From the Norwegian-Russian border to the Black Sea: Briton Jono Dunnett was the first person to circumnavigate the whole of Europe on a surfboard. He set off in May 2017 and returned to his starting point in September 2019. He reported on his experiences along the way several times in surf, and now the book about his journey has been published.
In "In The Balance: A 15,000 km Voyage of the Seas of Europe" (in English), we can travel along for almost 350 pages and experience setbacks and moments of success. The encounters with the people he met on his journey are particularly important to Jono Dunnett. "On the water he was as alone as he could be, but on land he experienced great humanity," says the blurb.
Jono Dunnett was travelling on a race board and with a 9.0 sail. He had equipped the board with a waterproof buoy, some bags and a construction on which he could place the rig. This allowed him to make headway with a SUP paddle in completely calm conditions.
He spent the night partly under his sail on the beach and partly with supporters who took him in along the way. In the meantime, Jono took a break in his adopted home of Menorca to recharge his batteries. To avoid having to enter Russia, he crossed the Black Sea by ferry to finish the windsurfing round Europe in Bulgaria. He then cycled along Europe's eastern border back to Norway, the starting point of the journey.
Before his European trip, Jono Dunnett had already circumnavigated Great Britain on a windsurfing board in 2015. He also recorded this journey in a book, which was published under the title "Long Standing Ambition" is available.
