US Sailors #15 in World to Circumnavigate North American Continent

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., Feb. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Crossing their wake today and completing their circle was announced by World Sailing Guru founders Captain Charlie Simon and his wife, Cathy Simon who set sail from Fort Lauderdale on March 18, 2017 and have now returned.  The world circumnavigators say, "Our current adventure has been the completion of the North American Continent circumnavigation, an 11 month long, 14,000-mile passage (as boat #15 in the world, as recorded by Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK) via the historic Arctic Northwest Passage and the iconic Panama Canal."  Capt. Charlie says, "We saw this voyage as a rare opportunity to be one of the few to sail around North America and transit the historical Northwest Passage Route. We sailed on our Taswell 58, Celebrate, which also took us around the world in 2014-2015." 

In preparation for the Arctic expedition portion, the Simons consulted Victor Wejer, an award-winning Ocean Cruising Club Northwest Passage specialist who dubbed, a NWP Tasmania Islands channel, "Charlie's Channel", after potential first user, Charlie Simon.  The Simons were vessel #263 as of 2017, for their Northwest Passage transit as recorded by Scott Polar Research Institute, University of Cambridge, UK.  They completed the Arctic Northwest Passage on September 8, 2017. The Simons' Northwest Passage route was 3,300 miles crossing the Arctic Circle northbound in the Atlantic near Nuuk, Greenland, and re-crossing the Arctic Circle southbound in the Pacific near Nome Alaska. 

The itinerary was timed so the Simons sailed the Northwest Passage during late August to early September when it was somewhat free of pack-ice.  Arrival in the tropics and at the Panama Canal was scheduled for November to miss hurricane season.  The Simons are returning with a lifetime of stories, as well as photos and videos from their drone and masthead camera. Their current location is mapped (via satellite tracking) on their website at http://worldsailing.guru/NorthwestPassage/itinerary.aspx along with itinerary details and links to their blogs and facebook pages.  With blogs, weather observations, and live sat phone contact, the Simons hope to encourage sailing and call attention to the melting polar ice cap.

SOURCE World Sailing Guru