On June 4 I received word that my application for a permit to transit Russia’s Northern Sea Route Area (NSRA) has been approved.  The permit allows me independent navigation in ice-free waters in all 28 “water areas” of the NSRA except 21 (not relevant to my intended route). The permit is valid from August 1, 2026, to September 30, 2026.

To make the most of the time allowed, I will try to cross the western boundary of the NSRA at Cape Zhelaniya as early in August as possible, leaving me the maximum amount time to make it through to Baffin Bay before the Northwest Passage starts to re-freeze in October.

I left Chesapeake Bay yesterday sailing northeast to my circumnavigation departure point at St. John’s, Newfoundland.

As some of you know, my original plan for this summer was to sail solo westbound through the Northwest Passage to Alaska and eventually back to my home cruising grounds in the Pacific Northwest.  However, last summer I got interested in the bigger idea of completing a solo circumnavigation of the entire Arctic, something that’s never been done before. The route necessarily goes through the Russian Arctic, requiring a permit from them for the transit. I started communicating with the Russians about this voyage last September. The discussions progressed to the point where I submitted my formal permit application document package last week. From their intermediate review of my plan, I think what I submitted is acceptable.  However, they’ve told me there is currently a technical problem with their ability to process applications for foreign vessels. Hopefully, the problem will be resolved soon. If not, I’ll revert to plan B – westbound through the Northwest Passage. I’m preparing Phywave for either possibility.

I’ve been reviewing the nautical charts for the Russian Arctic.  It’s really out there, a wild and strange place; it’ll be like sailing to the moon.  I really hope I get a permit to go up there.

I’ve completed the commissioning of Phywave – the engine, generator, watermaker, freshwater and other water systems flushed out and running, replacing the non-toxic antifreeze that was in there to keep them from freezing. They had some exceptionally cold weather here this past winter.

I bought a new 100 meter 10 mm G4 chain and 25 kg Rocna vulcan anchor. 

I’ll be replacing the Webasto heater this week because I still can’t get it to run even after completely redoing the fuel system. The fuel system is now delivering clean, metered fuel to the heater but it still won’t start. It’s likely a problem with the glow plug or combustion chamber. I watched a YouTube video of how to replace these components. Pretty complicated and time consuming – you have remove the heater and basically disassemble the whole unit to replace these parts. And the service kit with the required parts is almost $500. For about 3 times as much I can a new heater and just drop it in. Hopefully that will get it going again. I really want to have the heater working fo my voyage into the Arctic.

I’ll also replace the exhaust elbow on the Volvo Penta D2-50F engine with a stainless steel version. This elbow rusted through in Indonesia causing a lot of problems. I had no choice there but to replace it with another cast iron version but I don’t trust it not to rust out again so I’m replacing it with a stainless steel elbow as many others have.

I’ve installed a new Vitrifrigo 2 drawer refrigerator/freezer combination to replace the 2 drawer refrigerator-only I had before. 

I replaced all the plastic diesel jerry cans I bought in Puerto Montt, Chile, with new ones, and added 8 more. That gives me a total diesel capacity of 860 liters. That may seem excessive for a sailboat but for where I may be going, it may be necessary.

I have many other small projects to complete. I’m also reorganizing the boat and jettisoning stuff I never used and now realize I never would use. I learned things on my 7 continents voyage about organizing and running a boat.

I decided to install lithium house batteries but I’m hedging my bet by installing an additional AGM start battery in parallel with the first and a crossover switch so I can run the house off the start batteries if necessary. The lithium’s have internal battery managment systems (BMS) that with shut the batteries off if it detects an unsafe condition like a too-high charging voltage. That would leave the boat totally dark – no nav, no AIS, no AP, no lights, nothing. So I want to be able to quickly switch to an alternate power source while I address the problem. The battery project also  includes some upgrades like replacing the Victron inverter with a Victron Multiplus that will serve as both charger and inverter. 

Right now I’m more concerned about scheduling. To meet my sailing schedule for this summer, I really want the boat back in the water the first week of June when I’ll be heading north for Newfoundland. The major remaining projects are:

1. Anti-fouling paint. I’m trying to get the hull blasted and all new barrier coats and anti-fouling applied but the well-regarded contractor here is dragging their feet a bit. UPDATE 260512: I met with them and they are definitely committed to having the boat ready for the water by June 1. I explained my ambitious Arctic circumnavigation plans and emphasized the importance of leaving here on time so I can position Phywave to take advantage of the narrow time window when the Arctic passages will be open.

2. Battery project. The gear is here but getting the techs scheduled to do the installation will require some push. I also had them commit to finishing by June 1 before I paid the deposit. UPDATE 260511: I got a call first thing this morning that they will start work today. An ABYC technical is already at Phywave so I gave him the combination to the lockbox so he could get inside and start work before I get down there.

3. Rigging inspection, headsails back on, lubricate everything, etc. I have the riggers lined up for this as soon as Phywave is back in the water.  Riggers will only climb a mast with the boat in the water. On land the extra tipping moment of having someone at the top of the mast could cause the boat to tip out of its blocks. Once in the water, the boat can tip and right itself as it normally does when sailing. I don’t expect any problems here. I’ve already replaced some lines that were chafed and so infused with salt they squeaked going through the winches.

Last Sunday I returned to the Herrington Harbour North boatyard near Annapolis where my boat Phywave had been sitting for a year. I was happy to see everything lit up when I turn on the batteries despite an unusually cold winter here. Many small projects remain, like removing the non-toxic antifreeze from water and cooling systems, and a few big projects like blasting the hull to remove the blue antifouling paint that was poorly done in South Africa and replace it with the original black antifouling paint. Antifouling paint on fiberglass hulls can contain metal, typically copper, to inhibit marine growth but you can’t have copper on an aluminum hull due to dis-similar metal corrosion. Special ablative paint is needed. I’m also considering replacing the AGM batteries with lithium batteries for more capacity and faster charge times. However, lithium batteries on boats require more monitoring and careful use, not as robust and resilient as the AGM batteries I now have so I’m becoming a little reluctant about this project. Reliability comes from simplicity and redundancy, not complexity.

Last week I was notified that I have been awarded the 2025 OCC Vasey Vase Award recognizing an unusual or exploratory voyage made by one of its members.  It’s not awarded every year but only when a voyage is significant enough to qualify. I was very surprised by this news.

Someone I don’t know wrote:

“In nominating Harry for the Vasey Vase in 2025 I ask you to consider his unique achievement in emulating a previous feat of flying solo to seven continents and by then undertaking a single-handed sailing voyage to the same seven continents. Having already become only the fifth person to fly solo to all seven continents, the completion of the subsequent solo voyage turned the achievement into a world record worthy of the OCC Vasey Vase Award.”

I will travel to Edinburgh, Scotland, for the awards dinner on April 18. 

I was last in Edinburgh three decades ago but still feel acquainted with the place through Ian Rankin’s series of police/crime novels set there featuring sardonic, chain-smoking detective John Rebus. While investigating an apparent suicide of someone jumping off a castle wall during a military ceremony, complete with bagpipes, Rebus commented “Maybe the sound of the pipes broke his will to live.” Ha!  Good books.

Founded in 1954 and based in the UK,  the Ocean Cruising Club is the premier international organization for ocean-going sailors with more than 3,700 members in 85 countries. www.oceancruisingclub.org

On April 7, 2025, the Washington State House of Representatives adopted a Resolution recognizing and honoring my flying and sailing achievements.

My Dad was a radioman in the Navy in WWII, flying on patrol bombers searching for German submarines off the coast of Brazil and later over the English Channel. He flew out of an airfield at the small English village of Dunkeswell, a place I flew into myself in my around-world-flight in 2011.  He had become a ham radio operator as a teenager in the 1930’s so being a radioman in the Navy was a natural fit.  Morse code to him was a second language and part of the soundtrack of my childhood.

He had a long career in broadcast engineering, ultimately becoming VP of Engineering at KCET, the PBS televsion station in Los Angeles. He retired early to pursue a long-held dream to sail the world’s oceans with my Mom. As a retirement gift the PBS executives gave him this sextant.

They bought a suitable boat, moved on board, and started sailing along the California coast in preparation for bigger things. In 1980 they started sailing south along the Baja peninsula. They were a thousand miles into their voyage when my Mom discovered a lump in her neck.  They suspended their voyage and flew back to San Diego to have it evaluated.  It was cancer. My Mom put up a valiant fight, still living on the boat which was brought back to San Diego by a delivery skipper, but passed away in 1986.

My Dad sold the boat, eventually got re-married, and bought a house in Vista, California. This sextant was prominently displayed on a wall in the house.  When my Dad passed away in 2005 the sextant was handed on to me.

I’ve carried my Dad’s sextant with me everywhere I’ve sailed for the past 2 1/2 years, across the world’s oceans, to seven continents, several countries and dozens of harbors and anchorages around the globe. In this small way they were along with me, sailing the world as they once dreamed of doing.  I think they would have liked that. 

With my arrival today, January 29, 2025, in Fort Lauderdale (my North America landing), I have completed my solo voyage to 7 continents and become the first person to both fly and sail solo to all the continents. There aren’t any official records, and I don’t know what solo sailors have done over the years in terms of sailing to all the continents. However, I do know the few other solo pilots who have landed on all the continents. None of them are offshore sailors so I’m pretty sure I’m the first person to do both.

It’s a seemingly insignificant longitude except for me. Crossing it today, January 20, 2025, at 0928z marks the completion of my solo circumnavigation. I’ve now sailed  around the world, crossing all the meridians and the equator.

Some may wonder why that didn’t happen when I crossed the longitude of Tangiers, my farthest excursion east in 2022. Those of you who have followed my voyage recall I took a break at home after successfully sailing to Antarctica and back.  During the break I had a crew from Puerto Williams in Chile deliver Phywave through the difficult channels of Patagonia to Puerto Montt. When I returned to Chile, I resumed my solo voyage from the Reloncavi Yacht Club marina in Puerto Montt. The longitude of that marina is 78.9875 degrees West Longitude so it marks the beginning of my solo circumnavigation. I’ve now completed the circumnavigation by crossing that longitude again. Even though I didn’t return to my starting point, it’s still considered a circumnavigation.

In my last post I explained that the port side autopilot drive unit on my boat had failed, something I only realized when I disengaged the AP and tried to manually steer the boat upon arriving in Antigua. I was able to find a new replacement drive unit and get it to Antigua but I decided not to install it.  Removing the failed unit and installing the new one would have been a fair amount of work in a tight space in an aft compartment of my boat. In diagnosing the original problem, I also figured out I could make the starboard side AP completely independent of the port side AP so it can successfully steer the boat on its own. There was also a favorable weather window opening on January 15 for sailing north I wanted to hit which didn’t leave me time to install the new drive unit.  I’ll wait to replace the failed unit until I get to Florida. It means I’m now sailing with only one working AP but most boats only have one AP anyway. Having a backup AP was a luxury I wanted when I ordered Phywave back in 2020.  It turns out I needed it. 

I’m now en-route from Antigua to Rock Sound on Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. I expect to arrive there on Wednesday.

Conch fritters, stormy cocktails and a great reggae band at the Sea Dream restaurant was a pretty good first night in Jolly Harbour after a 4,000 nm, 30 day passage from St. Helena Island in the South Atlantic.

The first half of the passage, south of the equator, was sublime with solid following winds and sunny skies.  Crossing the equator into the InterTropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) the weather became cloudy with occasional rain squalls, one of which accelerated the wind from 15 kts to 40 kts, and change direction by 40 degrees, in less than 2 minutes. Fortunately, that one occurred during the daytime and I saw in coming, confirmed its location and approach speed on radar, and was able to reduce sails in preparation for it hitting me.  If a squall comes at night when I’m trying to sleep it will usually be a big surprise causing me to quickly scramble out of the rack and get on deck to reduce sails.

North of the equator there are also strong, looping currents that retarded my progress. The weather forecast showed a large area of very little wind along my direct route (about 300 degrees true) from St. Helena to Antigua. I had to divert west from that to avoid the worst of the “no wind” zone.  Still, I had single digit wind speeds for a few days and was lucky to get 4 kts boat speed.  When you’re trying to get passed a crossing current of 2 kts with slow boat speed it results in a lot of crabbing, sometimes up to 30 degrees. It’s miserable sailing.  I finally ran the engine for 6 hours to get out of the last of the strong crossing currents. The wind eventually picked up and I had a reasonably fast remaining week into Antigua although the 1-2 meter waves were right on the beam of the boat causing a lot of rolling and an uncomfortable ride.

Finally motoring into Jolly Harbour, I disengaged the autopilot (AP) and was shocked to discover my manual steering range at the helm was greatly reduced to about +/- 10 degrees from the normal range of +/- 35 degrees.  I was barely able to steer the boat enough to dock by the immigration and customs office.  Once I had completed the clearing-in process I was faced with getting my boat into my berth at the marina, typically requiring a lot of tight turns and full rudder steering range and the bow thrusters. I called the marina dockmaster on the VHF and explained my problem.  With his help and another guy, we finally got the boat passed the tight turn into my berth.

Needless to say, I can’t leave Antigua with this steering problem.  Once tied up in my berth, I started taking things apart. My boat has 2 rudders, 2 steering wheels (one connected to each rudder), 2 AP computers (one as a backup) and 2 AP drive units which convert the signals from the AP computer into the “muscle” needed to actually move the rudder.  There is a heavy steel bar that connects the rudders to always keep them in sync. After disconnecting the mechanical components, it was clear the port side drive unit had failed such that it restricted the rudder range of motion. Once I disconnected that drive unit from the rest of the steering system I had my full range of steering back. It’s unlikely I can fix  it so it looks like a replacement is needed.  Sourcing it, getting it to Antigua, and installing it will be a challenge.

I thought my stop in Antigua would be a holiday but it seems an offshore sailboat is a demanding taskmaster never relenting on what’s required to keep it going.