“Capes are the poetic points of continents. Landmarks of legends. The focus of fears and goals to reach. Capes are the summits of our sailing souls.”
— Kaci Cronkhite from STEADY AS SHE GOES (women’s sailing adventure anthology)
All images ©Kaci Cronkhite.
Morning watch onboard TETHYS while crossing the equator in the Pacific in 1995.
At the helm of Nancy Erley's TETHYS while we rounded Cape York (NE corner of Australia) in 1997. Our double-handed circumnavigation--which on some passages included one or two women learning crew (a total of 19! from USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa) began in 1995 and ended in Port Townsend, 2001.
In the Indian Ocean, in 1997, I had the good fortune to meet Egon and Silvija Brandell (Sweden) who built their 46' fiberglass boat MAGNUM BONUM in the 1970s. In 2019, 2022, and 2023, I've sailed with Silvija (now 76) in the Baltic, North Sea, and Kattegat.
Selfie of Denmark's Mon Klint (white cliffs) in 2022 with Silvija (builder, captain, owner of MAGNUM BONUM) and Latvian friend Janis.
Sailing into the sunrise, on approach to Cape Pillars, SE corner of Tasmania, Australia double-handing HOLGER DANSKE with owner/captain Joy Phillips. Our 450 nm voyage saw winds as high as 35kts and breaking waves in Bass Strait that are the stuff of legend. A typical day in the Southern Ocean. Salty!
At the helm of Joy Phillips' HOLGER DANSKE in Tasmania's Storm Bay--after rounding Cape Pillars and Cape Raoul. Just in time for my 7th Australian Wooden Boat Festival!