Wind Spirit, the 23.9m (78.4ft) expedition ketch we launched in 2022, departed Auckland,
New Zealand, just before Christmas 2023, bound for Brest, France, over 20,000 nautical
miles away.
For the intrepid captain and his first mate, the adventure began with setting a course of 100 degrees true, the next port of call would be Horta in the Azores, almost 11,900 nautical miles away.
The first objectives, however, were navigating the Southern Ocean and then the incredible achievement of rounding Cape Horn... two-handed…. Here are a few pictures; there is more to the story on our Facebook page; see the link below.
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/04b7c663-a2d2-469c-a32c-20ef6ae9b982/4 am Sth Pacific 11-03-24 B.jpg)
4 a.m. – South Pacific
1/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/9a015d2f-4461-472d-839f-43985d53f0ef/Fog Sth Pacific 11-03-24.jpg)
Fog – South Pacific.
2/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/6a6fa61b-87fa-401c-bc63-4e241ca43aa8/Rough Weather 19-02-24 B.jpg)
Wind Spirit in her element.
3/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/d70ba793-eaba-450d-9c96-b441b1a377f1/Cape Horn 22-01-24 B.jpeg)
Rounding Cape Horn. Epic!
4/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/4c4fc3ab-ad35-45ed-84b5-7da133e8e834/Crossing the Equator 17-02-24 B.jpg)
Crossing the Equator.
5/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/a0d8ef78-f114-4730-9156-10f0fc151c3c/Rainbow 17-03-24.jpeg)
Magic!
6/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/aea24d8d-f3f6-4c2e-9754-1d91203ba700/Horta 15-03-24 B.jpg)
Arrived in the Azores.
7/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/79286cfa-167a-48bd-83ec-3f82f289730f/Making Headway 03-03-24.jpeg)
Onward. The last leg to France.
8/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/04cc4f64-f19b-4747-991e-4da4595363fb/Sun 23-02-24 B.jpg)
Brest on the horizon.
9/10
![](https://lloydstevenson.co.nz/cms/assets/68a60539-4537-4ccd-85bb-ab50394686f7/Brest 3 B.jpg)
France!
10/10