"Maiden Voyage" - "Taking the world by storm": Older sailors will remember the spectacular circumnavigation of the world by the then 18-year-old Tania Aebi remember. At her father's behest, she was sent around the world in a small boat, accompanied only by her cat, to learn a sense of responsibility. From 1985 onwards, the young adult travelled to 23 countries for two and a half years. She recorded her experiences in the aforementioned books, which became bestsellers.
Her striking dark red Contessa 26, which Aebi was travelling with at the time, passed through several owners in the years that followed. As has only now become known her current owner abandoned her at the end of August on her way from the Azores to Gibraltar due to technical problems. The single-handed sailor had herself cast off about 600 nautical miles west of the strait, and since then the "Varuna" has been drifting as a ghost ship on the Atlantic, presumably heading south.
As numerous yachts are currently en route from Europe's coasts to the Canary Islands, there is a good chance that the yacht can be found again and possibly even salvaged. At least that is the hope of Tania Aebi, whose heart is still set on her old "Varuna".
