A silent, groundbreaking voyage
Brad Morgan
27 September 2004
His yacht is called Silent Voyager and he, too, is a silent voyager. Charl de Villiers is deaf, but that's not keeping him down. In fact, he is busy with a challenge that few people would dream of attempting.
The native of East London (Buffalo City), who lost his hearing as a result of a childhood burn accident, is partway through a solo round the world journey. Should he succeed, he would become the first deaf person to complete the daunting circumnavigation.
De Villiers is no stranger to the record books: he earned himself a place in the Guinness Book of Records in 2003 when he took part in a parachute jump with 13 other deaf people.
Started in Palacios, Texas
His yachting epic began on 13 March 2004 in Palacios, Texas, in the Gulf of Mexico, and has since taken him across the Pacific Ocean with the trade winds. After a stop-off in American Samoa for provisions, he headed across the Torres Straits,
passing the top of Australia, before heading south towards South Africa.
That's when it all became quite hairy for De Villiers. He was meant to dock in Cape Town, but Mother Nature had other ideas, throwing up 40-knot winds and 12-metre swells.
Writing in his log book on 9 September, he said: "I am still heaving to. Waves are 40ft. Drifting 30 deg. Cabin a hell, all is wet, wet. Sleeping with full foul gear."
The harsh conditions took their toll, and Silent Voyager suffered some harm, including a damaged rudder, forcing De Villiers to instead head for Durban.
Upon arrival he was greeted by his father, Johan de Villiers, as well as two of his brothers, Francois and Christo, a very welcome surprise.
Hoping for a stopover with family
De Villiers is hoping to stop in at East London on his way to Cape Town for a family visit. Weather permitting he will be able to do
that, otherwise it will be a trip straight down the South African east coast to the Mother City.
After his stopover in Cape Town, De Villiers will be heading north and west towards the Caribbean. From there he will head back to where his journey began, Palacios.
De Villiers' journey can be followed on his website, Silent Voyager. The website provides regular updates of his position as well as photographs, contributions from his wife, links and a guestbook for people to offer comments and encouragement.
A look at the guestbook reveals that although De Villiers is undertaking a solo journey, he is in the thoughts of people from all over the world - South Africa, the USA, Australia, The Netherlands, American Samoa, Namibia, New Zealand, Tuvalu, the United Kingdom, Botswana, Canada, France,
Cameroon, Singapore and Sri Lanka are among the countries represented in his guestbook.
Feel free to join in the support ...
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