In around 500 BC the Greek philosopher Pythagoras suggested for the first time the idea of a spherical Earth. He lived on the Greek island of Samos less than 100 miles north of our current position in Rhodes. It was the observation of tall ships disappearing over the Mediterranean horizon that first arose suspicions about the prevailing flat earth assumptions of those times. 150 years later, another Greek philosopher Aristotle provided the first convincing proof of the round earth theory using observations in the sky, such as the differing positions of stars when viewed from different locations on land, and the shape of the shadow cast onto the moon during a lunar eclipse. But still it remained a radical and non-sensical theory until many centuries later in 1521, when a sailing expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan finally proved with undeniable certainty that the Earth is indeed spherically shaped. Magellan himself did not survive the voyage, but one of the five expedition boats did… they sailed a ship so far west that they returned to where they started from, leaving the “Flat Earthers” in a state of stunned silence.

So it’s a fitting location here in the Greek islands for us to complete our own experimentation with this idea of a round Earth, very near to where the whole notion came into existence. In May of 2012 we ourselves sailed out of the Mandraki Marina on the north tip of Rhodes and headed west over the Mediterranean horizon. We arrived back here yesterday afternoon, exactly 2 years, 8 months, 5 days, 18 hours and 44 minutes since we last departed. It means we have put 31,892 nautical miles of water beneath us while covering a net distance of 0.0 miles. If our goal was simply to get from Rhodes to Rhodes, we definitely took the long way here.

Of course our journey was never about the destination, it was about the adventure and the experience;.. in those 0 miles of net distance between our start and finish line, an entire world lies in between that we got to experience. We witnessed the good, the bad, and the ugly in people and in places. We experienced Mother Nature in her various forms and moods – punishment by the weather and the sea at some times, rewarded at others with magical moments and stunning views of the Earth’s most beautiful landscapes from vantage points few are fortunate enough ever to experience. We learned about the world from the perspective of its local people, which expanded our thinking and tolerance by orders of magnitude, while smashing to pieces many of our prejudices. And most importantly, we discovered ourselves, who we are, and what matters to each of us.

We are proud of completing our journey but recognize that we did almost none of it alone. We began as very novice sailors, and needed all the help we ended up finding throughout our voyage. We send our most sincere thanks to the outstanding crew that joined us for extended periods along the way: Tuncer (Legend), Rupe, Javier (Tarzan), and Asier (Maestro)… you were extraordinary team members and we are so grateful for our experiences with you. And to the many others who joined us for shorter segments or helped us from ashore or from abeam (John Burnie, Jimmy Swift, Bruce Byall, Uncle Chris, Uncle Bob, Lior, the Rogues, the Shapirits, Yossi, and many others) we thank you too for making our voyage the unforgettable and unique adventure it has been…. if there is one thing we really did do right, it was surrounding ourselves with amazing people. And to our parents, for their support both on board and from ashore (including Pop’s Atlantic Ocean crossing!), we haven’t the words to describe our gratitude to you.

So we confirm the authors of the Bible’s holy scriptures got it wrong, at least in a literal sense, in the books of Daniel, Matthew, Isaiah, and Revelation. And although their errata might be excusable for several reasons, the remaining members of the Flat Earth Society today deserve no such intellectual forgiveness. So yes, it’s true the world is not flat nor shaped like a disc, and there are no four corners to be found anywhere. We testify the thing is in fact a sphere as Pythagoras first suggested more than 2500 years ago.

We’ll enjoy a week or so here in Rhodes with some special guests who are coming to meet us here for a celebration. Then we’ll sail back to Marmaris in Turkey and begin the bittersweet process of passing Tamarisk along to someone with more ambitious voyaging plans than are currently in the cards for ourselves.

In a way, using either of the world’s main artificial shipping canals (Panama and Suez) in a sailing circumnavigation is a form of cheating… the natural world was not formed (or designed?) in this way. The existence of these canals is entirely a result of enormous human or human-made resources: money, technology, equipment, paid labor, slave labor, and countless human lives. Without these canals, the world would be a very different place, and their significance cannot be understated. 8% of world trade now transits the Suez Canal, including two thirds of European oil. It makes up an astonishing 20,000 car haulers, container ships, fuel tankers, and fishing boats each year, with an average canal fee of $250,000 per transit. The ability to move warships through this canal also has huge geopolitical consequences… any attempt to close it or destroy it would be met with a massive response by military assets from around the world. The Suez Canal is one of those things we just never thought anything about during our normal lives in the city, but as we look this enormous machine in the face we realize we’re looking at the gears of a major intersection of world trade and geopolitics.

Our original hope had been to depart from Israel and spend a week or so visiting the Egyptian sites as we paused at the canal’s southern entrance at Suez. But after some deliberation following our recent chaotic experiences in the Middle East, we decided we’d skip it. Since making that decision, there have been several coordinated ISIS attacks with dozens killed in Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, and just a few days ago the Muslim Brotherhood issued a warning to all foreigners in Egypt: leave by Feb 11, or you risk physical violence. With Egyptian tourist revenue already down 95% since 2011, we kind of understand it all now.

By the time we’re through the canal it will be a three day-process: one day for measuring the boat and paying “canal fees” (bribing every official in the region is probably closer to the truth), and another two days for transiting the 100 mile long canal. We’re slower than the merchant ships, so we’re forced to make an overnight stop at the half way point in the canal. Despite a massive expansion project currently in process, most of the canal can still only accommodate one big merchant ship at a time, so they run in a northbound and southbound convoy system that maximizes the throughput. But the smaller boats like us don’t really count… we just get shoved over near the canal wall, and are mostly ignored by everyone (other than the Egyptian Navy, who appears to suspect us of being Israeli secret agents… or something).

Because of the narrow width, navigating the canal puts us in closer proximity to the big cargo boats than we’ve even been before. The enormity of these things, some four football fields in length, really must be seen to be appreciated. Even more impressive are the mountains of sand piled up on either side of the canal… dredged and piped over many decades of canal expansion projects and battling the endless buildup of new sand blowing off the surrounding desert. Hiking to the top of these sand piles would be good day’s worth of exercise.

As we approach the canal exit, our attention turns to the Med crossing. A wild low pressure cyclonic system is forecast come ripping through the Med in about 36 hours, and we won’t have time to get to Rhodes before it starts to set in. So with just 350 miles to go before our circumnavigation is complete, we face the most intimidating weather forecast we’ve ever had…. beating the cold front’s arrival in Rhodes is the only thing that matters to us right now.

Hi Mom and Pop,

Sending you warm thoughts today and wishing you a VERY happy wedding anniversary… celebrating the most important day of your lives, and a day we owe the existence of our own lives to!! So cheers to you for an amazing accomplishment and for being such model parents for us. We love you and wishing we could be there to celebrate with you in Dubai

We had another surreal experience last night with the Saudi Coast Guard that is taking the ridiculousness of the past few weeks to a whole new level. While making a perfectly legal entry into the Gulf of Aqaba, they stopped us at sunset and ordered us to follow them to a military camp / harbor six miles away for a “routine check”… at AK 47 gunpoint of course. They took us into their small harbor less than 50 meters across and instructed us to tie onto their dock. But the dock was just 18 meters in length and already had an 8 meter patrol boat on it. The 10 meters of available dock space compared unfavorably to our 17 meter length, and with 20 knots of wind blowing us onto the inside of their breakwater, we refused to make an obviously futile and dangerous attempt to tie on. Lacking any other options, we dropped the anchor right there in the harbor. But also incompatible with Tamarisk’s geometry was the depth of their pathetic little harbor, which in the center is just 1.5 meters deep… and with our 2 meter deep keel, we we ran aground for the first time ever… just past high tide, as luck would have it (at low tide we would be grounded before even clearing the entrance). In the chaos, they tried to take their second patrol boat off the dock with an important official on board, and proceeded to reverse onto the coral just off their own dock, disabling both props on their twin 250 hp boat. Water level falling, it became a scramble to get Tamarisk off the sand at that point, with us putting out a second anchor via dinghy on 150m of rope to the outside of their harbor and winching it in on the windlass, full throttle on the engine, and the Saudi Coast Guard patrol boat (the one that still had working propellers) pulling the top of the mast over using our spinnaker halyard tied to their stern, which tipped us over, decreased our depth to 1.5m, allowing us to plow our way off the sand. It took about two hours to get the boat free once all was finished. Another very dangerous situation, and thank God we didn’t snap the rudder or put a hole in the hull (there were small coral bommies everywhere). Was very nearly the final resting place of Tamarisk, right there in the Saudi Coast Guard harbor, following their orders… at gunpoint. Thanks boys.

With the chaos over and Tamarisk unstuck, they checked our passports, acknowledged we had a right to innocent passage through their waters (which can’t be avoided on the way to the Gulf of Aqaba), told us we’d done nothing wrong, and finally let us go in the morning. It was the most incredible display of incompetence we’ve ever seen.

Anyway, all is well that ends well, and we’re now tacking and motor-sailing up the Gulf Aqaba just 80 miles from Eilat, staying offshore from Egypt and hoping to avoid any encounters with that country’s military. We’ve been boarded at gunpoint four times in the past two weeks – once in Yemen, twice in Sudan, and now again in Saudi. These Arab governments around the Red Sea appear to be the biggest safety threat of our entire voyage, so we will cancel our plans to visit Egypt and instead go straight through the Suez Canal after leaving Israel… it just doesn’t seem worth it any more. For now we continue pounding into the wind just 80 miles from Israel, happy to be battling the wind and sea, a well known foe by now, instead of the more volatile military human type. Maybe we should have chosen a different hobby

Love from the Risk,

Jason and Piers