Henk de Velde and Juniper
by Kate White
with thanks to Henk for many of the photographs.
What happens when you put an extraordinary seaman aboard a very special boat? In this case, the result was an unusual solo
circumnavigation to many remote and wonderful destinations.
The sailor and the boat are, of course, Henk de Velde, and Juniper. The number of sailors who have completed solo circumnavigators is small, and it shrinks even more when you add in the qualifiers 'multiple solo circumnavigations' and 'high latitudes, north and south'. Henk has now circled the planet in sailboats 6 times, and 5 of those journeys were singlehanded.
Henk found his way to the ocean as a teenager, via the Dutch merchant marine. At 28, he was the youngest man ever to be made captain in that service. But his wanderlust and search for adventure weren't satisfied by the merchant marine. Instead he and his wife set off in 1978 aboard the Wharram catamaran 'Orowa' for what would be his first circumnavigation. Their son was born on Easter Island, and they survived a ferocious typhoon in the Indian Ocean.
Four more journeys around the globe followed between 1989 and 2004. Three of them were in large racing catamarans, as he attempted to beat the speed record for a singlehanded circumnavigation. The first, aboard 60'Alisun J&B (ex British Airways) took 158 days and required a stop in New Zealand for repairs. The second record attempt in 1992 aboard the 60 foot catamaran 'Zeeman' was hampered by a collision with a floating container and a skull fracture. His third record attempt, in 1996 was aboard the 71' catamaran, C1000. He circumnavigated in 119 days.
Henk's fourth journey was entirely different - a traverse of the Northeast Passage. For this trip, he used the steel monohull Campina, a vessel that was designed to handle the rigors a winter clenched in Arctic ice. He reached north to 81 25'N, and is one of the few people reach that latitude on a sailboat.
Since the launch of our A55 Javelin in 2003, our 52' trimaran Juniper had been languishing in a Westport, MA boatyard. She wasn't exactly unloved, but we had moved on to a boat that better suited our needs, and we just didn't have time for her. But Juniper was, and still is, a very special boat for us. She's the first large boat that Chris designed. Chris and I built her, including the rig, the sails, you name it, over the course of two years, from 1979 - 1981. The whole 'blood, sweat and tears' bit does make for a rather special bond with the fruits of one's labor. While we always had a home ashore, our children grew up with many lengthy trips aboard her. In short, Juniper was an integral part of our lives for 25 years. But she wasn't being used. Clearly she needed a new owner. And just as clearly, Juniper's new owner wasn't going to be 'just anyone'. No way would it ever be a matter of simply selling her to the highest bidder. Juniper is a somewhat unusual vessel with a set of advantages and disadvantages that are not what typical cruisers are looking for these days. We wanted to sell her to someone who understood the boat and would use her as she was designed to be used - for extended ocean sailing with a small crew. Until we met Henk and heard his plans for his next trip, we had no idea just how small the crew would be and how far Juniper would go...
Turns out that Henk de Velde was well aware of Chris' designs, and especially Juniper. They had had some occasional mail contact over the years. Then Henk called Chris one day in 2006, looking for a boat for his next voyage. When Chris mentioned that Juniper might be for sale, Henk was very interested, and arranged to come and see the boat.
Commune with her might be a better way to describe his visit. He and Chris examined Juniper together, and then Henk asked if he could be left alone with the boat, to spend the rest of the day and a night aboard. And so he did, with little in the way of food, no water in the tank, no power. Just Henk aboard Juniper, which was sitting on jackstands in the dusty back lot of a boatyard, getting to know each other.
Seems they got along just fine, because short order, Henk was Juniper's new owner. And there was no doubt in our minds that just the right person had come along to take ownership of Juniper and perhaps, to test the limits of her seaworthiness.
After a year of refitting and preparation, Henk set off in September 2007 for a (mostly) solo circumnavigation. His intention was to visit some of the very remote uninhabited and sparsely inhabited places on the planet. The places where the forces of nature are still more important to people's daily lives than the speed of their internet connection or the daily twitches of the financial markets. The edges of civilization.
He traveled from The Netherlands to Argentina and Uruguay, then east in the roaring 40s past the Cape of Good Hope to Australia. Several hundred miles southeast of Africa, man and boat were tested by an intense low pressure system and 50-60knot headwinds. Exhausted, Henk dropped all sails and left Juniper to make her own way through the storm. Her short cord wing masts and split rig enabled her to easily and slowly jog to windward while her tired skipper rested.
After 6 months cruising Australia's south and east coasts, he moved north to Papua New Guinea, the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, Guam, and Japan. From Japan, Henk sailed the length of the Aleutian Islands, and Alaska's south and southeastern coasts to British Columbia. Then south again to Panama, Nassau, Bahamas, Nantucket, and finally home to Amsterdam.
Here are just a few highlights from his 4 year trip.
Tristan da Cunha
37 07'S, 12 17'W
population, around 275.
Discovered in 1506 by the Portuguese explorer Tristao da Cunha, this is the most remote inhabited island in the
world, lying 1,750 miles from South Africa and 2,088 miles from South America.
The anchorage is exposed, and Henk's stay there was cut short by bad weather.
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| Tristan's anchorage on a stormy day | Settlement at Tristan da Cunha |
Ile-Ste Paul
38 42'S 77 31'E
Henk had the chart for Ile Saint Paul for 25 years before he was finally able to visit. The island is a dormant
volcano, the harbor is the caldera, which is accessible only in very calm seas through a narrow and very
shallow (8 foot) entrance. It is uninhabited, except for the fur seals, elephant seals and rockhopper penguins
which use it as a breeding ground and nursery.
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| Ile-St Paul caldera entrance | Ile St Paul. Here's an anchorage that you can have all to yourself... |
Puluwat
07 21'N, 149 11'E
The tiny island of Puluwat, in the Caroline Islands of Micronesia, is another place that Henk had been eying
for 25 years. It is home to some of the last of the Pacific navigators who still navigate ocean crossings
using only information in their environment - wave patterns, clouds, birds, stars . Those remarkable sailors
were as fascinated by Juniper and Henk as Henk was by them. Juniper's design bears more that a casual similarity
to their outrigger canoes, and Henk's ocean-going prowess earned him great respect. The local elders bestowed upon
Henk the esteemed rank of 'Navigator', and offered him a permanent place in their community.
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| The boat to Guam, 450 miles away |
Japan to the Aleutian Islands and British Columbia
Henk cruised Japan, from Okinawa in the far south to Kushiro, Hokkaido in the north, including some of the fishing
ports that would be decimated by the tsunami of 2011.
He then sailed the length of the Aleutian Islands, and describes them as an area of very challenging sailing
(near constant fog or rain, forbidding coasts, strong currents, and long periods of very light winds interspersed
with sudden gales). And also as a place of extraordinary natural beauty, generous, helpful locals, and one of the
highlights of his journey.
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| With friends in Japan | Somewhere in the Aleutian Islands |
British Columbia in late fall of 2010 presented it's own special challenge. An unfortunate collision with an
enormous log bent the propeller shaft and damaged the strut that supports the prop shaft under the hull. Help came
from a local couple who arranged to have Juniper towed to their cove on Porcher Island. Henk, with the assistance
of his new friends, beached Juniper, and made the necessary repairs.
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| High and dry for repairs | Beautiful and cold |
We had the pleasure of seeing Henk again in Nantucket in August, 2011, where he 'tied the knot' of his 6th
circumnavigation. We were fascinated by the stories of his voyage and some of them are here, on video.
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| Chris and Henk | Brant Point, Nantucket with Juniper in the background |