The first circumnavigation was around Cape Horn from Sydney to England and back around Africa, during which he communicated with Astronaut Dr. Leroy Chiao, the commander of Expedition 10 on the International Space Station. The second, via the North West Passage, evolved from Whitworth's contact with the Space Station and a later meeting with Dr. Pascal Lee who runs NASA's Haughton Mars Camp on Devon Island. Dr. Lee invited Whitworth to rendezvous at the Camp for the total solar eclipse of 1 August 2008. Berrimilla started and finished the first circumnavigation with a Sydney - Hobart race and sailed double handed in the Fastnet Race on both. Whitworth posted daily logs on his website which were followed widely by people around the world and reposted or reported on other websites and in the press.