Charl de Villiers was born and reared in South Africa. At age 8 he was tragically burned in an accident and suffered third-degree burns over 85% of his body. He was hospitalized for 6 months, fighting for his life. The antibiotics administered to stave off infection attacked his auditory nerve, and within a year he was profoundly deaf, his body scarred beyond recognition.

Charl attended a school for the deaf and partially hearing until age 12. There, he received intensive lessons in lip-reading and speech therapy. He then went to a regular high school, graduating in 1978 without any special accommodations - an incredible accomplishment.

Settling in the far north of South Africa, he bought a 200-acre farm, cleared the bush, laid out irrigable lands, and designed, manufactured and installed his own water-extraction system. Charl was soon irrigating his own cotton, sweet corn and vegetable crops. In 1984, he married his wife Beverly, an elementary school teacher and speech-correctionist. Charl became an experienced skydiver, played an excellent game of golf and played rugby.

In 1985, the first ANC terrorist attacks began and the de Villiers' perfect world was turned upside-down. They lived in dangerous conditions for the next 5 years. They were trained by the army to protect their farm and homestead, and drove an anti-landmine vehicle. Deciding there was no future there for their two young children, they sold the farm and immigrated to America in 1991. In a strange country and speaking no English, Charl faced this new challenge without hesitation. Within months he was speaking and lip-reading English, a language he had never heard. He worked as a welder/fabricator at a chemical plant, and his family settled in Texas.

Frustrated by the inability of fellow workers and supervisors to look beyond his deafness and recognize his intelligence, Charl decided to quit his job, purchase a sailboat and sail around the world. He would fulfill a childhood dream. More than anything he wanted to show the world that, just because the deaf have difficulty with communication, they are by no means ignorant.

After months of preparation and repairs to his boat, Charl de Villiers set sail from Palacios, Texas on March 6, 2004. He sailed his 37' Tartan into the Gulf of Mexico, with absolutely no offshore sailing experience. This would become a 10-month voyage of determination, courage and great tenacity. He survived severe storms, damage to the boat, and a burglary that left him without vital communications equipment. Finally, after the boredom of the doldrums and the challenges of battering seas, with days without sleep, he sailed triumphantly into Palacios on December 19, 2004.

As far as is known, Charl de Villiers has become the first deaf person to solo circumnavigate the globe.

Charl's incredible journey was chronicled through installments in Telltales Magazine. Communicating with him on an almost daily basis allowed writer Sharon Langton Ragle to provided Telltales' readers with details of the challenges and exhilerations of this amazing undertaking. Now, through his appearances at the Houston International Boat, Sport and Travel Show, attendees can learn more about Charl's adventures.

Charl will share his experiences through a video presentation of his daring circumnavigation during four seminars at the boat show: Saturday, January 7, at 2:30 p.m.; Sunday, January 8, 3:30 p.m.; Saturday, January 14, 3:30 p.m.; and Sunday, January 15, 2:30 p.m. He also will be available for a couple of hours on those days at the Telltales show booth, No. 321, to provide more information or answer questions.