Since we left Fiji in June last year, till we reached Halden this fall, we covered 15,000nautical miles, which is more than half way around the world in only 14 months. It wasour most challenging year away, complete with two groundings, electrolysis andtechnical problems, break-ins and illness. All this while transiting some of the world'smost pirate infested waters and war torn areas. Yet, it was filled with unique andwonderful experiences too.

Christmas "&" New Year Millennium Celebrations in Thailand

Last year's Xmas log covered our adventures up to and including Malaysia. Fromthere, we moved on to Thailand where we spent a very cozy Christmas alone in thesplendid isolation of beautiful Phang Nga Bay. New Years Eve 2000 was celebratedin total contrast on famous Patong Beach which is known for its wild New Yearcelebrations. It was packed with cruisers and exhilarated tourists from all over theworld as well as the local Thais. Huge crowds watched the spectacular midnightfireworks and crowded the streets afterwards to take in the craziest night life you canimagine. Here, men who have become women, and vice versa danced and strippedand generally showed off their attributes, capturing tourists, young and old alike. Afterhaving witnessed all this, we truly believe Thailand to be the kinkiest sex machine inthe world!

Thieves onboard!

But the "Land of Smiles" also has some very interesting natural phenomena, theso-called "hongs", which means "room" in Thai. These are caves carved out by the seaand waves. They can only be reached from the water by dinghy through low tunnelsthat open up to the sky inside steep, jungle clad pillar-like islets. On Boxing Day, wewent to explore such a "hong". Good thing that we forgot our camera onboard,because when we came back out of the cave to get it, we discovered that a local"long-tail" boat had tied up alongside Nor Siglar. We roared out and caught tworobbers red handed in the act. Had we returned later, as planned, we would havebeen cleaned out totally. As it was, they just got away with some coins and moneywhich we collect as souvenirs from countries we visit.

Circumnavigation within Reach

Since New Years, we have put another 9,000 nautical miles (almost 17,000 km)under the keel. First across the Bay of Bengal to the Maldives, then across the IndianOcean to Oman and Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula through the "Gate of Tears",Strait of Bab el Mandeb on the Horn of Africa into the Red Sea, past the poor andwar torn countries of Eritrea and Sudan, then Egypt and the Suez Canal to Israel,where we crossed our line from June 1996 and could finally join the exclusive club ofCircumnavigators.

Pirate infested Waters

We can hardly say that this last stretch went without a hitch. First, the piracy in theGulf of Aden off the coasts of Somalia and Yemen was a real worry. An Australianboat ahead of us was attacked and boarded by pirates. It was very dramatic. Thewife was shot in the leg and the couple lost just about everything they owned exceptthe boat. Later, two other sailboats were chased by some smaller, open boats, butwere able to outrun them and escape. Naturally, we became very apprehensive.Assuming there is safety in numbers, we formed a group of 5 boats and sailed withinview of each other, keeping in touch via VHF. This method obviously worked, asthere were no incidents.

Caught in a huge Fish Net

Another real danger confronted us, however, during a darkand stormy night in the middle of the Indian Ocean, as we were booming along at 7knots in brisk, 25-30 knot winds. I was off watch and sound asleep, when suddenly Iheard Anne yell for help. I rushed up in my birthday suit to find that the boat hadslowed right down and turned around 180 degrees. Sails were flapping wildly andwaves came crashing into the cockpit. We were totally bewildered. And it was onlywhen we discovered a giant, phosphorescent shape in the form of a "V" astern, thatwe realized what had happened. We were caught in an enormous fish net, several km.long.

Nor Siglar was literally hanging by her rudder with sails up in very strong winds.Somehow we managed to get the sails down at once to ease the pressure on therudder, since if the rudderpost broke and the rudder fell off, we would have a holethat could fill the boat with water in minutes. After a frantic 3-hour ordeal with theboat bucking and heaving and waves coming over the stern drenching us, we finallymanaged to cut ourselves loose. It was all I could do to hold on to the net long enoughwith the boat hook while Anne, lying flat on her belly over the side, hanging on fordear life, managed to cut it with a big bread knife which was tied to the end of a longbroom handle. This was probably the most dangerous episode of our entire 9-yearvoyage.

The Good outweighs the Bad

Fortunately, the good usually outweighs the bad, and we had plenty of wonderfulexperiences too, especially in the northern Maldives. These islands don't cater totourists, and where we were, on a tiny, little flat islet called Uligan, there were noneexcept sailors. We were not allowed to visit any other islands in the area, but weremade very welcome where we were. Again, Anne and I became very popular bydonating old, used eyeglasses. The old folks in particular were very pleased to be ableto read again. Everywhere we went people recognized us, and children showered uswith beautiful shells. Uligan was a lovely, clean and peaceful place with an authentic,paradisiacal atmosphere. It was also the only place on our entire voyage where weexperienced the thrill of swimming with the giant mantarays. Their 3-4 m wingspan isawesome!

The dreaded Red Sea

The Red Sea, known for its strong, northerly winds that blow almost incessantly, isconsidered a nightmare for sailors. However, if one allows plenty of time in order towait for weather windows, it can be a delightful experience with its many beautiful andunique anchorages tucked behind reefs and inside so-called "marsas" and "khors",long, narrow inlets which snake themselves way into the desert. Here, one can restsafely at anchor in flat calm waters while the wind is howling in the rigging, watchingthe whitecaps outside and camels and Bedouins ashore going about their daily chores.

Of the Red Sea countries we visited, we enjoyed Eritrea the most. Eritreans areprobably the most handsome people we have seen anywhere. The younger womenare simply gorgeous! You also have to admire the spirit and positive attitude of thissmall nation of 3 million people that has managed to fight off and actually defeatEthiopia with its population of 60 million and military help from both the U.S. andEurope.

Although Egypt was fascinating with its fabulous historical sites, we weredistracted by all the begging and nagging for "baksheesh" everywhere. We particularlydisliked the Suez Canal Pilots who constantly asked for cigarettes and money andwould not leave the girls alone. So after this final, unpleasant experience, thepoverty and the hard going up the Red Sea, it was a great relief to arrive in Israel, asmall, Americanized oasis in the middle of the desert, with all the comforts of thewestern world.

Cocktails with Shimon Peres!

Since there are few sailboats in Israel and even fewer that have sailedaround the world, they made a big fuss over us, celebrating our circumnavigation withinterviews in newspapers and magazines. We even met and had a drink with ShimonPeres at a cocktail party at the Norwegian Embassy on 17. May, Norway's Independence Day!

Oh no! Not again!

Since we had covered the Mediterranean twice before, and since we were anxious toget across both the Bay of Biscay and the North Sea before September when the fallstorms get into high gear, the trip from Israel to Norway simply became like a deliveryjob. In Gibraltar we experienced a second break-in. Just after having checked in, wewent to the bank to get some local money and when we came back to the boat, wefound a young fellow hiding in the forward bunk. Again, we were lucky to catch thethief before he had time to steal anything. He is still in jail and we have been asked toreturn in the spring to act as witnesses at his trial.

An emotional Reunion

From Gibraltar, we flew down toMorocco to visit our friends who looked after us so well when I had my backoperation there just before Christmas '96. We have almost "adopted" this very poorfamily and are supporting them with a bit of money, to ensure their children will be able to get an education. We brought a bunch of old clothing and other things we don't need now that our circumnavigation and life onboard are almost over, and which they surely can use. It is gratifying to be able to help them a little. The children are like grandchildren to us.

THE GRAND FINALE!

From Gibraltar to Norway we really lucked out with excellent sailing conditions andarrived in Halden on schedule, August 20. The yacht club had organized a grandreception for us with a big flotilla escort into the harbour, where Anne's 95-year oldmother was at the head of a welcoming party which included local and national radio,TV and newspapers! To top it off, we were made life members of Halden YachtClub.

So now, after all this attention and having logged 56,000 nautical miles (twice aroundthe world) and visited 76 countries and island colonies in 9 years, it will be nice toslow down a bit. And we are really looking forward to getting together with family and friends again, and to begin a new life as landlubbers.

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