World Cruise Preparations

Since my expedition to Svalbard and circumnavigation of Spitsbergen in 2006 I have been asked so many times what I was going to do next.The only response could be 'the world'.So we will be leaving 26th June 2008, from Port Edgar, going westabout taking 2 years to complete the voyage.I have been busy fitting out the boat with solar panels, extra water tanks, LED nav lights, large propane cylinders, bimini, etc etc and amassing engine spares, spares for this and that, everything to be self sufficient, and pilot books and charts for the whole trip, calculating routes, ports of call, route timings: the list seems endless.Other items to be dealt with which are not boat related but demand attention are our domestic arrangements at home, which are just as important.We have to make sure our bills at home are paid, the grass gets cut, the post is dealt with periodically etc. I lie awake at night thinking about the things I still have to do and adding tasks that 'should really be done' and thinking what would happen if…….However I know that as soon as we untie our mooring lines from the pontoon at Port Edgar all the unfinished jobs on my list will be forgotten and my dream of a lifetime will be coming true.

Gordon Campion

While Gordon busies himself with the trivia of boat preparation for the forthcoming epic voyage, (route, crew, charts, permissions, etc etc) I am tied up with the more important issue of just how one stocks up on two years of toiletries. I have done my research as any real explorer would, and shocking though I know you will find this, there is no outlet in the Galapagos Islands for Oil of Olay or John Frieda anti- frizz hair serum!!!

Friends have used many words to describe how they feel about my plans to sail the world e.g.

Brave, Fool, Idiot etc., but up 'till now I have treated such expletives with disdain. This discovery has, however made me realise the enormity of what I am about to undertake.

Think of it girls! …The possibility of long long stretches of time with no (or rationed) PRODUCTS!

Gordon has had the gall to suggest that all available hold space is required for such mundane stuff as food, water and worst of all, engine and boat bits. I know that in time sense will prevail. He has after all only to imagine three weeks at sea in my company, with the consequences of every day being a bad hair day, and my inevitable response to running out of baby wipes.

I know I can depend on every sailing "sister ", should he broach the subject with them, to give me full support in this very serious matter.

In desperation,

Anne Campion