Heidi and Wolfgang Hass have completed their third leisurely circumnavigation of the world aboard their Nordhavn 46, Kanaloa. On January 3, the pair departed for their fourth time around. Aboard Kanaloa, Heidi is captain, navigator and cook. Wolfgang looks after the engine, bakes bread, makes sauerkraut and relaxes. Zulu, a Norfolk terrier, is crew.
“We simply love being out on the ocean,” says Heidi, by way of explaining why they have covered more than 100,000 nautical miles since acquiring the Nordhavn 46 in 1995—and have no plans to stop voyaging.
No other production powerboat has circumnavigated three times, a fitting tribute to the 25th anniversary of the Nordhavn brand, first launched in 1989.
In all, the Hasses have circumnavigated four times, the first time on their 38-foot sailboat. That first circumnavigation, out of their home port in Germany, lasted 15½ years. The most recent, out of Dana Point, California, took 4 years and 9 months. They covered 37,604.5 nm—not 37,604, not 37,605, but 37,604.5—and visited 28 countries.
Their voyage took them from Dana Point, departing January 3, 2009, to French Polynesia and onward via Australia, Madagascar, South Africa and Cape of Good Hope, Columbia and the Panama Canal before returning to Dana Point on October 1, 2014.
The South Pacific and Australia are their favorite cruising grounds. Thailand has become their least favorite on account of over-development and crime.
Their biggest challenge? Paperwork.
For example, there are 10 different forms to complete to enter Fiji.
