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bruce in oz · 17-01-2010, 04:03

i was happily circumnavigating Australia until i was shipwrecked 5months ago, i've now bought my new yacht which just happens to be where i started this circumnavigation, being Bundaberg Qld, shipwrecked south of Carnarvon WA.

IF i now decide to sail south from Bundaberg, then west to WA and north to Carnarvon, have i morally circumnavigated Australia? ok physically i have, what defines a non record breaking, no publicity, old farts circumnavigaton? Is a circumnavigation only valid in the one direction in the same boat?

pressuredrop · 17-01-2010, 04:19

sounds like a circumnav to me, heck, even robert lee graham didnt finish his record breaking circumnav in the boat he set out in. just saying...

idpnd · 17-01-2010, 04:45

Interesting story, tell us more. How did you sink exhibit #a?

TaoJones · 17-01-2010, 09:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by pressuredrop

sounds like a circumnav to me, heck, even robert lee graham didnt finish his record breaking circumnav in the boat he set out in. just saying...

That should be Robin Lee Graham - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, not Robert - but I agree. If you sail all the way 'round Australia, you've circumnavigated the continent.

TaoJones

fishwife · 17-01-2010, 10:32

I think it qualifies you to say 'I've sailed all the way around Australia' and gives you honest bragging rights

P.

hugosalt · 17-01-2010, 11:48

Sounds like a circumnav to me as well, you will have certainly
earned it...yes tell us more...including what safety/communication gear worked or did'nt work for you...

NoTies · 17-01-2010, 11:59

I once ran around the South Pole in 1 minute 23 seconds. Does this mean I have circumnavigated?

Jim D · 17-01-2010, 12:59

Hi, NoTies - I would say there can be no question about it: you have circumnavigated the South Pole. Although, it doesn't seem it was on a boat.

NoTies · 17-01-2010, 13:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jim D

Hi, NoTies - I would say there can be no question about it: you have circumnavigated the South Pole. Although, it doesn't seem it was on a boat.

But did I circumnavigate the world?

Jim D · 17-01-2010, 13:08

That'd be hard to sell, methinks.

Starbuck · 17-01-2010, 13:25

Bruce, you will have circumnavigated. The second yacht will not have circumnavigated. I'd call a circumnavigation claim a legitimate bullet on your resúmé.

maxingout · 17-01-2010, 13:26

Quote:

Originally Posted by NoTies

But did I circumnavigate the world?

It sounds like you circumnavigated the South Pole.

There are circumnavigations, and there are circumnavigations. For people trying to create and break records, the definition does seem to matter.

The shortest way "around the world" is in the high southern lattitudes, and if you do it, you certainly have sailed around the South Pole and around the world.

It kind of depends on whether you are a northern hemisphere sailor or a southern hemisphere sailor. Since I come from the northern hemisphere, a circumnavigation means that you sail around the world crossing the equataor at least two times. After looking at the map on my wall, I can see that you could do a nothern hemisphere circumnavigation without crossing the equator, but you would come mighty close to the equator when you sailed through the Singapore Straits. I can see the makings of another circumnavigation first. You can become the first person to sail around the world entirely in the northern hemisphere and never cross the equator.

Southern hemisphere sailors would likely take a different tack. They might do the southern oceans and never come near the equator.

The accountant mentality even infests the world of sailing. But who's counting.

paradix · 17-01-2010, 14:43

I usually think of a circumnavigation in topological terms: if you imagine your track to be an elastic band, then when it pulls tight it should surround the thing you circumnavigated.

So Bruce, I reckon yours is a fair dinkum circumnavigation - the direction/s of travel shouldn't matter, nor the vessel/s you travelled in.

As for circumnavigating the world, the only way you could achieve it topologically would be to pass through two antipodal points (directly opposite each other through the earth) - any other path and the elastic band will slip straight off... The theoretical minimum distance to achieve this (ignoring land masses in the way) would be the circumference of the earth (21600nm). Of course the usual idea of crossing all lines of longitude and the equator, while it doesn't necessarily pass through two antipodal points, usually entails a path which is at least that long, so I guess it seems fair.

Just walking around the pole doesn't meet these criteria of course.