Wilfried Erdmann (born 15 April 1940 in
Czarnikau,
Posen Province,
Prussia
Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...
) is a German sailor and author. He is known for his single-handed, non-stop
circumnavigation
Circumnavigation is the complete navigation around an entire island, continent, or astronomical body (e.g. a planet or moon). This article focuses on the circumnavigation of Earth.
The first recorded circumnavigation of the Earth was the Mage ...
s.
Biography
Erdmann was born in Posen Province, Prussia but grew up in
Karstädt
Karstädt is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality in the Prignitz district, in Brandenburg, Germany.
Demography
File:Bevölkerungsentwicklung Karstädt.pdf, Development of population since 1875 within the current Boundaries (Blue Line: Po ...
in
East Germany
East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...
. After finishing school he worked as a
carpenter before relocating to
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
at the age of 17. From 1958 to 1959 he traveled alone to India by bicycle via
Southern France,
North Africa
North Africa, or Northern Africa is a region encompassing the northern portion of the African continent. There is no singularly accepted scope for the region, and it is sometimes defined as stretching from the Atlantic shores of Mauritania in ...
, the
Near East and
Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. It was in India that he first encountered the idea of sailing across the oceans. Because he couldn't afford a boat he made his living for a couple of years as a
seaman
Seaman may refer to:
* Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew
* Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies
* Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name)
* ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...
in the
Merchant navy.
In 1967 Erdmann embarked on his first circumnavigation. In
Alicante
Alicante ( ca-valencia, Alacant) is a city and municipality in the Valencian Community, Spain. It is the capital of the province of Alicante and a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city was 337,482 , the second-largest in t ...
,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
, where he bought his first boat, a used 25 ft wooden ship, he met
Bernard Moitessier
Bernard Moitessier (April 10, 1925 – June 16, 1994) was a French sailor, most notable for his participation in the 1968 ''Sunday Times'' Golden Globe Race, the first non-stop, singlehanded, round the world yacht race. With the fastest circumn ...
, who also introduced him to the art of
astronavigation
Celestial navigation, also known as astronavigation, is the practice of position fixing using stars and other celestial bodies that enables a navigator to accurately determine their actual current physical position in space (or on the surface o ...
. Erdmann renamed the boat ''Kathena'' and arrived on 7 May 1968 after 421 days in
Helgoland
Heligoland (; german: Helgoland, ; Heligolandic Frisian: , , Mooring Frisian: , da, Helgoland) is a small archipelago in the North Sea. A part of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein since 1890, the islands were historically possessions ...
. He was the first German sailor who sailed across the world alone. Because of the size of his boat, nobody in Germany believed him first. Erdmann was able to give proof of the visited
ports of call, though.
1969 to 1972 he spent his honeymoon with his wife Astrid on a 1011-day long journey, which eventually became his second circumnavigation. Having sold Kathena, his first boat, they traveled with his second boat ''Kathena 2''.
* 1976 to 1979: journey to the
South Pacific with his wife and his 3-year-old son Kym.
* 1984 to 1985: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from west to east with the prevailing winds with ''Kathena Nui'' in 271 days.
* 1989: two Atlantic crossings with winners of a contest of German magazine
Stern.
* 2000 to 2001: non-stop, solo circumnavigation from east to west (contrary to the prevailing winds) with ''Kathena Nui'' in 343 days. He was the fifth sailor worldwide doing such a journey.
References
#
CV on his homepage (German)#
External links
Homepage of Wilfried Erdmann
{{DEFAULTSORT:Erdmann, Wilfried
1940 births
Living people
German sailors
People from Czarnków
Single-handed circumnavigating sailors