March Club Meeting: Ice, Germs and Fire – Irene’s Double-Handed Circumnavigation

Join us for the March 18 club meeting on Zoom where club members Ginger and Peter Niemann of s/v Irene will share tales of their world-wide voyage in the northern hemisphere. They’ve recently been awarded the Cruising Club of America Blue Water Medal and the Ocean Cruising Club Vasey Vase.

Ginger and Peter sailed around the world aboard their ketch Irene (homeport Ballard).  They took an eastabout route in the Northern Hemisphere via the Northwest Passage, Europe and SE Asia. They left Ballard in 2016, completed the Northwest Passage in 2017 (the ice part) and then sailed the eastern seaboard of the US, crossed the North Atlantic and cruised the Baltic and Mediterranean seas.

COVID hit the world while they were in Turkey, and they decided to try to sail home directly and as quickly as possible via the Suez Canal, Indian Ocean and North Pacific (the germs part). They found themselves in the Red Sea in high summer (the fire part) and did indeed (despite surprises and misadventures) return home to the Salish Sea in August 2021. This is their story.

Reminder: Club meetings have a suggested $5 donation to support club expenses, which you can send by Paypal or credit/debit card here