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  • There’s nothing swell about them

    I don’t know who named them swells. There’s nothing swell about them. They should have named them awfuls.

    Hugo Vihlen

    Listen to Sven’s interview on the Travel Grit podcast

    April 22, 2026
  • Hugo Vihlen’s Record-breaking Ocean Crossings

    Map from The Stormy Voyage of Father's Day showing Hugo Vihlen's two Atlantic Ocean crossings: April Fool route from Casablanca to Florida in 1968 (85 days) and Father's Day route from Newfoundland to England in 1993 (105 days), marking the smallest boats ever to cross the Atlantic
    Hugo Vihlen’s Atlantic crossing routes: April Fool (1968, 6-foot boat, 85 days) and Father’s Day (1993, 5’4″ boat, 105 days). Map from Hugo’s book, The Stormy Voyage of Father’s Day.

    Listen to the full Hugo Vihlen interview on the Travel Grit podcast.

    Map is from his book The Stormy Voyage of Father’s Day.

    For more sailing stories, check out Webb Chiles’ six circumnavigations.

    March 10, 2026
  • Hugo Vihlen: Crossing the Atlantic in a 5′ 4″ Sailboat  | Travel Grit Podcast

    Hugo Vihlen: Crossing the Atlantic in a 5′ 4″ Sailboat  | Travel Grit Podcast

    At 62, Hugo Vihlen sailed across the Atlantic in Father’s Day—a boat just 5 feet 4 inches long. He hand-steered through a hurricane, ate quarter rations, and lost a kidney somewhere between Newfoundland and England. His record still stands 30+ years later.

    Listen now.

    Hugo Vihlen’s Atlantic crossing routes: April Fool (1968, 6-foot boat, 85 days) and Father’s Day (1993, 5’4″ boat, 105 days). Map from Hugo’s book, The Stormy Voyage of Father’s Day.
    Transcript
    March 2, 2026
  • Travel Grit #1: 105 days at sea in a 5′ 4″ boat with Hugo Vihlen

    (more…)

    March 1, 2026
  • The Stormy Passage of Father’s Day

    The Stormy Voyage of Father's Day book cover showing Hugo Vihlen in his small red sailboat Father's Day
    The Stormy Voyage of Father’s Day: Solo across the North Atlantic in the Smallest Sailboat Ever by Hugo Vihlen with Joanne Kimberlin

    Listen to Hugo’ Vihlen’s extraordinary story here on the Travel Grit podcast.

    January 22, 2026

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