Randall Reeves Leaves . . . Again

And he’s off . . . again. Yesterday, Randall Reeves set sail (or motor) on his 41-ft aluminum sloop Moli for his second attempt at the Figure 8 Voyage. 

It was a beautiful but utterly windless morning, with calm conditions outside the Golden Gate — only a close-period ground swell ruffled the otherwise placid waters of the Bay. After returning to the Bay Area in July, Reeves has been hard at work preparing for another grueling record attempt at his double circumnavigation. His Facebook page has shown a flurry of activity, from scraping, sanding and painting the bottom, to complex electronics work, to endless provisioning.

"I still struggle with a clear and compelling answer as to why I want to do it," Randall told us last year, before he embarked on the Figure 8 Voyage 1.0. "It has a lot to do with wanting that kind of challenge and the privilege of seeing the ocean on its own terms, of being able to witness the wilder parts of the world." 

In this month’s issue of Latitude 38, we sit down with Reeves to talk about the why of it, but also the more relevant question: Why not?

Be sure to check out the new issue of Latitude, and don’t forget to check in with Randall Reeves’ blog updates at the figure8voyage.com.