive oil, wine, grains and meats. As we stowed provisions on that bright and sunny morning, we glanced past the breakwater and saw the Med was deep blue and speckled with whitecaps. A perfect sailing wind was blowing.

Our crew of two was ready to go, too. Turkey had been a wonderful place to visit, both for sailing and visits inland, but the Covid pandemic had impacted the world while we were there. We'd been locked down for four months, and onward borders were closing.

We needed to come up with a plan for action, and we came up with a bold one: we decided to sail non-stop, mostly eastbound, halfway around the globe. We'd sail from Turkey to Seattle: down the Red Sea, across the Indian Ocean, and into the Pacific, crossing eastward in the northern latitudes. We would stop in Djibouti, Indonesia, Japan, and lastly at Dutch Harbour in the Aleutian Islands.