A modest sailboat, only 19 feet in length, became the vessel for a remarkable journey around the world. On May 12, the normally serene waters of Oriental turned jubilant as Josh Kali triumphantly returned to the Neuse River’s town docks. Accompanied by a fleet of local boats, his arrival was celebrated with enthusiasm and a sense of community.
“It was really heartfelt welcome,” Kali reflected on his return. He noted that Beaufort also showed great support, but the people of Oriental provided a particularly meaningful homecoming. “It was that homecoming to the town dock here that inspired me to keep going in times when I was a little bit discouraged,” he shared. The reception upon his return was a powerful motivator during his challenging voyage.
Josh Kali’s expedition commenced long before he set sail, beginning in Seattle, Washington, where he dedicated two and a half years to build his compact vessel. Measuring less than a typical pickup truck, the boat presented little room for error, yet its design proved effective. Kali became the first American to solo-circumnavigate the globe on a boat under twenty feet, completing the inaugural Mini Globe Race in just over 223 days.
The deliberate size of the boat was a strategic choice. “It’s 19 feet long so that it can fit into a 20-foot shipping container because that gives people the option to build them anywhere in the world and then you can just ship them to where the events are taking place,” Kali explained. The portability of the craft was a significant factor in its design.
Transporting the boat across the country, Kali launched from Oriental, near his family in Arapahoe. The ocean journey tested his mental fortitude, with sleep becoming a rare commodity. “I would go down for 40 minutes and I would set the alarm and then when it would go off I would get up and check for ships and make sure we were still on course and that we had the right sails up for the wind if it had shifted or gotten stronger or lighter or whatever,” he described. Days were filled with constant adjustments to maintain the course and manage the vessel.
Although traversing perilous waters and reefs went more smoothly than anticipated, the trip’s final leg proved to be the most grueling. The route from Brazil back to the Caribbean was particularly arduous. “The most difficult passage was the last one from Brazil back to Antigua,” Kali recounted. The challenging conditions made the journey exhausting, with strong winds and waves battering the boat and soaking its lone occupant. This hard-fought conclusion made reaching the end even more rewarding.
Besides the relentless physical demands, living aboard a compact sailboat meant sacrificing basic comforts. Kali yearned for fresh food and a simple pleasure: a cold Sprite. “I didn’t have a refrigerator or any way to store fresh food,” he said, “but I could make pasta and I could make rice dishes and stuff like that.” The prospect of having someone else prepare a meal was a luxury he missed. “For me though, what always motivated me to get into port or to make it to the next stop was a cold Sprite,” he confessed.
Now safely returned to land, Kali hopes his journey inspires others to pursue their dreams, regardless of the challenges. “One of the things that I hope to achieve by completing this was to inspire people to maybe get out of their comfort zone or try something that they’ve always been wanting to try,” he said, “Whether it’s offshore sailing or remodeling your bathroom, whatever it happens to be, the only one holding you back is you.” Desire, he believes, is the key to achieving goals.
