The Figure 8 Voyage
Randall Reeves
Randall Reeves started from San Francisco and linked the clipper route round Cape Horn, circumnavigating via the Southern Ocean, then a second rounding of Cape Horn and northwards up the Atlantic to Halifax and Nuuk before threading through westwards to regain the Pacific. After a first, failed attempt he was away alone for a year. It’s not a route that’s previously been sailed as a single voyage and Reeves was wise to choose Moli, a specialist metal-hulled yacht designed for high latitudes. This is the picture book of their voyage. While I marvelled at the intense, immense, wind-fretted Southern Ocean waves and the surprising brownness of the Arctic, I also wanted the deeper psychological exploration of a narrative account. Coming soon, I’m told.