A Tale of Two Yachts: One Century Separates Our Sailing Couples’ Remarkably Similar Cruises

A joyous comparative study of two kindred voyages undertaken a lifetime apart.

In early summer 2015, following recent retirement, Barbara and Robert White left Plymouth, UK, on their elderly sailing yacht Zoonie, heading westwards to commence their circumnavigation. Eighty-seven years before them, in late summer 1928, recently married Erling and Julie Tambs left Ulv ysund, Norway, aboard their engineless, retired pilot cutter Teddy, on a similarly westwards route, to begin their cruise to the Pacific Islands.

Both couples rose to the demanding challenges of short-handed sailing and at the same time enjoyed and learnt from the new places and people they encountered on their travels. But the very different times in which they lived determined their status as circumnavigators, the knowledge and instruments they could rely upon, the places they visited and ultimately the outcome of their voyages.

Combining extracts from her blog, passages from Erling’s book The Cruise of the Teddy and an enthusiastic curiosity to learn more about the world, Barbara embarks on a magnificent journey across oceans, between cultures and through time. From the highs of being welcomed to new lands with open arms and experiencing indigenous customs and traditions first-hand to the lows of devastating earthquakes and near-fatal misfortune, A Tale of Two Yachts offers an insight to lands and lives afar, all the while reflecting on what it means - and takes - to commit oneself to such a challenging expedition afloat.

In the end, the fate of the two yachts is determined by the elements - that which no sailor, no matter how advanced their technology, can control - and the intervention and generosity of the people present when disaster strikes.

While a tale of two yachts, this is at heart a tale of two couples, with a shared love for life and for the sea.