In 1965, a 16-year-old boy named Robin Lee Graham left California with a big dream — to sail all the way around the world by himself. He had a small 24-foot sailboat called Dove and two cats for company. Five years and more than 30,000 miles later, he actually did it.
Setting Sail For Adventure
Robin wasn’t new to the ocean. His dad had taught him how to sail, fix boats and even use the stars to find his way. The family had moved to Hawaii in the early 1960s, and Robin spent most of his time around boats.
In January 1965, when he was 15, Robin and two of his friends bought a tiny aluminum boat and decided to sail from Honolulu to Lanai. They didn’t tell anyone until after they left and when a storm hit, everyone thought they were lost at sea.
The U.S. Coast Guard started searching for them. Luckily, the boys made it to Lanai safely and went to the police after hearing the news on the radio.
Instead of grounding his son, Robin’s father surprised him. He bought him a bigger boat — the Dove. “He knew I’d try to sail again in ‘some other damn silly thing,’” Graham told Flathead Living in 2019.
That boat was waiting for him in California, and Robin’s parents agreed to let him sail it back to Hawaii alone. But Robin had bigger plans. Why stop there when he could try to sail around the entire world?
Trouble On The High Seas
On July 27, 1965, Robin set sail from San Pedro, California, heading for Hawaii. After a short stop there, he kept going. But the sea didn’t make things easy.
His first big problem came when a storm broke his mast while he was sailing toward American Samoa. He had to change course and head to Samoa’s capital, Apia, for repairs.
It took months to fix Dove and he didn’t set off again until May 1966. He sailed to Tonga and then to Fiji, where something special happened.
Robin met a young woman named Patti Ratterree, another American who was traveling the world. They fell in love and Patti began meeting him at different ports whenever she could.
Robin spent the next year sailing through the South Pacific, visiting the New Hebrides, the Solomon Islands and New Guinea. In May 1967, he reached Darwin, Australia and stayed for two months.
Not long after leaving, another storm hit. Once again, Dove lost its mast, and Robin had to sail more than 2,600 miles to Mauritius with a temporary fix.
Love And A New Chapter
After getting the boat repaired, Robin sailed to South Africa, where he reunited with Patti in October 1967. They spent months exploring together and eventually got married.
“I was still a minor, and I had to have my parents’ written permission before we could be married,” Graham wrote for National Geographic in 1969. “But it was on its way. Patti would become Mrs. Robin Lee Graham before I left for South America.”
After a honeymoon at Kruger National Park, Robin left Cape Town on July 13, 1968. This would be the hardest and longest stretch of his journey — across the Atlantic Ocean.
The Loneliness Of The Ocean
“When I left Cape Town, I’d be heading out on the longest leg of my voyage so far,” he wrote for National Geographic. “I would stop at Ascension Island, in mid-ocean, for supplies. Counting the Ascension stop, the journey could take as long as two months, even if nothing went wrong with Dove or me.”
He added, “But each day was like the next. Loneliness began to take hold of me like a pain that wouldn’t go away. I fought it every way I could. You have to, or it will drive you crazy.”
After weeks alone, he finally reached Suriname in South America, then sailed to Barbados. There, he picked up a new sailboat named Return of Dove.
In January 1970, Robin and Patti went through the Panama Canal together. She was required to join because the canal rules demanded another person on board. On the other side, California was finally within reach.
The Youngest Sailor To Circle The World
Robin made one last stop at the Galapagos Islands before heading home. On April 30, 1970, after sailing for nearly five years — exactly 1,739 days — he anchored Return of Dove in Long Beach, California.
He had done it. Robin Lee Graham was now the youngest person ever to sail around the world alone, a record that lasted for 17 years.
He became famous overnight. National Geographic had featured him in three cover stories and companies wanted to sponsor him. Books and even a movie were made about his adventure. Patti was seven months pregnant and Robin was about to become a dad.
But fame didn’t bring peace. The ocean had been lonely but returning to normal life felt even harder. A year later, Patti found Robin holding a gun. She stopped him just in time and threw the gun into the water. They both realized they needed to find peace away from the spotlight.
Finding Home On Land
So, the couple left the ocean behind and started traveling the U.S. in a van. Eventually, they settled in Montana, far from the sea but close to nature.
As of 2025, Robin and Patti still live there near Flathead Lake. Their home is filled with reminders of their wild journey — photos of beaches, boat-shaped beds and stained glass art of Dove. Even though the ocean is miles away, it’s still part of who they are.
Robin Lee Graham once set out to chase the horizon. He found storms, love and loneliness but in the end, he found home.
