Solo Girl-Smallest Boat Ever for Circumnavigation

by Nancy Knudsen on 23 Nov 2007 There's yet another woman who is setting sail to travel solo around the world, and this one is doing it in the smallest boat ever! On January, 1st, Heather Neill will set off from Steinhatchee in Florida on her 24ft sailing boat called Flight of Years, to circle the world. It's (at least) a 27,000 mile journey, and she estimates it will take about three years.

As far as she knows, it is the smallest sailing boat on which any solo woman has circled the world.

But Why? This is the question typically on many people's lips. Why give up her home, her investments, all her possessions – which have all been sold – to embark on a difficult, long, and surely sometimes very lonely, journey?

Heather's reply is cryptic: 'If you really have to ask why I'm embarking on this world voyage, you would probably never understand my answer anyway'.

However, her website gives some more insight:

'THE YEARS for each of us do indeed fly, and there comes a time when you have to reach out, like for the brass ring, and grab a strong hold on the remaining few. This is my brass ring. This is my dream. This is my Flight of Years. 'Flight of Years' is not just the name of a boat. It is a lifetime, the journey of a lifetime, and a dream.

Some dreams are born in an instant; others mature over time. My dream, my Flight of Years, began nearly forty years ago and has grown quietly ever since until, finally, it is no longer a dream.'

It helps that Heather's father, who has assisted her all the way in getting her boat ready, was always a keen sailor, and Heather has been on boats ever since she was merely a toddler.

The Route:

Heather will first head for Isla Mujures in Mexico. From there she will sail her tiny yacht to Panama, through the Canal, down the long ocean crossing to the Marquesas, probably over a month out of sight of land. Then West across the long Indian Ocean, and up through the Mediterranean, across the Atlantic and back home.

Funding:

She will be financed largely by her 'Buck-A-Day Benefactors', friends and fellow sailors who love what she's doing, and contribute a dollar a day for her frugal beans, rice and fish budget.

For the duration of her journey, we will be following Heather's progress, and you can learn more about Heather (or, if you support the idea of her project, even join as one of her sponsors?) by going to her website