Steve, an experienced sailor and mountaineer from the UK, bought the Dutch-built 60′ sailing yacht NOVARA with a 5-year plan to circumnavigate the Americas, as well as Antarctica — with stops along the way to climb some of the most remote peaks. Following an appropriately cold sea trial in Maine, dodging ice flows with temps in the low teens, NOVARA successfully transited the Northwest Passage in 2014, continued along the west coasts of the Americas, and in March completed a two-month visit to Antarctica.
NOVARA nestled comfortably in a protected anchorage along the southwest coast of Patagonia, late southern summer, 2017. At this time, Steve and his team were awaiting the next summer season to visit South Georgia and replicate Shackleton’s daring mountain climbing traverse.