Lisa Blair heads off on a second circumnavigation of Antarctica!

On Monday 21^nd February, a brightly coloured racing yacht punched into a steep chop and 25 knot headwinds as it headed out of Albany harbour, Western Australia, towards an invisible start line off Breaksea Island. The yacht was Climate Action Now. The skipper, record breaking solo sailor, Lisa Blair. Their destination, the Southern Ocean – and ultimately, in some three months’ time, back into Albany Harbour.

Completing a solo circumnavigation of Antarctica in 2017 (with one stop after being dismasted 900 nm south of Cape Town) and being the first woman to do so, is an impressive record. However, Lisa Blair has unfinished business. The elusive ‘non-stop’ record for a solo woman is still calling, but Lisa also has her eye on Russian Fedor Konyukhov’s record of 102 days to become the fastest person to sail solo around Antarctica, below 45 degrees south.

It's not just about records though. With a strong environmental ethic, Lisa plans to utilise this opportunity to raise awareness of her Climate Action Now campaign and to complete citizen science while sailing between the latitudes of 45 south and 60 south (the official ‘race’ track). Given the remoteness and lack of shipping in the Southern Ocean, there is very little scientific data on ocean health from this far south. Vessels transiting these waters are rare, so partnering with the Clean Ocean Foundation and scientific agencies and organisations, Lisa will undertake scientific research while circumnavigating. Lisa will be taking ocean readings (such as salinity, dissolved carbon dioxide, chlorophyll and bio optics), and collecting microplastic samples and meteorological data (barometric data, temperature, wind/direction, air pressure, humidity) to assist with global weather modelling.

You can follow Lisa via a tracker, and support her campaign on her webpage www.lisablairsailstheworld.com

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I’m captivated by stories of women crossing oceans, especially those who undertook voyages decades before all the wonderful technology we have at our fingertips today. How many of us would head off without that technology I wonder? Even with all our modern gadgets, crossing an ocean solo is a daunting thought. The following are some of the books on my shelf written by trail blazing, solo sailing women from the 1970s and onwards...