In 1519, Magellan set sail with his fleet of five three-masted ships. The journey was into the unknown, with the goal of finding a western route to the Spice Islands. Three years later, only one of the five ships returned, and only 18 men had survived the voyage. Nevertheless, the expedition was an epochal triumph: Magellan had not only discovered a passage to the Pacific Ocean, but the world had been circumnavigated for the first time. This was practical proof of the theory proposed by the astronomer Copernicus, who claimed: The Earth is round! Even today, the history of circumnavigations is filled with excitement: Rollo Gebhard, who sailed solo around the world twice on the cruising yacht Solveig III, shares how adventurous the journey across the vast oceans can be.