In Jan 2022 Moonwave and her crew Sébastien & Sophie have officially finished their first circumnavigation with the return to Sint Maarten in the Caribbeans [22 months in total]. The adventure started in March 2020 with a zero-fuel-used sail of 1200 nm from Martinique to Panama. Delivery – we did it again… [March 2020] & Atlantic to Pacific – Passage of the Panama Canal [March 2020]
After a short stay in Panama and an epic passage of the famous Panama Canal – the world stood still and Moonwave has proven her reliability and autonomy in a beautiful bay in the North of Costa Rica. See Lifeaboard, Lockdown & Autonomy [March to July 2020] & ABC of Quarantine at Anchor [March to June 2020]
In July 2020, we had a great crossing of the Pacific Ocean from Costa Rica to Nuku Hiva in the Marqueses islands with a short “anchor stop” in the Galápagos Islands.
Nuku Hiva was a an awesome stop over and we have really fallen in love with the lush green hills and empty beaches. Darwin to Gauguin [July 2020] & Landfall in Nuku Hiva [July 2020]
The second stop in the French Polynesian was the Atoll of Fakarava with the beautiful lagoon and amazing underwater world. We fall in love with the different shades of blue. The Atoll of Fakarava [July 2020]
Our stop in Tahiti was very productive with lots of boat maintenance done around Papeete. We enjoyed of the variety and beauty that Tahiti had to offer. “A lot to do on land and on the water” and so “little” time. Definitively a destination that we will return to one day… We also enjoyed the fact that lots of local traditions are still alive and not only “shown off” for tourists. Tahiti & Moorea [2020]
The original purpose of trip to the South Pacific was to sail to New Zealand to watch the Americas Cup but plans changed a lot during this turbulente times [2020/21] – and we will add New Zealand to our long list of destinations to visit an other time.
For most cruisers when sailing around the world, the trip from Panama to the Marqueses is one of their longest “leg” as after French Polynesia there are lots of other island paradises [Tonga, Cook Islands, Fiji, Vanuatu etc.] and exciting destinations like New Zealand and Australia to stop at. But unfortunately for us non of those destinations was able to welcome us easily – so we crossed the Pacific Ocean from Tahiti to the Torres Strait on the top of Australia and further towards the Indian Ocean. We did get fresh fruits and vegetable in Port Moresby [Papua New Guinea] but didn’t to enter the country [the coast line we saw when passing by makes us want to come back to discover this part of the world]. Pacific Crossing [Oct 2020]
The Indian Ocean welcomed us with light winds and we managed to enter Indonesia in Bali for a couple of weeks. Pacific to Indian Ocean [Nov 2020]
Our stay in Bali was longer than originally expected. Shipping of parts from overseas turned out to be challenging and we were unlucky as one airline lost our important cargo. But Bali without “tourists” [the borders closed again after we arrived] was amazing and we are happy that we didn’t miss out on this experience. Bali – Indonesia [Nov 2020 to Feb 2021]
From Bali we continued westbound across the Indian Ocean – the first part was tricky with an interesting stop over in Cilacap on the island of Java. Crossing the Indian Ocean – Part I [Feb 2021]
The trip from Bali to the Seychelles took us twice across the Equator and added lots of extra miles due to light winds all along the trip. Moonwave managed like a champ and we discovered additional benefits of the Hybrid Propulsion System during this passage. Crossing the Indian Ocean – Part II [March 2021]
The small country [in population] but big in number of islands and surface – the Seychelles is taking a special place in our “hearts”. A real sailing paradise in the Indian Ocean. We also achieved a lot of maintenance and work on the boat. We definitively would love to return to discover the “outer” islands of the Seychelles with untouched nature and protected nature reserves. Seychelles [March to Sept 2021]
On our trip to South Africa we stopped in Mayotte, a small French Island located between Africa and Madagascar [close to the Comoros Islands] and this was one of the big “surprises” of the trip and definitely a place we want to return and spend more time. The lagoon of Mayotte is one of the biggest in the world and we were amazed by the underwater world and the fact that dolphins came to see us at the anchorage. Mayotte [Sept/Oct 2021]
South Africa was one of the other big positive “surprise” of the trip – To be honest as it was our first visit we didn’t really know what to expect but it was definitively better than what we had been told. The weather and winds are not to be underestimated but the friendly welcome in the harbors and the food & local produce were some of the best we ever had. And after the Pacific Ocean in 2020, we completed the crossing of the Indian Ocean with the passage of the Cape of Anghulas and Cape Point – Cape of Good Hope, a big milestone in our “life as sailors”. South Africa & Around Cape of Good Hope [Oct/Dec 2021]
After a great stay in South Africa – we left Cape Town in December to return to the Caribbeans. In miles, this was the longest passage of the whole trip but what a joy to be at sea… Diagonal Crossing of the Atlantic Ocean [Dec 2021]
In total we sailed almost 30.000 nautical miles double handed on an amazing and super reliable boat – Moonwave. She has taken great care of us and vice versa. We improved our “maximum speed” record in the Mozambique Channel and enjoyed to be at sea. We have also proven that the Deep Blue Hybrid System is working great on board and that Moonwave could stay long times at anchor and sail plenty of miles without outside assistance.
We would not have mind for the planet to be bigger and to add some more new destinations and ocean passages but it’s also nice to come back to a known place and meet old-friends again and we had a great welcome by the Gunboat community in Sint Maarten. Only after a very experienced and long-time Gunboat captain mentioned that we are the first Gunboat crew to sail around the world – we felt very proud and realized what we have achieved. We also have proven that Moonwave can be comfortable and reliable to sail short-handed – like the originally design idea of those boats to be fast and safe family cruisers.
To sum up – we would definitively love to sail around the world again and it would be nice to have more places to stop and to be able to share the joy of the ocean passages/amazing sunrises & sunsets with others. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below or send us an email…
Sophie & Sebastien
P.S. Please check out the corresponding articles with more details and pictures…
Very enjoyable detailed account. Looking forward to more of your adventures.