A circumnavigation in the Southern Ocean would not reqire 26,000 miles. The equitorial distance is 25,000 miles and at 55 degrees South (close to the lattitude of Cape Horn) the distance would only be 19,250 miles. Plus there would be a current push of about half a knot--and certainly a fair amount of drift by the wind from any profile of the boat . So effectively you may have to carry only enough fuel for 18,000 miles. However some of this margin may be spent dodging the ice burgs. I had a friend who circumnavigted once East to West, thru the Canals, once West to East Thru the Canals and once West to East around all Southern Capes. His last major voyage was to anartica, and then going as far North as possiable in Greenland--and in doing this went around S. America. This was in a 37 foot Steel sail boat. (Duncan McGreagor, Nordica) Duncan died about 3 years ago perhaps from a broken heart--after his was lost in St Croix. He never wrote about his adventures. Bob Austin

>Bob Austin wrote: >A circumnavigation in the Southern Ocean would not reqire 26,000 >miles. The equitorial distance is 25,000 miles and at 55 degrees >South (close to the lattitude of Cape Horn) the distance would only >be 19,250 miles. Plus there would be a current push of about half a >knot--and certainly a fair amount of drift by the wind from any >profile of the boat . So effectively you may have to carry only >enough fuel for 18,000 miles. The math is correct but the assumptions are wrong. A circumnavigation of Antarctica is not what I have in mind. I would start in the northern hemisphere and dip down to the Southern Ocean only for Cape of Good Hope and the Horn. I haven't worked out an exact route but it would be in the range of 24,000-26,000 miles. I'm using the higher number for now in order to maintain a cushion. Here's how one set of numbers for the voyage unfolds: -- total distance in nautical miles: 26,000 -- average speed in knots: 8 -- hours run: 3,250 -- days run: 135 -- speed/length ratio: 1.1 -- fuel burn in gallons per hour: 3 -- fuel needed in gallons: 9,750 -- weight of fuel in pounds: 71,750. In the design, the challenge is to slide-rule the numbers up and down to come up with the right combination of speed and fuel burn, length and displacement. Essentially, we are talking about a trawler yacht that is a long, skinny fuel tank, of steel and/or aluminum construction, driven by a single main engine, with water ballast to replace fuel burned, with minimal accommodations for a crew of five, as rugged and capable as we can make it, borrowing heavily from pilot and life boats. It would be an exceptional boat purpose-built for an extraordinary voyage. --Georgs -- Georgs Kolesnikovs Your host at Trawlers & Trawlering, formerly Trawler World, since 1997