Christchurch yachtsman and adventurer, Graeme Kendall has now rounded the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, in his attempt to achieve one of the last major world sailing records – sailing solo non stop around the world via the Arctic North West Passage.

Kendall left Auckland, New Zealand on 26 April and has covered over 10,000 nautical miles on his journey. The rare east-west solo rounding of the Cape marks the countdown to the Arctic, which will be around 50 days away.

Kendall reporting from the bridge of his yacht Astral Express today said: “Just over nine weeks out and now past Cape Agulhas. Cape of Good Hope. Have said goodbye to the Indian Ocean, a brief hello to the Southern Ocean, and welcome to the Atlantic. Some testing times, but all is well with body and boat. Early accounts describe the Cape as ‘Extremely hazardous and the most dangerous on earth’ so I’m glad to have it behind me. Timing is everything, there are a lot of currents and some fairly strong westerlies that can be tricky. Now the focus is on the Atlantic and getting to the North West Passage in good time and in good shape.”

Life on board the Astral Express, despite the solitude, is never dull. Kendall says there is always plenty to do around the boat, and around the Cape there were plenty of ships to be wary of.

“I am always busy, cleaning fixing things. Your body gets tuned in to the elements surrounding you, the weather etc so you start to notice a lot more around you. There was also a lot of shipping around the bottom of Africa. I think I was near a couple of oil rigs at one stage, so that kept me on my toes. I can pick up most traffic on the radar fairly early on though.”

The voyage is being funded entirely by Kendall, who has secured 0900 CHILD, which has been sign-written along the side of the boat to raise money for charity. Primarily he will be raising money for Variety – The Children’s Charity.