Jonathan Dunnett: ‘The ocean is far bigger than we are, and it will humble us.’

Crisp northern winds blow twisting grass on dunes while choppy waves on the Sea of Okhotsk break on the shore. Jonathan “Jono” Dunnett, 50, tanned from years on the water looks out as the sun sets on Shiretoko Peninsula. A writer by trade, and a sailor at heart, he achieved the world record for the longest windsurfing journey back in 2019 with a coastline sojourn of Europe — from Norway to Georgia some 15,000 kilometers. Dunnett’s Japan trip echoes back to his first expedition where he completed the first solo navigation of the British Isles. Now, his windsurf board sans a bright orange sail sits on the side of a dune. It broke after a long haul on the Pacific Ocean swell, dodging bears and Russian waters — his circumnavigation of Japan is now on pause but only momentarily.

1. Where did this all start? I was born in London but spent a lot of my childhood growing up by the sea in England, so I’ve been sailing my whole life, okay. After university, I went to work in a sailing center in Spain, and that’s been my home ever since.

2. What have you learned on your travels? I’ve learned a great deal about myself, for one. I took on the British Isles first as I was a bit disillusioned, perhaps a bit depressed. It rescued me from that. Before, I felt quite detached from people. But when you travel like this, you tend to figure out that everyone is the same. We all struggle, we all have our own struggles — that’s normal.