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Rod Hall and Bridget Carter
Bridget and I completed a
circumnavigation which had started out as a planned 3 year
around the world trip. However we actually spent 10 years
cruising as this allowed us to extend our cruising and to
explore countries in more detail. Bridget and I gave up our
careers to do our circumnavigation and have never looked back.
Our lives have been powerfully enriched by our experiences of
exotic countries, different cultures and of course wonderful
sailing and idyllic anchorages.
Mijbil
The boat in which we left the UK
was an Alan Buchanan designed Saxon class called Mijbil, a 35
foot traditional wooden boat built in 1961.
She was a lovely sailing boat
that was designed as a fast cruiser, but not really an ocean
cruiser. She sailed very well and often out sailed cruising
boats much bigger than her over both long and short distances.
Before leaving on our "big" trip, we sailed Mijbil regularly in
the English Channel, France and across to Ireland. Mijbil
excelled herself when we sailed her from the UK to New Zealand.
There are three memorable storms that she took us through, her
behaviour in bad weather always impressed us, and her general
high passage speed was always pleasing.
It was in New Zealand that we
decided to change boats, we sold Mijbil and bought Peer Gynt II.
Peer Gynt II
Peer Gynt II is a serious no
nonsense blue water cruiser. She is 44 feet long and was
launched with a displacement of 16 tons. We estimated that in
full cruising trim she was displacing 20 tons. The size of the
boat concerned us at first, was she going to be too big for the
two of us. The issue with short handed sailing is that on ocean
passages the one person on watch needs to feel comfortable
handling the boat themselves, only needing to call "all hands"
for the reefing of the mainsail. However we soon discovered that
she was easier to sail on long passages than Mijbil. The main
reasons being that she was a more stable platform in rough
weather, and being on deck for reefing was less hazardous. She
behaved very well in rough conditions and would sail through a
steady 40-50 knots quite happily. The extra space, queen size
double bed and hot showers were also greatly appreciated!
Click on photos to enlarge
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