Tawodi Sailing Adventures

In late September of 2006 Captain Stephen Mann arrived in San Diego, the end of his longest crossing from Hawaii to the mainland; a sluggish journey of 42 days.  The slow crawl across the Pacific gave him the time to solidify plans and resolve to undertake a lifelong goal- The circumnavigation of the globe via the Southern Ocean, to complete the voyage at a near race-pace of less than 8 months.

RACE PACE

Anyone who knows the Captain will not be surprised by the “race-pace.”  It is his chosen “life-pace.” A bike ride with him, even a simple trip to the grocery store is a game of doing your best to keep up and heaven forbid if a cyclist outfitted in full spandex regalia appears ahead, then the ride evolves into a chase, pass and win event.

The Captain doesn’t stroll, doesn’t muse idly over scenery.  It’s as if every activity has a finish line to cross and a time to best.

Pragmatically speaking the race pace is affordable.  He’s a freelance rigger and professional captain and I’m a middle manager of a wholesale marine supplier.  We missed our investing opportunities.  We lack trust funds or lottery winnings.  We can afford to set aside one year of work and that only at the cost of effort and sacrifice:  no cars, no credit card debt, no vacations, few dinners out, one movie a year.

The other side of that practical coin is that we want to sail.  Many wonder why we don’t want to stop all over the place, travel, visit many countries on our voyage.  As my friend and author Martin Mitchinson writes in ‘The Darien Gap:’  “A boat separates the sailor from the rest of the world… You miss out on the land experience.  The textures.  Good and Bad.” 

(The Darien Gap, Harbour Publishing, Martin Mitchinson- Buy the Book at Amazon- It’s a good read )

If experiencing a country and culture is what you’re after than buy a sturdy backpack and an airline ticket.  Even as the cost of fuel and the 15$ charge for luggage, peanuts, seatbelts, toilet paper, friendly service- makes air travel appear too costly it is still cheaper than traveling by sailboat. Cheaper and less burdensome.  As Martin discovered in Panama, unless you’re able to afford a well secured marina or yard you’re never free from the boat, never able to leave off the anxiety of it being robbed or taken or sunk.

For a rarified breed of sailors the trip around the globe comes around almost annually.  For the rest of us it is like a journey to Mecca- not just any benchmark, it is THE benchmark that proves a sailor’s saltiness. It is a voyage the Captain very much wants to put on his resume.

The more subtle reasons involve our relationship as partners, as Captain and Crew and most challenging, as teacher and student.  Over the past 20 some months since the Captain firmed up his goal any outside observer would have had ample opportunity to be both impressed and frustrated by our interactions.

On occasion I, as a student, could be self-absorbed, insolent and insulting and he, as teacher, could be arrogant, pedantic and dictatorial.  It’s the kind of action that makes most watchers want to tell both of us to simply shut up and listen.  It’s been a struggle and one we will carry on through our trip because ultimately it is an interaction we want to perfect- as much as perfection is possible.

Ultimately we both want to use this trip as the beginning of both subtle and fundamental change in our life.  To return stronger, smarter and more compassionate, that we may teach others and learn from others.