Berrimilla Takes on La Nina
10th April 2008
D. Burfitt-Dons

Two circumnavigators who have earned their titles, not in Club Class but the hard way, by being tossed around in fibreglass yachts, set off from Sydney on 10th April in the 33 foot Berrimilla on the latest of owner Alex Whitworth’s imaginative global voyages.

To highlight the climate changes, Berrimilla intends to plough her way through the North West Passage to Devon Island, which lies west of Greenland deep into arctic territory. Devon Island has topography not dissimilar to Mars and the Haughton Mars Project has a research station there. HMP and other space research bodies plan to meet for the complete solar eclipse due 1st August 2008. Devon Island or “Mars” will lie directly under the eclipse.

Although not everyone’s cup of tea for a holiday destination, Alex Whitworth and Corrie McQueen will be joined by Kimbra Lindus in Alaska for the transit through the North West Passage to Mars.

With La Nina, the cooling phase of the El Nino/La Nina cycle taking over and a noticeable decrease in Northern Latitude temperatures likely, the experienced crew will need not just their determination and courage but, as ever at sea, a large helping of luck in the way conditions turn out.

Alex happens to be an old sailing friend and we did a couple of Sydney Hobart races together amongst many others. If anyone can beat La Nina Alex, Corrie and Kimbra can. All here at the Global Warming Alliance wishes them Godspeed speed and you can follow their daily log on http://www.berrimilla.com/tng/blog.html