Jon Sanders is back home – well, almost.

“An octogenarian sailing legend has docked in Bundaberg on his 11th circumnavigation of the globe, facing headwinds of a global pandemic and wild weather along the way”, writes ABC News from Australia. By this time, Jon Sanders has already sailed around 19,000 nautical miles after departing from Fremantle, Western Australia, in November 2019 in his 34-foot Sparkman & Stephens designed yacht “Perie Banou” – the very one in which he has already circumnavigated the globe a few times and also, as the first solo yachtsman ever, sailed around Antarctica. During this voyage, in 1981-82, he passed south of the three great capes: Horn, Good Hope and Leeuwin, before rounding Cape Horn a second time. He then turned north to Plymouth, UK, before returning south and around Good Hope once more to reach Fremantle.

On this voyage he was also raising awareness for plastic pollution in the oceans and taking water samples for Curtin University in Australia: “The water sampling has gone smooth as silk, every day. 100 litres pumped through and the samples have gone off to Curtin University. More sampling to do for the rest of the voyage to Fremantle”, he writes in his blog.

Jon’s 11^th circumnavigation went well until the global pandemic hit as he arrived in the Caribbean (see our interview, below). On the last leg of the journey so far, from Tahiti to Bundaberg, Australia, he then survived some of the severest weather he had experienced in decades. “He hit three very big storms, and at one stage he was sailing with all the sails down to slow the boat down with winds of more than 120 kilometres an hour and high seas crashing over the boat,” Mr Davis, Jon’s shore team manager, said to ABC News.

The boat took on so much water that eventually the engine was flooded and the electronics went down. This is why the boat needs some major repairs while in Bundaberg, before setting out again on the last and final leg to Fremantle. As Jon writes in his uniquely modest style in his Blog: “A few repairs from the big storms after I left Tahiti. That should keep me busy for a couple of weeks, maybe more. The back-up here in Bundy is very good, A1. So it is.“

We spoke to Jon on the phone while he was in Bundaberg. Out first comment concerned his 11^th circumnavigation at the age of 80 / 81 years, to which he replied: “Not many have done more than 10 circumnavigations and I am probably the oldest. I am not sure, but possibly.” So, he also celebrated his birthday while at sea? Jon laughs: “Yes. I am pretty much used to that!”

By the time he will finally be home in Fremantle, he will have sailed around 24,000 miles, having stopped at Mauritius, Cape Town, St. Helena, St. Maarten, Panama, Tahiti and now Bundaberg. Did the global pandemic affect his schedule and plans at all? “Yes”, he replies. “That was in St. Maarten, which actually had the highest rate of infection per capita. I spent 2 weeks isolated on board, then also the lagoon was closed. However, I had to get to Panama, there again I spent 2 weeks in isolation, before at least the passage and my line handlers and such could be organized with Covid testing. Then I sailed more than a month to Tahiti, obviously without any contacts, so all was fine. Same here in Bundaberg, I have trackers on my boat, anyone could follow my route and see that I was by myself on the boat in isolation.”

“I had the right choice and configuration of sails”, says Jon. “My Mainsail only has a modest roach and so only short battens which is easier on the sail and on the sailor. In a storm you can just drop the mainsail on deck, no hassle with jamming batten cars or such. No stress on the sail, either. Full battens are good for having a big roach which is fine for inshore racing or daysailing, but which you don’t need when ocean sailing. It is also convenient when daysailing to stow the fully-battened sail on the boom, but not out in the ocean in severe weather. Same applies to the jib. I have a number 3 jib and no need for anything larger. You don’t want to be stuck with a large no. 1 Genoa in the ocean in high winds, and you do not want to have a furled-up number 1 Genoa in a storm!”

“This however is my set-up for ocean sailing, for daysailing it would obviously be different. Also, having these sails (smaller foresail) makes the boat easier to balance which in turn is so important for the self-steering to work properly. It all works together.”

“I had the right choice and configuration of sails”, says Jon. “My Mainsail only has a modest roach and so only short battens which is easier on the sail and on the sailor. In a storm you can just drop the mainsail on deck, no hassle with jamming batten cars or such. No stress on the sail, either. Full battens are good for having a big roach which is fine for inshore racing or daysailing, but which you don’t need when ocean sailing. It is also convenient when daysailing to stow the fully-battened sail on the boom, but not out in the ocean in severe weather. Same applies to the jib. I have a number 3 jib and no need for anything larger. You don’t want to be stuck with a large no. 1 Genoa in the ocean in high winds, and you do not want to have a furled-up number 1 Genoa in a storm!”

“This however is my set-up for ocean sailing, for daysailing it would obviously be different. Also, having these sails (smaller foresail) makes the boat easier to balance which in turn is so important for the self-steering to work properly. It all works together.”

What has changed of the past decades in regard to wildlife in the Oceans? “There are more whales around now than a few decades back. Also, from what I hear from others, there seem to be less collisions with whales. You always heard about them because they would cause major damage but now there seem to be not so many. Maybe, this is just my own thought, our electronics on board might warn them, who knows?”

Has he noticed any change in weather patterns over the years? “Well, you hear on the radio and on TV that there are definitely more hurricanes here, there and everywhere but in my experience, the weather changes all the time. I got caught out a few times on this voyage but that is also normal so I really can’t judge the big weather patterns and how they change over the years.”

“Well, you might say it would not be sensible for me to do a trip like this again at my age but one could have said that before this trip as well. And there is this good old English proverb: Never say never!”

You can read more about Jon’s Sail Wardrobe in an previous interview

We love Jon and his un-imitable style of writing his blog, so here is one entry from a few days before he reached Bundaberg to give you a sample: ‘Blimey, severe weather but not extreme. I just had my hot milk coffee … I feel like new man. That’s a wonder because I was struggling a bit.  But I did it.  It didn’t bother me.  Too busy to be bothered…’