In January 2017 my husband Eric Sponberg and I departed St. Augustine, FL, on our 35-foot sailboat Corroboree with the goal of sailing around the world. I have no idea whether we will make it. As with any journey, the path is never as straight as you optimistically plan. But you go anyway, in hopes of a great adventure and because you can’t ignore the tug in your heart that beckons you on.
This blog will be the story of our voyage…and much more.
Tying the Knot
When Eric and I left Florida in January 2017 to sail around the world in Corroboree, we could never have imagined all the adventures and misadventures that would befall us. We certainly didn’t foresee losing our steering 1,100 miles from Fernando de Noronha and having to effect a difficult emergency repair underway. So on departing
Sour Milk
When Corroboree left Cape Town and set out across the South Atlantic for the Caribbean in early March, Eric and I were buoyant. This final, 5,400 miles of our circumnavigation was unanimously proclaimed by both the cruising guides and veteran sailors to be a “milk run.” “Once you escape the Cape Town weather, it’s southeast
In the Footsteps of Napoleon
If you’ve never heard of St. Helena, no worries. A mere 47-square miles in size and with a total population of 4,439, this British Overseas Territory in the middle of the South Atlantic Ocean is one of the most remote islands on Earth. If you have heard of St. Helena, chances are the one thing
Farewell, South Africa
This is it—one last big leap across the South Atlantic from Cape Town to the Caribbean and our circumnavigation will be complete. We are prepping to leave this coming week and will sail it in three stages: Cape Town to St. Helena (1,700 miles); St. Helena to Fernando de Noronha, Brazil (1,750 miles); Brazil to
A World Apart
If you’ve ever sat riveted before a National Geographic or Nature safari program on TV, you know how an African safari goes—terrified impalas fleeing a fast-as-lightning cheetah, immense herds of zebras and wildebeests migrating across a grassy savanna, a family of thirsty elephants joyfully converging on a waterhole, a victorious lion chomping down on a
South Africa Sucks
I didn’t say that. I wouldn’t say that about any of the countries Eric and I have visited because even when we’ve had a bad experience somewhere, we focus on the good people and positive encounters that come our way. It’s easy for us to do that; we can raise anchor at any time and
Dancing for joy in Cape Town
Elated, euphoric, ecstatic, dazed, dead tired and above all grateful—We did it! We made it! At 0600 on 1 January 2023, Corroboree tied up in Cape Town, South Africa, a huge milestone on our circumnavigation. The 900-mile voyage from Richards Bay wasn’t our longest, and it was broken up by three rest stops en route.
Welcome to “Darkest Africa”
When Eric and I stepped off Corroboree onto the quarantine dock at Richards Bay, South Africa, it wasn’t quite our first time on the “Dark Continent.” In 1974 Eric spent one night in Cape Town on a business trip, and on our previous voyage in 1977-78, we did a memorable one-day tour from Gibraltar to
The Weather Gods Speak
When Corroboree departed Seychelles for Mayotte on 15 October, one thought, one plea, was uppermost in our minds: Please, don’t let this be another Sail Through Hell! After the storms and squalls of the Java Sea and the Indian Ocean, the whiplash winds and drenching rains, the broken ribs and broken equipment, we desperately needed
Sailing Through Hell – Part III
When we left the Maldives on 2 September, Eric and I kept one consoling thought in mind: Though we would once again be playing monster-under-the-bed with the unpredictable ITCZ (Intertropical Convergence Zone), the 1,100-mile distance to the Seychelles was 750 miles less than the previous leg, and whatever hell befell us this time would be