Albany couple prepare for a long and lonely haul home after pandemic interrupts last leg of 19-year circumnavigation

After weeks confined to their yacht in a remote island paradise, an Albany couple face a lonely long-haul voyage across the South Pacific to complete their 19-year circumnavigation. Kris Adams and David Frost are moored off Paopao, a village on the island of Mo’orea near Tahiti, where turquoise-blue waters ring lush mountains. Ms Adams, a 66-year-old architect from Woogenellup, and Mr Frost, a 73-year-old former Albany accountant, set out to sail around Australia in 2001. Once they got a taste of life at sea, they were hooked. The couple have have spent the past 15 years sailing through Asia, Africa, the Americas and Europe on their 15m yacht SV Taipan. They reached Tahiti in March, days before the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on the island sent French Polynesia into lockdown and interrupted their push west to Albany. “In October 2019, we arrived in a remote eastern Pacific island group known as the Marquesas, part of French Polynesia, after 26 solitary days at sea from Panama — a journey of nearly 8000km,” Ms Adams said. “Just before French Polynesia closed its borders in March, we had made another 1600km passage to Tahiti and were planning the final leg of our voyage home when every country between French Polynesia and Australia closed its borders. “Yachts were forbidden to move.” On May 21, authorities lifted some of the lockdown laws in French Polynesia but non-residents remain barred from entry. With foreigners in yachts regarded with similar suspicion as the cruise ships carrying the virus to all corners of the globe, their journey home will be a lonely one. They plan to sail to Cairns, some 6800km away, then make their way around the Top End on their way home to Albany. The many islands, atolls and submerged reefs along the route require them to keep watch 24 hours a day — “four hours on and four hours off for a nap”. They have crossed other oceans and spent more than 20 days alone at sea on several occasions but the pandemic has given their final leg an added element of isolation. “Normally, the passage would include stops in at least a dozen places, with islands in the Cook Islands, Fiji, Tonga, New Caledonia and Vanuatu providing safe haven in dangerous weather, rest, repairs and provisions and potentially medical service if an unfortunate injury was sustained in possibly rough conditions,” Ms Adams said. “Once back on Australian shores we hope to be allowed to travel onward to WA but with border closures we may be further frustrated. “If unable to sail on around the Top End, we will have to hope we can sail across the Great Australian Bight to return to our home in Albany in January. If we miss this opportunity in January, because of border closures, we may be stuck for another year.” “The joys of slow travel.” Mr Frost is no stranger to challenging ocean crossings, having completed the 1990 Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in Turkey Connection — a yacht he built in his King River shed. He said Turkey Connection was manned by an all-Albany crew and was the first Albany boat to compete in the famous race, finishing 65th in a field of more than 100. The Albany couple have had some close calls during their circumnavigation, from getting caught on an uncharted reef near Indonesia to “dipping the mast in the water with the spinnaker up” in the middle of the South Atlantic. But neither they nor their vessel have been seriously damaged, and they have cherished every piece of culture and history they have witnessed in 38 countries. There were the colourful ethnic festivals in South-East Asia, where the often poor populations were incredibly warm and welcoming. Some of their best fishing came in the Bahamas, where the “gin clear water” offered the perfect escape from the northern winters. In Europe, they visited ancient historical sites, had snowed dumped on their yacht in two of the coldest Belgian winters in recent memory and sailed down the fjords of Norway. “There have been some funny, scary and downright horrible experiences but the positives always outweigh the negatives and therefore the adventure continued,” Ms Adams said.