Oceans apart…
Congratulations to Mike Perham on becoming the youngest circumnavigator, in spite of the endless technical problems that are the lot of 21st century solo sailors. While in Cape Town he met up with a 75 year old Japanese man who is the oldest known round the world solo sailor – in fact he’s on his eighth circumnavigation. As someone who needs strong seasickness pills, extra socks and the promise of a gentle following wind simply to sail across the Bristol Channel, I have the greatest respect for long distance sailors of all kinds.
I’m currently enjoying Dee Caffari’s account of her voyage round the world the ‘wrong way’. In one paragraph she says ‘the wind speed climbed beyond 60 until I had 76 knots across the deck’. Further on, in the next paragraph, she says ‘the mainsail had to come down’. That’s impressive. I’d have had the mainsail down and been cowering in the cabin with a stiff gin in anything over 20 knots. In fact, I’d have never left the quayside in the first place, being of the opinion that if you light a candle and it stays alight, there’s not enough wind to sail; if you light a candle and it goes out, there’s too much. Perhaps I should give up sailing and take up flower arranging instead……