My story Sailing solo
The Australian Women's Weekly|August 2022
In 2017 Lisa Blair became the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica. She nearly didn’t live to tell the tale. But those scrapes with death gave her the courage to make a second solo circumnavigation, and this time she broke the world record.
My story Sailing solo

I didn’t start sailing until I was 25. It was my last year at Southern Cross University. I got a job as the cook and the cleaner on a charter yacht in the Whitsundays and started sailing from there.

Within a few weeks I was looking at how I could do more sailing, not really realising that it could become a career path or that I would end up as an adventurer. I ended up getting a position as a crew on a friend’s boat. We spent three months sailing to Hawaii on a little 40-foot steel boat. It was my first standing watch while the boat was sailing through the nighttime, and we had whales near the boat. You’ve just got stars above you. It’s like this magic world that I didn’t really know existed.

My mum’s partner, John, started lending me all these books – Robin Knox-Johnston talking about his solo circumnavigation around the world – all these incredible solo sailors. My mind was just like, “Oh, this would be awesome to do”.

I couldn’t shake the idea of sailing around Antarctica. It just kind of needled me in the back of my mind.

In 2017, I set out on board my yacht, Climate Action Now, to become the first woman to sail solo around Antarctica and it would be an understatement to say that not everything went according to plan.

The most frightening moment came 72 days into the journey. By then, I had sailed south from Australia down below Tassie, below New Zealand, below South America. I was just passing the bottom of South Africa when the mast snapped in a storm.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLYView all
Hitting a nerve
The Australian Women's Weekly

Hitting a nerve

Regulating the vagus nerve with its links to depression, anxiety, arthritis and diabetes - could aid physical and mental wellbeing.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024
Take me to the river
The Australian Women's Weekly

Take me to the river

With a slew of new schedules and excursions to explore, the latest river cruises promise to give you experiences and sights you won’t see on the ocean.

time-read
4 mins  |
July 2024
The last act
The Australian Women's Weekly

The last act

When family patriarch Tom Edwards passes away, his children must come together to build his coffin in four days, otherwise they will lose their inheritance. Can they put their sibling rivalry aside?

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN
The Australian Women's Weekly

MEET RUSSIA'S BRAVEST WOMEN

When Alexei Navalny died in a brutal Arctic prison, Vladimir Putin thought he had triumphed over his most formidable opponent. Until three courageous women - Alexei's mother, wife and daughter - took up his fight for freedom.

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
The wines and lines mums
The Australian Women's Weekly

The wines and lines mums

Once only associated with glamorous A-listers, cocaine is now prevalent with the soccer-mum set - as likely to be imbibed at a school fundraiser as a nightclub. The Weekly looks inside this illegal, addictive, rising trend.

time-read
10 mins  |
July 2024
Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?
The Australian Women's Weekly

Jenny Liddle-Bob.Lucy McDonald.Sasha Green - Why don't you know their names?

Indigenous women are being murdered at frightening rates, their deaths often left uninvestigated and widely unreported. Here The Weekly meets families who are battling grief and desperate for solutions.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Growing happiness
The Australian Women's Weekly

Growing happiness

Through drought flood and heartbreak, Jenny Jennr's sunflowers bloom with hope, sunshine and joy

time-read
8 mins  |
July 2024
"Thank God we make each other laugh"
The Australian Women's Weekly

"Thank God we make each other laugh"

A shared sense of humour has seen Aussie comedy couple Harriet Dyer and Patrick Brammall conquer the world. But what does life look like when the cameras go down:

time-read
7 mins  |
July 2024
Winter baking with apples and pears
The Australian Women's Weekly

Winter baking with apples and pears

Celebrate the season of Australian apples and pears with these sweet bakes that will keep the midwinter blues away.

time-read
10+ mins  |
July 2024
Budget dinner winners
The Australian Women's Weekly

Budget dinner winners

Looking for some thrifty inspiration for weeknight dinners? Try our tasty line-up of low-cost recipes that are bound to please everyone at the table.

time-read
5 mins  |
July 2024