Randall Reeves to complete Figure 8 Voyage around Antarctica and the Americas

Randall Reeves and s/v Moli are expected to return to San Francisco after their historic circumnavigation of the Antarctic and American continents © Ocean Cruising Club

OCC Member Randall Reeves and s/v Moli will have completed an historic circumnavigation of both Antarctica and the Americas in one season. Randall Reeves departed from San Francisco just over one year ago on what he called the Figure 8 Voyage.

This solo journey would take him around the Antarctic through the Southern Ocean, then up the coast of the Americas and through the Northwest Passage to return to San Francisco. This has never been done before.

Randall will arrive in Northern California in plenty of time to make it to the Golden Gate Bridge for his return on the 19th of October. He's going to gently potter down the coast and prepare for his return to civilization, so the official return date of October 19th is firm, weather permitting of course.

Randall wrote in his blog on October 4:

"All day I sat by the lee window and wondered what I should think of all these miles under the keel. So much water. Almost a year of perpetual motion. Only to return to where we started. Without a hold full of gold. And not feeling that much wiser.

But satisfied. Is that what this was about?

Though not fully, not yet. Now is not quite the time for reverie. A very stiff wind off the coast next Tuesday/Wednesday may make that final approach tricky.

Better to stay focused. After the anchor is dug in, then philosophy. For now, sail."

We are standing by to welcome Randall and Moli home and celebrate their remarkable achievement.

The schedule for the weekend will be posted by mid next week including the Saturday celebrations and the Sunday reception. If you are planning to attend, keep an eye out as the organizers will need your official RSVP for a couple of the events so they can get you into various locations.

We're sharing some general plans now as some of the logistics are still being worked out. We're estimating based on tides that Randall will come under the Golden Gate Bridge between noon and 1pm (1300h PST, 1900h GMT) Saturday Oct 19th. If you're going to be on a boat, the assumption is that the rendezvous point will be close to Mile Rock.

If you're coming to join us on land, we'll be on the seawall in front of Travis Marina. We'll be meeting there around noon. Note - there is tons of parking in the lot behind the marina.

After the "wave under the bridge" portion of the day, we'll be moving to a secondary location to be announced for a champagne toast, media interviews, and all that fun stuff. The location will be updated soon - currently either in Sausalito or Richmond CA.

There will also be a reception on Sunday (in Richmond CA) with a special event with members of the Ocean Cruising Club. One and all are invited and should include opportunities to tour the boat. We're excited to announce that past Vice Commodore of the OCC Tony Gooch (former owner of Moli and the first person to circumnavigate the world solo nonstop from the west coast of the Americas) will be on hand for Q&A.

Team Figure 8 will be sending updates along with times, exact locations and other information, as things get clearer. Media access is available for the predicted October 19 return to San Francisco Bay, where 'The Figure 8 Voyage' began one year ago.