15 lessons in circumnavigation

Koopmans learned the hard way to pick crew with great care. “You learn to work with crew and their wits. Generally we had a great crew apart from one criminal chef who made transfers to her own account and disappeared.”

"Go with the current and the winds, then you will stay in the bandwidth of good weather,” advises Koopmans.  Zeepaard’s circumnavigation started in Malta in 2009. The superyacht cruised the Mediterranean before setting off west across the Atlantic – the best way, according to Koopmans.

During Koopmans' three-year circumnavigation aboard Zeepaard, he and everyone on board were held hostage for three days while anchored off a town near Alexandria. “That was the end of our tour in Egypt,” he says matter-of-factly. “I decided there and then never to return.”

Perkins also remembers his time spent in Egypt with some negativity: “I have transited the Suez Canal only once and will never do so again.”

Cape Horn should be rounded in December, according to Perkins, but even then it can be calm or horrific.

“We had only a perfect 20-knot breeze on the beam, so we sailed around the island and then on across the Drake Passage to Antarctica. The following year at the same time a friend with a similar yacht encountered 120 knots of wind and was unable to round,” he remembers.

“Everyone talks about Alaska but no one mentions British Columbia and the Inner Passage,” say the owners of Twizzle. “But it is just spectacular and so remote from the rest of the world, with incredible wildlife, whales and animals and the most beautiful scenery in the world.

"Watching killer whales put on a 30-minute performance for us all around the boat, and bobbing about in a dinghy watching 12 humpbacks cooperatively bubble fishing for herrings was, as the Americans say, awesome! The glaciers were pretty good too.”

The homeward journey across the Indian Ocean took Zeepaard into pirate territory, something Koopmans was well prepared for.

“We made extensive modifications, including wrapping her up in chicken fence, barbed wire and electric fencing,” he recalls. “We also stuck a military number – ZP01 – on the bow, fitted shooting bunkers on deck and modified the engine room into a citadel from where we could operate all controls.”

For extra security, four Dutch Navy Seals joined the yacht for the journey.

Another headache on Koopamans’ trip was caused by red tape, most notably in Cuba. “Watch out in Cuba,” he warns. “Eleven government officials came to inspect, fill in and sign the same papers.”

Perkins recalls: “There was a crewmember who got stung by a Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish while cooling off mid-Atlantic and went into anaphylactic shock – twice. He pulled through thanks to the extensive medical facilities on board, but still wears the whip-like scars across his back.”

“As it never gets very dark at night in those high southern latitudes, we sailed at night,” Perkins recalls.

“This was very foolish, we discovered, as radar doesn’t always show even huge icebergs if they are in the process of capsizing – the echo gets reflected into outer space and not back to the yacht. One scary incident (picture the Titanic) ended our night adventures.”

Some of the sharpest memories for the owners of Twizzle are of Papua New Guinea, at once the most frightening port of call and the richest culturally.

“Papua New Guinea can be pretty scary and we were made to leave some of the islands we visited, despite having a knowledgeable guide on board,” they remember. “But we were forewarned about the dangers and it was worth it as we saw some extraordinary sights and met some of the most colourful people in the world.”