Indian Ocean · September–November 2026
There is no fast way
across an ocean
Three voyages from Réunion to Cape Town. Ben on deck beside you at three in the morning, and nothing on the horizon for days at a time.
What this is
Most trips give you places.
This one gives you time.
You can fly anywhere on earth by tomorrow. Sailing there takes as long as it takes.
There's no upgrade for an ocean crossing and no way to skip the middle of one. Réunion to Madagascar is nine hundred miles. That's about three weeks whether you're in a hurry or not.
What you get in exchange is time nobody can interrupt. No signal, no meetings, nowhere else to be. Most people find the first few days harder than they expected and then don't want it to end.
Forced to slow down in every way, and devoid of distraction, I found space in myself to face and make friends with the timeless moments… There are few better ways to dig deep, soul search and reflect on life than the deck of the Blackfin.
What actually happens out there
Three weeks, roughly
Somebody is awake and steering every hour of every night. Often it will be you.
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Day one
You learn where everything is. Ropes, stove, life raft, your bunk. Ben goes through it twice, then a third time without being asked. Most people are steering by the end of the first evening.
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Day three
No land in any direction. Your phone stopped working two days ago and you've mostly stopped picking it up. You're not living by the clock anymore, you're living by the watch schedule: some hours on deck, some hours asleep, right around the day and back again.
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Day nine
You're good at this now. You check the sky before you check anything else. Meals turn into the event of the day; Ben cooks in a galley the size of a cupboard and he's very good at it. Guests mention the food more than they mention the sailing.
There's also nothing much to do between watches except think, and after a week of that you start to notice what you keep thinking about.
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Landfall
You smell the land before you see it. Nobody warns you about that. Then a harbour, a hot shower, and a meal you had no part in making.
People tend to go quiet for a day or two afterwards. Then they talk about it for years, usually badly, because it doesn't go into words well.
Never having so much as taken a camping trip, I was delighted… The trip left me changed, discovering a thirst for adventure I didn't even know was there.
Who you'll be sailing with
Captain Ben Reader
There's no fleet here and no rotating roster of skippers. Blackfin is Ben's boat and Ben sails it, every mile, with a few people at a time.
His guests write about the seamanship less than you'd think. Mostly they write that he stayed calm when the weather didn't, that the food was ridiculous, and that they trusted him somewhere in the first few days and never stopped.
One finished a trip down the New Zealand coast, went home, and booked another one to Tasmania.
Before you write
Not everyone should come
Three weeks is a long time to spend on a small boat with people you've only just met. Ben would rather you knew what you were getting into.
You'll probably love it if
- You like being given jobs and getting on with them
- Something in your life is shifting and you want room to think. A lot of people book for exactly this reason
- You want to learn to sail from someone who won't make you feel stupid about it
- A week with no phone signal sounds good rather than alarming
- You don't mind being cold, wet and tired some of the time. It happens
Give it a miss if
- You want a crew looking after you. There isn't one. There's Ben, and there's you
- You need to check your email
- You want the itinerary nailed down now. The weather decides where we go and when, and it changes its mind
- Sharing a small space for weeks would wear on you
- You're after luxury. The boat is comfortable and properly looked after. It's still a boat
You don't need to have sailed before. Most people haven't.
The Blackfin is a top-notch boat who has taken very great care of a greenhorn sailor such as myself. I'll never forget being in Fiji and leaning over the bow while dolphins swam inches from my head.
Darby H — rancher, artist, (no longer greenhorn) sailor
2026 season
Three voyages, Réunion to Cape Town
They run back to back down the western edge of the Indian Ocean, with a few days on land between each one. Come for a single leg or stay for the lot.
Two places remaining on each.
Incredible food, wild moments on the water — and a deep sense of trust the whole way through. Ben is an extremely knowledgeable captain, but also one of the most patient, grounded people you'd want to be at sea with.
Evan Rilling surfer and chef
My time on the Blackfin — the April '24 Tasman Sea crossing, then Hobart to Perth — has bookended some of the most profound soul searching in my life.
Joe Cleinmark world traveler and wilderness guide
Get in touch
Come sail your story forward
Say which leg you're looking at and how much sailing you've done. None is a perfectly good answer. Ben replies to these himself.
Questions about gear, seasickness, sleeping arrangements, or what a day aboard is really like are answered on the FAQ.