A Savage world circumnavigation
East coast sailor John Savage is making his final preparations ahead of a four year solo circumnavigation around the world.
The ex-army Captain, who has not undertaken any long solo passages before, sought advice from Golden Globe skipper Susie Goodall and Dutch sailor Laura Dekker, who in 2011 at the age of 16 became the youngest person to sail alone around the globe.
‘I met up with Susie prior to her Golden Globe start and picked her brains. After a long chat and seeing her boat, I learnt that good seamanship can take you a long way and preparation is key. After looking at Laura’s approach to her voyage, it was clear that there is an element of “just getting on with it,”’ the 37-year-old told Yachting Monthly.
FREEDOM AND FLEXIBILITY
Savage, who first sailed at the age of two-and-a-half during a family sailing holiday on his grandfather’s Crystal 24 along the River Deben in Suffolk, did much of his training at the Joint Services Adventurous Sail Training Centre in Gosport. He continued sailing throughout his military career, which ended in 2012 when he left the army and entered the world of private banking in the City of London.
‘I was working in London and felt that I wasn’t spending enough time at sea. I began looking at sailing opportunities and came across Laura Dekker’s Maiden Trip as well as Youtube channels Sailing La Vagabond and Sailing SV Delos, and I had the realisation that a circumnavigation was not an impossible aspiration. I saw the freedom and flexibility that was out there if you put your mind to it and it was then that I decided to sail around the world,’ noted Savage, who is a Yachtmaster Cruising Instructor.
Initially he thought of circumnavigating with crew but decided this would impinge on the flexibility he craved.
He began looking for the ideal world cruiser and bought the 40ft Camper & Nicholson 40AC, Coralee in October 2016. The long fin keel yacht has spent the last 18 months being refitted at the Hayling Yacht Company. Work has included the removal of Coralee’s teak deck, replacing it with a more watertight grip paint finish.
To date, he has sailed 600 miles in her, and is confident ‘in her ability to look after me at sea.’ Savage has spent the last four years volunteering as a skipper for Turn to Starboard, a charity which uses sail training to help serving and retired military personnel affected by military operations.
He will be using his voyage to raise money for Turn to Starboard and the Blue Marine Foundation.
Savage plans to start his voyage from Falmouth by mid-september, and will be sailing the cruising route. This will take him to the Canaries, the Caribbean, including Bermuda which his great, great grandfather first surveyed 120 years ago, the Panama Canal, the Galapagos Islands, French Polynesia, Fiji, New Zealand, Australia, British Indian Ocean Territory, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Madagascar and South Africa. He will then detour to the Falkland Islands before heading back to Falmouth via the Azores.
His message to other cruisers dreaming of sailing further afield is, ‘To steal from Eric Hiscock, every small boat owner has a desire to sail around the world and I have the fortunate opportunity to do that. If you want to do it, just go and do it,’ he noted.
Savage’s progress can be followed at www.aswts.org.