onpassage
An Element of Risk and an Uncertain Outcome: A Whale’s Tale
IT HAD ALL OF THE TRAPPINGS OF an adventure unlike any other I’d undertaken: a delivery from Cape Town, South Africa to Dubai – during a period of increasing reports of piracy along the most direct route. While I’m more than merely familiar with weather routing, this would certainly add a new spin to the art of selecting a route. And piracy wouldn’t be the only factor in determining how we’d proceed from Point A to Point B. 20 Multihulls Today • winter 2022
Part One: The author and crew have an adventurous rounding of South Africa’s Cape of Good Hope on their way up the Indian Ocean to Dubai by Bill Biewenga
Nirvana is a Gunboat 48 catamaran. Purchased in Newport, RI, the vessel was sailed to Cape Town by the owner, Monish Saini, and several crewmembers. I met Monish in Cape Town to help with the remainder of the trip halfway around the world. While in Cape Town, the vessel had the routine maintenance chores attended to, the rig inspected by Gunboat’s riggers, and re-provisioning was begun. The team was complete when
