Sailing the world in 5,976 days

It was a dream Michael and Nancy Morrell of Tacoma shared, to one day sail around the world. They just didn’t realize it would take 16 1/2 years to complete their circumnavigation.

It was a journey that began on May 15, 1990. The first George Bush was in the White House when 44-foot Serenity pulled out of its Gig Harbor slip.

Nancy Morrell had sold her Lakewood printing business. Michael Morrell had left his practice as an orthopedic surgeon. They had sold their Wollochet Bay home, their cars and most other possessions.

Over the next decade and a half, until journey’s end in September, they would sail to exotic locales, provide medical care, deal with at-sea catastrophes and immerse themselves into native cultures.

The Morrells are quick to point out that they didn’t spend the entire time at sea. But any journey that takes you more than 145,000 miles is remarkable, no matter how it is accomplished.

The South Pacific

“We were accepted everywhere we went. The key was respect, not thinking your society is better. It’s different, not better.” – Nancy Morrell, 54.

Every discussion of their journey seems to start with the South Pacific. They spent about six years island-hopping. Some were popular destinations, but most were out-of-the-way islands.

“When you’re dreaming about this, you dream about the tropical islands, the sandy beaches,” said Michael, 62. “After the first, second or 50th island, they’re all the same. We wanted to meet the people and see their cultures.”

When asked about the favorite places they visited, three islands or groups of islands top the list: Vanuatu, Niue and Tonga.

Vanuatu is a group of islands about three-quarters of the way from Hawaii to Australia. It is the only place they intentionally visited twice.

On Niue, about 1,500 miles northeast of New Zealand, they saw ear-piercing and haircutting ceremonies, marking the transition from children to women and men.

At each stop, Michael would offer his medical help. Sometimes he would work at a hospital or a clinic. Other times, he saw patients at the home of the chief or on the beach.

“It was so wonderful to help people who, in many cases, had no access to medical care. There were countries where I was the only surgeon,” Michael said.

Times of trouble

“At one point, we got a weather fax that had three hurricanes on it. We got beaten up or becalmed. If that had been our first passage, I don’t know if we would have gone any further.” – Michael Morrell, on the trip’s final leg, from Panama to Port Angeles.

In a journey of this length, danger is never far over the horizon.

Four months after departing, the couple were engulfed in a storm just 80 miles off the Queen Charlotte Islands in British Columbia. While radio reports indicated they would miss the storm, it changed track and roared over the Serenity with 90-plus-mph winds and 40-foot waves.

“At one point, I looked up and the top of the mast was twisting. I said, ‘I think the mast is going to come down.’ No sooner than he said ‘Naw,’ the top half broke and came down,” recalled Nancy.

Wire guides and ropes draped over the side and tangled in the propeller shaft, and the sails were in the water. For two days the couple struggled to free the propeller, to no avail. After being towed to Ketchikan, Alaska, by a U.S. Coast Guard cutter, they motored back to Seattle and spent 10 months making repairs.

The scariest moment, however, came in June 1996 as they sailed between the islands of Kandavu and Fiji.

Nancy was on watch, Michael was in bed.

“There was no moon, no stars. It’s pitch black. You couldn’t see anything,” Nancy said.

Sometime before 11 p.m., the plate anchoring the line that runs from the bow to the mast broke, sending the jib sail crashing into the boat, the forestay smacking the side.

Michael came topside and was able to tie down the loose gear.

But, Nancy said, as she reached for more rope, “The next thing I know Michael is hanging off the side of the boat. I raced up and tried to lift him, and of course I couldn’t.”

The wire he was gripping began cutting his fingers, forcing Michael to let go.

“I couldn’t see him in the water,” Nancy said.

Fortunately, being close to their destination, the couple had decided to put their dinghy in the water behind the boat.

“I knew the dinghy was there and if I could get in it I would be OK,” Michael said. “It was the only time we had towed the dinghy. It was a lucky thing.”

After that, the two always made sure they wore strobe lights.

Simple moments

“We always stayed longer than we planned. That’s one reason it took us 16 1/2 years.” – Michael Morrell.

Although they have a lifetime of stories to tell, the two are quick to recall the joys of spontaneity.

Like the time they were invited for a picnic with a teacher on one of the Marquesas Islands.

“He brought his machete, and that’s how we got our food. We had coconut, heart of palm, bananas, papaya,” Nancy said

In Mexico, the two would return to their dinghy from a trip ashore, only to find it filled with fruits and vegetables. In Niue, someone left them a stack of papayas the size of watermelons on the dock.

At another stop in the Marquesas Islands, a launch from a French Navy ship came alongside to ask the Morrells to come aboard for a Bastille Day celebration. They wound up being invited to have dinner with the captain.

And there was the time at a restaurant near a Turkish marina when the owner asked the Morrells to cook “an American dinner.”

“What’s American?” Michael asked.

Happy to oblige, the couple took over the kitchen to prepare Chicken Parmesan, Alaskan sourdough bread, pasta with red sauce and Bananas Foster.

Solitude at sea

“I will miss the long passages when we are alone with the sky and the sea enclosed in our own cocoon. It sure reinforces the importance of self-reliance.” – Michael Morrell in a July 28 e-mail.

Although the Morrells spent much of their trip ashore, the moments at sea will always be special, said the two.

As they approached Hawaii in August 1992, Michael remembers feeling a sense of regret.

“We didn’t really want to see land after 30 days at seas. It was a glorious sail downwind,” he said.

Nancy fondly recalls the star-filled nights, when “the world would disappear.”

“There would be a moonless night at sea, but it was so bright from the stars and the Milky Way. I can still see it in my mind,” she said.

That also is the reason they avoided ports popular in the cruising community.

“You don’t go to French Polynesia to talk to people from California,” Michael said.

In the future

“When we left, we sold almost everything we owned and will now have to start over like the newlyweds we are. After all, this was our honeymoon.” – Michael Morrell.

When not staying with friends, the Morrells live aboard the Serenity, now docked at the Foss Waterway Marina. They have been busy catching up with old acquaintances, retelling their tales and getting used to life in the 21st century.

“It gave us more of a worldview and exposed us to a lot of cultures,” Michael said. “It slowed us down, and we don’t want to speed our lives back up. It made us value simple things more.”

But what’s next?

The couple have discussed Michael doing more medical volunteer work on remote Pacific islands.

“This was fulfilling a dream, and we loved this lifestyle. But we’re not going to sit in rocking chairs and die. There’s still lots we want to do,” Nancy said.