Cruising World - June 2018

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cruisingworld.com

sails, but I didn’t use them
this time.” At 78, safety and
comfort are high priorities:
“I’m in no hurry, so I always
sail with one reef in the main
now, which allows me to sleep
for 20 minutes at a time. I
don’t need alarms to wake me;

my body does it itself.” There
are three reefi ng points in the
main. “And the third one is
like a trysail — it’s been up in
50 knots and was fi ne.”
Sanders doesn’t engage
dedicated meteorologists
and weather routers, unlike
younger Aussie circumnav-
igators Jessica Watson and
Jesse Martin. “I watch the
barometer!” But his approach
is far from old school.
“I have the iPad connected
to the Iridium satellite for
emails and comms,” he said.

One of his major sponsors,

Navico, installed most of the

navigation gear for this trip,

including a B&G chart plotter,

VHF/AIS-radio and a Simrad

tillerpilot. “The tillerpilot is

ideal when I’m motorsailing,

and the Aries windvane

handles the rest,” he said.

In the cluttered confi nes of

his saloon, there’s memorabilia

from all over the world. One

of the plates above the chart

table is a certifi cate from his

last transit of the Panama

Canal (his seventh), and

another plate commemorates

his participation in the Cape

Town to Rio de Janeiro race

(he’s done two). Sanders usu-

ally sleeps on the port saloon

bunk, equipped with both

a lee cloth and a cup holder

for his usual can of Pepsi. His

galley is a two-burner gimbaled

stove with a big gap beneath

it. “I had an oven there that I

used to bake bread in, but took

it off for this trip because I’m

not eating so much.” Instead,

his meals mostly consist of

dehydrated fare.

After the tour of the boat,

we retired to the bar at the

CYCA. “There’s no grog

on board when I’m sailing

because at my age I might not

wake up for my watch!” he

said, laughing. Back home, he’s

usually seen puttering around

the pontoons of the Royal

Perth Yacht Club, another

major sponsor.

“Jon is really easy to work

with, and he’s just a great man,”

said the club’s Kelly Scott.

As host club for the

annual Rolex Sydney Hobart

yacht race, the CYCA was a

busy place, but a few of the

sailors stopped by to say hello,

though the majority had no

idea about the identity of this

tall, innocuous mariner. I sort

of felt sorry for them.

The conversation shifted

to motorcycles, and when he

noticed my Yamaha dirt bike

parked behind the club he

confessed that a road in Perth

was named after him. So he’s

not exactly anonymous

back home.

After a few pints of beer,

Sanders glanced at the acres of

shiny fi berglass fl oating along

the pontoons and said, “I’d

like that big Beneteau 60 over

there. With the thrusters and

all the luxury accommodations,

it would be perfect for my

retirement!” When I asked

him if he would ever really

retire from ocean sailing, he

said, “Oh, maybe. Then again,

I might just sneak off again one

day without letting them know

I’m gone. Not until I call them

from Malaysia or someplace!”

Kevin Green is a writer,

sailor and editor based in Sydney,

Australia. For more on Jon

Sanders, including his history of

record-setting voyages, visit his

website (jonsanders.com.au).

SAILOR PROFILE

“There’s no grog on board when I’m

sailing,” Sanders said with a laugh. “At my

age I might not wake up for my watch.”

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