Geoff Thorpe has served as President and Director of Yachting New Zealand, is a former Law Professor and senior partner in a legal practice and a skilled raconteur. In the process of completing a round the world adventure in a 50-foot catamaran, Geoff had plenty of tales to tell on Monday evening of the sights and sounds and adventures and risks experienced since he and his wife first set sail in the catamaran from Westhaven in May 2011. Trekking up through the Solomon’s, Indonesia and Singapore and then spending 3 years cruising the Mediterranean meant not only spectacular landscapes and friendly locals numerous encounters with officious immigration and border control authorities.
Avoiding ice bergs in the Arctic Circle required that sometimes Geoff would need to go 2 days without sleep. The Catamaran is currently parked at Chesapeake Bay waiting for Geoff and his wife to commence the final leg of their voyage back to New Zealand. The primary objective of the cruise around the world has been to have fun and it was clear from Geoff’s address and his observations of some of the places that they have visited that a trip with such a leisurely schedule and thousands of places to visit cannot fail to generate fun but also an experience which would be very difficult to match.