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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Initially Posted - 07/19/2004 : 23:42:23

I just finished reading Tania Aebi's account of her solo circumnavigation in a 26' sloop (not a Catalina) heading out when she was 19 yrs old. Makes me so glad I don't have an inboard diesel...hers was a never-ending mechanical disaster. But wow, what a story. I don't think I'll be following in her wake any time soon.

Steve

Steve Madden
'87 WK #5668 "Lorica"
Fort Myers, FL

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 01:03:03

At least Ms. Aebi was a Candian citizen (right?). As an American, with terrorism out of control, the war in Iraq, and half the people in the world screaming "Death to America!" on the TV news every night, I would feel unsafe in many of the spots Tania visited. If I were out cruising, sad to say, I would probably skip most of the mid-Pacific islands south and west of Hawaii, and jump from Hawaii direct to New Zealand and Australia (is that possible, distance-wise, in a non-racing sailboat?). There is no way I would go to Athens for the Olympics this summer as an American spectator, even if was a sports fan (I'm not), no matter how much security they say there will be around the game venues. After all, you have to travel between the games and your hotel twice a day, and that's where trouble will probably strike, if it does. I remember friends and co-workers who had to travel, telling me that they were being harrassed and spit on when traveling overseas in the late 60's and early 70's, if they didn't take pains to conceal their American idenity. It's ten times worse now, at least in some areas. I've heard that the U.S. State Department's list of countries to which American civilians should not travel is as long as it has ever been.

Edited by - on

D Wrate
1st Mate

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38 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 01:21:54

Tania was/is an American, from New York City...

David

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 07:08:02

My son just got back from four weeks in France, Italy, and Greece. He spent the time camping in public campgrounds, staying in international youth hostels, singing in the streets, and talking to people from all around the world. His experience was that people in other parts of the world are sophisticated enough to be able to distinguish between citizens and their government. He experienced uniform courtesy and friendliness, although he said he and his traveling companion tried to keep their irritating Americanisms (his words) to a minimum. The people he met said they loved America, but were pretty appalled at the arrogance of our leadership.

Brooke

Edited by - Brooke Willson on 07/20/2004 08:52:26

Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 09:19:30

Uh-oh. Didn't mean to trigger a political thread.

Tania's around-the-world voyage was in the mid-80's. She went into places and mingled among people I'm sure I would have avoided. (Actually, there's still too many parts of the US I'd like to visit, much less heading to the middle east or Asia.)

But even without the travelogue portions of her book, the sailing descriptions were worth the read. Knockdowns, a nighttime collision with a tanker, other close calls, all manner of emergency jury-rigged repairs in the open ocean...fascinating stuff...as long as it's happening to someone else.

Steve

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RichardG
Admiral

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USA
990 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 13:14:45

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">The people he met said they loved America, but were pretty appalled at the arrogance of our leadership<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

That also seems to be the consenses from long-distance, worldwide cruisers. In general, by being respectful of locals, American cruisers seem to be more welcomed in foreign lands compared with those from many other countries.

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JimB517
Past Commodore

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USA
3285 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 13:43:46

Its a good book and I recommend reading it. Her voyage was very similar to Robin Lee Grahams as told in "Dove". In both cases, however, the young sailors had fathers that I think should have been arrested - pushing the kids to put their lives on the line in order to beat some meaningless record.

Tania had no real sailing experience when her father untied her lines and pushed the boat out into the Hudson - although she had been on many "boat rides". The boat was not even checked out, it leaked, the motor didn't run correctly, and the water tanks were full of fiberglass making them undrinkable.

There is no way I can imagine doing that to my 15 year old daughter.

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 15:29:51

I agree: "Maiden Voyage" is a great read, and Tania father was . . . um . . . not my idea of a model father.

Brooke

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John Mason
Admiral

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USA
687 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 15:48:01

Model father or not, Tania wasn't a model daughter either. Her father gave her a CHOICE: go to college, or get on the boat and circumnavigate the globe. She CHOSE the boat! Her father believed one or the other would build responsibility and maturity - it did.

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oldsalt
Admiral

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USA
578 Posts

Response Posted - 07/20/2004 : 17:15:52

I followed her adventures in Cruising World and they made for interesting reading but I have to agree that her father was irresponsible for enabling her to risk her life since neither she nor her vessel, an Allied Princess 26, were remotely prepared for her voyage.

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 00:08:39

To JimB517's point; more than anything else in the book, one sentence stuck with me as I was reading. She casts off to begin the journey, motors out into a foggy New York harbor (100' visibility), crossing paths with tankers and tugboats when her diesel engine stalls. Admittedly terrified, she radios her father (who's on another boat somewhere in the fog) and he tells her she doesn't need an engine, she should just raise a sail. That paragraph ends with this sentence: "This was the first time in my life that I had sailed a boat all by myself." 

Yikes.

Steve

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lcharlot
Master Marine Consultant

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Antigua and Barbuda
1301 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 08:39:25

Another "must read" in this genre is "Kodoku", by Kenichi Horie. In his early 20's at the time, Mr. Horie sailed an all-wood 19' sloop, the "Mermaid", from Osaka, Japan to San Francisco in 1960, surviving two typhoons, and witnessing an American hydrogen bonb test at Johnston Atol (from several hundred miles away, and he didn't know what it was that he had seen until much later). The voyage took 100 days, which gives an average speed of only about 2.5 knots over the bottom. Nis only nav instruments were compass, sextant, and paper charts - no GPS or Satnav, or even Loran, I think I remember reading that he didn't even have a VHF radio. I don't think he had an engine either, sails only. It's remarkable to me that such a small boat could carry enough food for 100 days, but he ate very lightly, and lost considerable weight during the voyage.

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 08:53:34

Larry -

Thanks. Kodoku is now added to my reading list

Steve

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 09:49:35

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Model father or not, Tania wasn't a model daughter either. Her father gave her a CHOICE: go to college, or get on the boat and circumnavigate the globe. She CHOSE the boat! <hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

I would not ascribe the same responsibility to a 15 year old and an adult parent. Having worked with youth for many years and having raised three children, I know that youth have a very different level of experience with which to make judgments than mature adults (mature being the operant word). Good parents give their children progressively greater levels of appropriate responsibility leading to full emotional, intellectual, and fiscal independence. Yes, Tania matured from her circumnavigation. She's also pretty clear in the book that again and again she "lucked out." The fact that she survived and matured doesn't make her father's actions any more responsible.

Brooke

Edited by - on

Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 10:07:46

I wonder how the voyage would have gone if she had been in a swing keel C25 with a decent outboard. Hmmmmm.....

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dlucier
Master Marine Consultant

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Virgin Islands (United Kingdom)
7583 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 10:57:14

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Lightnup
 I wonder how the voyage would have gone if she had been in a swing keel C25 with a decent outboard. Hmmmmm.....
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

If memory serves me correctly, in the July issue of Cruising World there are few articles that make references to ocean passagemaking and cirumnavigations by 25' and 26' boats.

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clayC
Navigator

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USA
207 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 10:58:14

As a father of three I would hate to point any fingers, Tania seemed to turn out ok as far as I can tell. I sent my daughter off to work in the Bahamas on a dive boat when she was 20. She came home with a Canadian Hubby and a grand son. We got lucky. every day they walk out the door luck plays a big role. And that scares the Hell out of me.

Clat

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 11:13:32

Clay, there's a huge difference between working on a dive boat in the Bahamas at 20 and a solo circumnavigation at 15 having never sailed a boat solo. At least Tania's father got her a circumnavigation-capable boat (and not a SK C25!).

Congratulations on the grandson (which I assume is YOUR grandchild, not hers)!

Brooke

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Lightnup
Master Marine Consultant

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USA
1016 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 11:24:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Congratulations on the grandson (which I assume is YOUR grandchild, not hers)!<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

Brooke, you beat me to it!

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pwhallon
Admiral

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USA
694 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 12:17:02

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">I wonder how the voyage would have gone if she had been in a swing keel C25 with a decent outboard. Hmmmmm.....<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">

IMHO: She would probably be dead.

As I recall, her boat was a Contessa 26. A bunch of people have sailed "blue water" on those boats.

http://www.pocketcruisers.com/

PW

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lancej
1st Mate

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81 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 13:10:21

In C25 SK??? she would be dead!

Lance
85 FK/SR

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Dave Bristle
Master Marine Consultant

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Djibouti
10005 Posts

Response Posted - 07/21/2004 : 21:51:07

<blockquote id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by lancej
 In C25 SK??? she would be dead!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">
Yup. And she's extraordinarily fortunate not to be dead, anyway! Resourcefulness does not always overcome lack of preparation.

I can relate to a daughter being "out there"--my younger one is in the Peace Corps in a village in Mali (W. Africa) where she is a 2.5 hour bike ride through the bush to the nearest town with electricity (but no phones). Mail takes two weeks to get to that town, and she generally rides over to pick it up every two weeks. She's showing them a more self-sustaining agricultural system, how to build clean wells, and through some private contributions, she organized the construction and equipping of a school. That may not be 3000 miles from nothing in the Pacific Ocean, but I went there, and it's OUT THERE! However, it was her idea--not mine!

Kids can be amazing!

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clayC
Navigator

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USA
207 Posts

Response Posted - 07/22/2004 : 00:46:10

I certainly understand that my daughter working in the bahamas is hughly different. my point was that each day they go out there and..........well they may not come home. lets hope they all get lucky.

clay

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pwhallon
Admiral

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USA
694 Posts

Response Posted - 07/24/2004 : 10:29:59

Yep, DEAD.

I am not an experienced salt water sailor.

I have experienced "Coastal Blue Water" on Charter fishing boats from the Destin fleet and my own powerboat. One time it was so rough we could hardly fish. The charter boat, a 50ist footer, was being thrown around like a a rag doll.

My opinion is not against the Catalina 25, but the swing keel. Without a way to lock it down, it could cause BIG problems in a broach or knockdown. My bet is that the fin keel would be the best choice for "offshore" sailing.

I uesd to be offended when people said my dear Catalina

wasn't capable of an ocean passage

. But, honestly, if you look closely, the 25s are not built for it.

PW

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Brooke Willson
Admiral

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USA
983 Posts

Response Posted - 07/24/2004 : 15:41:54

For whatever it's worth, Tania was 18, not 15, when she cast off. That doesn't change my opinion that her father should have given her lots more practice at singlehanding.

Brooke

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jm
Captain

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Canada
290 Posts

Response Posted - 07/27/2004 : 07:44:54

Another good book is

LIONHEART by Jesse Martin. A 17yr old Aussie boy sails single handed, non-stop, and un-assisted, using an antipodal route. (started in Southern Hemisphere - Australia)

A quote from the book by Jesse himself. (page 58)

"There is a modern catchphrase you hear so often - 'thinking outside the box'. I think people are unable to do this when confronted by a young person who plans to do something a bit different. They can not imagine themselves doing it, so there is no way someone else could. One motto I reckon everyone should live by is not to limit or judge other people by their own abilities."

"The worst criticism was from those who thought I was being fool-hardy. Mom and Dad never had it said to their face, but there was a lot of criticism of their role "how could they let their child do this?" My Mom had a simple view of the matter: she always maintained that most people live a pretty bloody boring life. And they are the ones who come up with the adverse comments and reactions. But I've never really been bothered by things that others have said. I've just gone and done what is true to me, and what I've wanted to do"

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