The decision is not an easy one for Janna Hars and Ilja Bode. But last winter, the two sailors in French Polynesia simply couldn't go any further. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, all the routes they had planned were blocked and the borders were closed. So they took the plunge and returned to where they had come from just a few months earlier: the Caribbean. From there, they are to continue straight on towards Europe.
The two sailors realise that this return journey will not be a walk in the park. Not only is the trade wind blowing against them, but most of the time the current is coming from the front. But they trust their luck and tackle the 4500-mile passage anyway.
It was to be an ordeal for both ship and crew. For 50 days, believe it or not, they embark on a veritable odyssey, sometimes even sailing in circles in search of moderate winds or better currents. They are beset by storms and lulls. And one night their backstay even breaks - with drastic consequences.
The gripping cruise report by the two South Sea refugees on their "Thula" can now be read in the new YACHT (issue 13/2021, available now in magazine shops and as a digital edition in the YACHT app and can be ordered directly here).
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Pascal Schürmann
Editor YACHT
