An octogenarian sailing legend has docked in Bundaberg on his 11th circumnavigation of the globe, facing headwinds of a global pandemic and wild weather along the way.
Australian yachtsman Jon Sanders sailed more than 40,000 kilometres since leaving Fremantle almost a year ago, on a voyage to raise awareness of plastic pollution.
"It's not just amazing, this is the 11th time he's done this," Mr Sanders' team manager Stephen Davis said.
"He is the only person on our planet to have done that … and at 81 years of age.
Mr Sanders was towed into Bundaberg Port Marina this morning and escorted from his yacht by police and Border Force officers for a COVID-19 test at Bundaberg Hospital, before returning to his yacht.
"Jon is probably the lowest risk person in Australia, he's just had 30 days at sea solo," Mr Davis said.
"The reason he left Tahiti is because the virus started picking up there and it was time to head to Australia for the last lap."
With a quarantine exemption from Queensland Health, he will be free to set foot on dry land properly once his test returns negative.
'Worst conditions in decades'
Mr Davis explained the trip was going well until the pandemic hit and Sanders had to bunker down on an island in the Caribbean for three months.
As well as coronavirus, Mr Sanders had to contend with some of the worst conditions he had seen in decades.
"He hit three very big storms, and at one stage he was sailing with all the sails down and bow sails up to slow the boat down with winds of more than 120 kilometres an hour and high seas crashing over the boat," Mr Davis said.
"The boat was taking on so much water the engine was flooded and we expect Jon is a bit battered and bruised with [we suspect] a few cracked ribs."
The storm also left the sailor without electronics.
"He travelled the last leg much like James Cook did with paper charts and a sextant," Mr Davis said.
"But that's how he started out his sailing 60 years ago, so he went back to basics."
Mr Sanders is expected to be in Bundaberg for the next few weeks before heading south along the coast and back to Perth.
Coronavirus ensures subdued welcome
A small crowd of locals gathered at the marina near Burnett Heads to welcome Mr Sanders, including a group of women who regularly meet for coffee on the waterfront.
"I saw this morning that he was coming in and I just thought 'how exciting for Burnett Heads and the port'," Lorraine Keen said.
"We're a very small village, these sorts of things don't happen very often. I thought 'we can't miss that'.
"I googled him, watched a couple of YouTubes, and I thought 'what a fantastic person, aged 81 and doing this'. Amazing."
Throughout the circumnavigation, Mr Sanders collected water samples for analysis by researchers at Curtin University in Perth who hope to build a picture of plastic pollution in oceans across the Southern Hemisphere.
His mission attracted sponsorship from billionaires Andrew and Nicola Forrest's Minderoo Foundation which established the Sea the Future initiative to encourage safer disposal of plastics.
