Tawodi Sailing Adventures

Abby has failed in her goal of circumnavigating.  Once failure has occured it is easy to claim you knew it all along and many, many people have jumped on this band-wagon.  I cannot walk down the street without being stopped by someone wanting to talk about it.  It is a little frustrating as my only association was to give her good advice which she ignored.  My dentist always tells me to floss, but I still don’t, who’s fault is that?  Did I see this coming?  No and Yes.  The whole point of advising was to help her find success, if she doesn’t follow the recommendations, then I can see why it didn’t work.  I don’t really know what to say about it at this point, so I’m going to use the words of others.  First is Kathleen who sent me a nice e-mail saying;

“People have walked up to you and said- “Well, what do you think of your girl now?”

It’s a jab, a poke in the ribs for a moment’s support given to Abby Sunderland, a girl you took on as an individual.  You afforded her a respect few others have the hubris to consider, but you, perhaps, because you remember 16 as something other than childhood, did just that.  You took Abigail Sunderland on as her own person.

That was your failing and your success.  In the brevity of time spent with her you had no way to comprehend all the manipulation, all the merchandising, all the selling of Her; Abby Sunderland, as Product.  You talked to the person while the marketing circus minced along in the background.  You focused on her as the individual about to attempt the spiritual and physical gain that IS the act of sailing round the world south of humanity.  That was your success.

Never apologize for that.

They asked advise and you gave it.  And they ignored and now the boat drifts alone in the Southern Indian Ocean.  She was never ‘your girl’, she was a person you treated as a sailor without understanding that she was, first and foremost, a product, a piece of merchandise in the Sunderland Catalog.

When people walk up to you and ask you what you think of ‘your girl’ all you can do is shrug and admit you got taken.  You thought you were dealing with sailors only to discover you were dealing with an advertisment aimed at culling as many dollars as possible.

Even if it meant Abby lost her life.

O.K., that’s what I think.  Call it a letter from a friend who knows what it means to close the circle.”

Thank you for those words Kathleen.

I remember Moitesseir saying something to the effect of “Those who attempt to sail around the world for profit or fame are doomed to failure.”

While we’re at it, I’ll throw a few more quotes your way.

Francis Stokes- “The sea finds out everything you did wrong”

Uffa Fox- “You must at all times remember that the power of the sea is greater than anything else on earth; and that although many fleets have sailed over it, not one has conquered it or harnessed it, and no one ever will.  Remember too, that like fire, the sea is a good friend but a bad master, so you must never, never allow yourself to get into a position where the sea takes control”.

Alain Gerbault- “Adventure means risking something.  And it is when we are doing that, that we know what a splendid thing life is and how splendidly it can be lived.  The man who never dares never does.  The man who never risks never wins.  It is far better to venture and fail than lie on the hearth rug like a sleepily purring cat.  Only fools laugh at failure.  Wise men laugh at the lazy and the too contented, and at those who are so timid they dare undertake nothing”

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