A circumnavigation for two

Sodric around the world

« At the end of October 2012, Sodric left her home port of La Rochelle for a round-the-world trip lasting several years. An epic that begins in the most beautiful way, downwind, towards Spain and the coasts of Galicia. A stopover of a few days in A Coruña and then Bayona allowed for settling the last few details of living on board, before heading offshore.

Faced with poor weather, Sodric stopped in Cascais, waiting for better conditions. This gave time to discover Lisbon, the majestic estuary of the Tagus, and we then set off again on a direct route, without flinching despite challenging weather, to Porto Santo, the first stopover in Madeira. We took the time to cruise several islands of the archipelago before heading for the Canaries where Sodric anchored in the bay at Abona, in Tenerife.

After returning to France for the holidays, we continued our cruise in early 2013 towards Senegal. A memorable stop, we were touched by traditional culture of the country, the many enriching encounters, including members of Voiles Sans Frontières organisation. Thanks to them, we participated in a medical solidarity mission. An extraordinary experience that we will long remember.

Then, the initial intention was to head for the Canaries from Dakar. But because of a cross sea of two to three meters, adverse winds and counter currents, we chose to go directly to Cape Verde and the island of Sao Vincente. A place with austere landscapes, but made so warm by its inhabitants. Sodric was to stay here all summer, while we went back to France. Then we went back to sea in early autumn with the aim of visiting the entire archipelago: a sometimes austere nature, sometimes lush, fishing, volcano… before crossing to the West Indies at the end of the year.

2,185 miles, 16 days and 14 hours of sailing, or 5.5 knots on average. This is the time it took us to reach Guadeloupe. A transat reduced to just a few numbers but, behind that, there is above all the pleasure of being at sea. During these long crossings, listening to the messages that Sodric sends us is primordial: a sail that flaps, the autopilot that strains too much, starting to luff, are all messages which need attention.

Arriving in Guadeloupe, after more than a year of sailing, Sodric needed a lot of care and the technical area of the marina at Pointe à Pitre was most welcome, for a small facelift: haulout, antifouling, replacement of the centreboard runners, demounting the wind generator… so many essential jobs to ensure perfect functioning of our little home on the water. All in just one week.

We were then able to enjoy turquoise waters with multi-coloured fish, and beautiful hiking on steep paths. We had definitely chosen the right moment, arriving during carnival at Abymes: an amazing gathering, very colourful.

We then went from island to island in the Caribbean: Dominica, Martinique, St. Lucia, the Grenadines, each with their own personality gave us wonderful memories.

After a return to Guadeloupe to spend the traditional end of year holidays with family, we head towards Panama and through the canal to join the Pacific, then on to the mythical Galapagos. Sodric was ready for her longest crossing, 3,000 miles, to French Polynesia. We chose to head for the Gambier atoll before making for the Marquesas.

After four months in France, we returned to the island of Tahiti where Sodric was patiently waiting for us, the time to do some work and enjoy some walking. It was now time to think about leaving French Polynesia, where over the course of a year and a half, we had discovered so much.

2017: NEW ZEALAND & NEW CALEDONIA

Arriving in New Zealand is like reaching the top of a high mountain peak. And not only because we are exactly at the antipodes from France, but mainly because this country of sailors is probably the one that best symbolizes the idea of a long voyage. You have to cross the world’s largest ocean to get there, and the last stage, over 1,000 nm, which makes sailors juggle with weather systems, is not the easiest.

We left New Zealand for Fiji on 18th May and found ourselves after a 7 day, rough crossing…in New Caledonia! This is both the advantage and the disadvantage of travelling by boat: being dependent on the forecast, but being able to roam from one country to another with no other form of constraint than the weather.

2018: AUSTRALIA

We chose to enter Australia at Bundaberg. Coming from New Caledonia, this town, located to the south of the Great Barrier Reef, was the perfect jumping off point for our next passage: slowly going down the east coast to reach Tasmania. »

Jean-Pierre and Isabelle Bobo