For those that dream of sailing around the world...

[teejayevans]

http://ktla.trb.com/news/la-me-barnes15jan15,0,3839844.story?coll=ktla-news-1

Tom

 

[Brat]

Cape Horn! Foolhardy.

Spend a dollar and use the Panama Canal.

 

[Sam]

Great guy! I hope he does not regret it because of the failure.

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

ya don't have to go around cape horn to go around the world. all you have to do is cross the equator at some point during the trip. the usual place for that is on way to the south pacific at which time you throw a little party and praise neptune for your safe journey.

He had to decide whether to activate the distress beacon to summon rescuers to his aid 500 miles off Chile or go down with the boat that would always hold his dream...."I can pull that pin and accept all this help from everybody when that is exactly what I don't want, and I don't (care) whether I make it through this or not," Barnes remembers thinking.

outside of terminal illness, since when is saving your life (or delaying death) a choice. turning a reaction into a decision screams to me of wrecklessness.

He had never sailed alone for more than a week...Twice a day, every day, he searched websites for the right boat. He traveled to Rhode Island, San Francisco and around the Southland.

sounds to me like he spent more time looking for the boat than preparing for the trip. am i the only one who see's something wrong with this statement: "i have a week's worth of solo sailing experience, i think i'll take the boat around cape horn for the day."

the boat had been designed for long solo voyages, but the two previous owners had seen their dream to circle the world thwarted by family illness.

i'm not superstitious, really i'm not, but i do tend to notice coincidence. ya think maybe this boat wasn't meant to go around the world?

i was raised with powerboats and only sailed my little sunfish and the dinghy from the ol'man's boat which was set up for sail, still, strikes me that his could have been a much smoother trip in another skipper's hands.

as i'm writing this i thought how i really don't know much about sailing at all (would love to learn) and so i accessed a sail forum discussing this guy. here's the link http://tinyurl.com/377ru6

"batteries ended up in the sink" -- clearly, that should never happen if they had been properly secured in the first place.

- "the floorboards, too" ditto

One would think that a circumnavigator planning to tackle Cape Horn and the Southern Ocean would have anticipated and prepared for weather at least this severe.

edit:

Cape Horn! Foolhardy.

Spend a dollar and use the Panama Canal.

very funny.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Mmmm, he was going around the hard way, and having only done a week's solo sailing before he left. Not the best choices, and some really bad luck. That is sad.

I have some friends from our sailing days that left out of Charleston last year and just went through the Panama canal from the Caribbean side. They pulled the boat in Ecuador for bottom paint and are now exploring Peru and some inland South America before heading back to the boat for the next big passage. Some good pictures of Drew's cute wife in a bikini, boys....
http://lostonpurpose.net/

I don't really understand the whole "must go around the world" destiny...if they worked towards some more achievable goals, there might be more success stories in long distance sailing dreams.

Sarah

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

going around the world is fine. if i found the right guy i'd consider it. though i'd have no time frame and likely would take 5 years minimum to circumnavigate, sailing into only the best of weather at all opportunity (& of course playing in every good port).

but going around the world on schedule you're bound to hit some bad weather.

 

[teejayevans]

I don't really understand the whole "must go around the world" destiny...if they worked towards some more achievable goals, there might be more success stories in long distance sailing dreams.

Sarah

There is success stories, there is a single handed women doing the same thing in a
28ft boat as I type. You just don't hear about the successes.
Tom

 

[teejayevans]

Cape Horn! Foolhardy.

Spend a dollar and use the Panama Canal.

More like $1500-$2000
You are required to have 4 line handlers, and a pilot, in addition
to yourself, and then of course there are the pirates. One thing
about the horn, no pirates
Tom

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

www.joshuaslocumsocietyintl.org/solo/solotable.htm

 

[teejayevans]

but going around the world on schedule you're bound to hit some bad weather.

Just so you know, January is summertime down there and considered the
best time of year to try to round the horn.
Personally I would prefer the Chilean channels->Straits of Magellan route.
Tom

 

[Sarah in SC]

The Panama canal is certainly the way to go, and that is cheap compared to the Southern Ocean preparations! My buddies who just went through had no complaints about the helpers/dock handlers/etc needed for the trip.

Most of the failed dreamers I know about never even got off the dock. The ones out there doing it are the rare ones. Achievable dreams are the best kind!

I'm with you, Lazy, not enough planning the voyage, too much outfitting the boat. So very common! Now if I could get my friend Harry to cut the lines--the boat is ready, the wife is willing, and still he is buying more stuff!

Sarah (sigh...boatless for the moment, waiting for FIRE)

 

[lazygood4nothinbum]

sarah, some are so lucky to both want the same thing. twice i thought i had someone to sail with me, but both dead before i retired. what a freaking drag.

tj, my reference was not to general planning; obviously this guy did some homework and had some experience. but with today's technology, weather fax & radar and satellite, if you are not on schedule seems you can sail around the worst weather especially during the best time of the year.

according to the sailor web site i noted above, he didn't even safely batten down before going 'round the cape.

it's his own life, his own boat, aside from his rescuers, he didn't put anyone else into harm's way. not a problem. but by his own account this guy reveled in sailing into danger.

By Christmas, the storms became more frequent, and Barnes embraced them...."The best time is at 2 a.m. when you are woken up by thunder so loud that it's shaking the boat and you go out on deck and the lightning is like a lightbulb exploding 2 inches from your face, and here you are standing on a steel boat," Barnes said. "Everything else is mundane."

 

[Caroline]

all you have to do is cross the equator at some point during the trip. the usual place for that is on way to the south pacific at which time you throw a little party and praise neptune for your safe journey.

Gee, that's not QUITE the way my Dad describes his trip across the equator but then, he was a pollywog aboard the Richard B. Anderson, and a guest of Uncle Sam at the time.

 

[billkeane]

Read " MAIDEN VOYAGE " by Tanya A something ( Abei ? ).

18 year old. Dad said get your head right or get on this boat and start sailing. Nearly NO experience. Did the whole thing alone ( nearly ... got cheated IMO ) in an26/28 foot boat.

One of the best stories I've ever read. May have to get it through Amazon. I'm not certain it is still in print but I got a few copies for friends about a year ago. They were used and cheap.

Enjoy

 

[Sarah in SC]

That is a great book, Bill. I also liked Dove, written by another young sailor, Robin Graham. Of course I also enjoy the disaster stories, like Adrift by Steve Callahan and Survive the Savage Sea by Dougal Robertson!
Lots of salty sailing stories out there!
Sarah

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Could be worse:

http://kcbs.com/pages/191882.php?contentType=4&contentId=297569

Didnt make it from the san francisco bay around the farallons and back, still hasnt been found.

Having sailed that area in a similar sized boat with a crew of 6 very experienced sailors, I have to say that 'foolhardy' is a soft word to associate with someone who tried this alone. The currents and tides alone can be quite challenging. Under full sail, good wind and the motor running, we were nearly pulled from the bay out through the golden gate by the afternoon tide.

Water in the low 50's and the farallons being one of the primary great white feeding areas, there isnt a lot of hope.

 

[farmerEd]

"I had my chance, and I failed," he said, shortly after taking out the trash back at the condo he shares with his girlfriend.

I don't think he failed...what he did took a lot more guts than most people have; I suspect if he had played it safe and did not even ever try to accomplish his goals, in the end he would likely have regretted it morethan the 250K he lost.

I admire people that have a dream and work diligently towards it - and yes, even those that fail trying - much more than those people that play it safe and put off their lifes dreams until its too late.

I suspect he will pull himself up by his bootstraps and the experience will ultimately lead toward better things down the road.