Rick Page's Blog, page 3

Get Real, Get Gone – now available in German!

Nr. 1 Bestseller jetzt auch auf Deutsch erhältlich !!

As promised, Get Real, Get Gone  is now available in German.  You can download the ebook or order the paperback here

Coming soon… Spanish, French and Portuguese!

Fair winds everybody – Guten Wind und eine ruhige See!

Cheers/Prost!

Rick 

The Boatyard Vava’u, Tonga

All boat owners share the same two desires when they haul out:

Get your stuff done
Get back in the water

Boatyards are pretty much a means to an end and certainly not a place to linger if your psychological or financial health are important to you.

Boats safely stored for the cyclone season in the Boatyard Vava’u

 

So when we hauled out at the boatyard in Vava’u, we were surprised to find that once we had got the essentials done (new engine and antifouling) that we were in no desperate hurry to get back in the water.

Sure, we were not going to dawdle there forever (after all, there are no free days) but the people who run that boatyard had made the experience so pleasant that we found ourselves in the rare position of not actually being desperate to leave.

 

Unusually for a boatyard, there is plenty of loan to spread out the sails

The boatyard guys get creative – lowering the engine down to Rick gearbox first

The carpenter Cyril trying out his last masterpiece – a boat shaped cradle

Jasna getting help sanding the windlass

There is very good snorkeling just off the boat ramp

The Boatyard Vava’u in Tonga is owned and run by two couples – one Brit and one South African – and despite being open a mere 2 years is certainly the nicest boatyard we have ever hauled in.

Set on a lush green lawn in the lee of a mountain, the idyllic setting is complimented by a good little chandlery and that rarest of boatyard beasts, the hot shower.

For those that prefer not to get dirty, there are great services here too – mechanics, carpenters, painters, sanders and fibreglass experts. But what makes this little corner of paradise truly special is the helpful nature of everybody there.  Not once did we even get a hint of the ‘don’t bother me’ attitude that is increasingly common in such places.

The secret of their success lies in their background. The owners (Joe, Kate, Al and Bo) all arrived here under sail  – their boats are hauled out in the yard. Their previous experience as boatyard customers means they know exactly what a sailor needs and the conditions we are operating under.  While landlubber tradesmen might lose patience with the inevitable barrage of questions that arrive with every new sailor, these guys have not forgotten what it is like to be constantly attempting the impossible in an environment so unfamiliar you don’t even know where to buy a pencil.

So a big thank you to Vava’u Boatyard for introducing us to a rare experience – being slightly sad to go back in the water.

 

Us with The Boatyard Vava’u Crew

Click below to watch a short video of us hauling out in Tonga.

Donald Crowhurst – a true sailing icon

Fifty years and gallons of ink have passed since the first Golden Globe Single Handed Around the World Race and to coincide with this anniversary, Hollywood is releasing a film about one of the competitors and a personal hero of mine – the little known and often overlooked sailor Donald Crowhurst.  The film is not on release yet, so it is not possible to predict how the LA movie industry will portray this often maligned sailor, so before they get their say, I would like mine.

I have never been much of a hero worshiper.  I remember watching Superman as a kid and being singularly unimpressed – what courage does it take to stand up to a bullet if you know it is going to bounce harmlessly off your oversized red pants?  What courage is required to leap between buildings if you know that you can just fly off into the sunset if you cock it up?  I feel a similar ambivalence towards the sailing supermen.  The Moitessiers and Knox-Johnsons of the world seem to have been blessed with superpowers and a mental robustness that are not granted to the rest of us.  There is no doubt that they are great adventurers and sailors, but I have always been more interested in what the ordinary guy like myself can do – not what is achievable by the physically and mentally gifted.

One’s relationship with supermen is always doomed to a, ‘well it’s OK for you’ type of passivity, but when you meet somebody ordinary who is living an extraordinary life, your thoughts are likely to be more inspirational.

‘Well if they can do it’ we think to ourselves, ‘why not me?’

Yes, I have lead and continue to lead, an adventurous life but those people that have inspired me were not supermen, but ordinary, human, fallible beings. Of course, when one is surfing the edges of what is achievable by ordinary men and women, there is a danger that we may drift into the arena of the over-confident and overestimate our own abilities or (perhaps less forgivably) underestimate the dangers that face us. We may bite off more than we can chew.

We are amply assisted in this process by the ‘just do it’ mentality of the advertising world and the ‘you go girl’ attitude of the philosophically challenged who seem to dwell in increasingly regrettable numbers on social media.  With growing  predictability, nearly every sailing blog carries this quote from Mark Twain.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

Apart from being an extraordinarily long winded and prescient way of repeating the rather banal Nike mantra, the implication of course is that you will regret inaction more than action and (by extension) that whatever you do you won’t regret.

This is singularly untrue on an ocean that is largely indifferent to your plans for self-actualisation.  There are thousands of people who have put to sea without experience on unsuitable boats who deeply regret it.  Many carry the heavy burden of guilt and sorrow for the lost lives of loved ones and crew, even more have been bankrupted or traumatised by the experience. Innumerable relationships have been destroyed.

Donald Crowhurst on board the Teignmouth Electron. Photograph: Eric Tall/Getty Images

Sometimes then, the world needs a different type of hero – one that shows our fallibility, not adds to our over-confidence. Donald Crowhurst was such a man – unassuming, quiet and utterly ordinary. One of the entrants in the original Golden Globe Single Handed Around the world Race in 1968, the inexperienced Crowhurst set off on a wholly inappropriate, untested boat and paid the ultimate price.

As the entrants prepared for the race, legendary sailor Bernard Moitessier (a genuine superman if there ever was one) commented that,

 “Anyone who attempts this for any other reason than the joy of it, will get his neck broken.”

And he was right.  Donald Crowhurst, a weekend sailor at best, was no lover of the sea. He wanted to be special. He wanted the same type of accolades that had so recently been bestowed upon Sir Francis Chichester, he wanted to make a name for himself and to promote his fledgling electronic navigation company.  He was certainly not inspired by the pure joy of being ‘out there’. When it became obvious that all his hi-tech gizmos were not going to be any substitute for a strong boat and the increasingly undervalued asset of hard-won experience, rather than give up (and face bankruptcy) he decided to cheat by hanging out in the South Atlantic and waiting several months for the fleet to sail around the world, whereupon he would quietly slip in behind the tail-end charlie and return to the UK. Perhaps not to a hero’s welcome, but a respectable showing nevertheless.

But the fragile and fallible human mind had other ideas. Trapped in the South Atlantic for endless months of solitude and guilt, he eventually killed himself rather than face possible exposure.

Crowhurst reminded us that there are caveats to the idea that ‘anyone can sail around the world’.  He reminded us just how lonesome it is out there and how quickly things can go south – particularly hi-tech electronics that tend to fail at the earliest exposure to salt water.  Crowhurst believed the secret of his success would be untested technology and this philosophy was exposed in the most tragic way.

Donald’s trimaran ‘Teignmouth Electron’ was found adrift in the Atlantic Ocean in 1969 / from the series Disappearance at Sea, 1999, by Tacita Dean

The death of Donald Crowhurst raised the game of those who came later – reminding thousands of sailors of the value of a sturdy, tested design and of experience gained the hard way, rather than imbibed second hand or bought at the boat show. The death of  Donald Crowhurst scared many people into doing the right thing. It is hard to estimate how many lives he saved this way. Donald Crowhurst was a brave, often maligned, example of the fragility of human nature and the vastness of the sea.  It was a message that needed to be heard, and still needs to be heard today.

In the fifty years since, Crowhurst’s lesson seems to have been increasingly drowned out by the consumerism that has taken over the marine world.  It makes good marketing sense to portray sailing around the world as simple – as long as you have the huge amounts of electronic gadgets that the salesmen are all too happy to charge to your card. And once again, people with little experience are hitting the sea with unsuitable, lightly-built boats bristling with electronic gizmos as a surrogate to seaworthiness. With increasing regularity, inappropriate boats are failing or grounding on reefs or sinking due to a combination of lack of good sea keeping and over reliance on electronic toys (see my article in the November 2017 issue of Cruising Helmsman for more detail. You can download this here)

Perhaps the most worrisome group are the ‘Bucket Listers’.  Increasingly, rich retirees with little sailing experience set off ‘around the world’ in the belief that this will give their life a meaning that it previously lacked.  That may seem like a good idea to you, but remember what Moitessier said.  The sea is completely oblivious to you and your needs.  It does not care that you feel that your life lacks meaning. Imposing your agenda on the sea is exactly the kind of hubris that got Crowhurst killed.

While I believe that we are all capable of more than we think we are, Donald Crowhurst will always remain my sailing hero because he reminds us that there are limits.  This was an important message fifty years ago and a particularly important message now in the age of Facebook where encouraging caution and preparation is too often portrayed as ‘pissing on somebody else’s dreams’.

Donald Crowhurst lost his life showing the rest of us where the line between dreams and fantasies is and his example has injected a bit of well needed reality into an increasingly sloganized narrative that was beginning to make ‘exploring the trade winds’ sound too much like an easily purchased panacea to all modern ills.

The world owes Donald Crowhurst a great debt.

Donald Crowhurst / Frame from the movie Deepwater

 

*The film The Mercy stars Colin Firth as Donald Crowhurst and goes on general release Feb 2018.

 

Further reading:

A Voyage for Madmen by Peter Nichols 

 

The Strange Last Voyage of Donald Crowhurst by Nicholas Tomalin and Ron Hall 

Watch:

Deep Water by Louise Ormond.  An excellent documentary with much original footage.  Notoriously publicity shy, the director has managed to involve the  Crowhurst family in the narrative which gives her portrayal a sympathy that is often lacking in other accounts. 

Protected: Never too old

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Never too old

The sea gipsy community is packed with odd, interesting life stories. There are many unusual sailors out there and this is the story of one of them.

It was a spring day in the Netherlands and the sun warmed the air just enough for the party to be held outdoors. It was a big day,  Granma Tilly was celebrating her 90th Birthday!

 

As life goes, Tilly now needed some help with the everyday tasks and her son Humberto decided to leave his little sailing boat El Holandes Errante at anchor in Fiji and join her in Europe. After not too long she commented:

“I know you are much happier when you are in the South Pacific. Why don’t we go there?”

“Mum, my boat is waaay too small for the both of us.”

“Well, then I will sell my house and we will buy a bigger boat!”

After a few moments of hesitation Humberto realized that she was serious. She had never stepped foot on a boat before, but now she wanted to live aboard in the South Pacific!

And so they did it. Humberto showed her a few candidates and she picked their new boat, a St. Francis 44 catamaran.

They sailed from the Caribbean through the Panama Canal and across the Pacific. Tilly’s first ocean crossing took 45 days due to no wind, but she did not complain.

She experienced many new things and was suddenly getting younger by the day.

Tilly made many new friends, both in the Sea Gypsy community and on the islands they visited.

She adapted very well to the life on the sea, also thanks to Humberto, who made some modifications to make her life easier.

Tilly’s elevator

See how Tilly’s cool elevator works

It was interesting to listen to many of her stories, including a grounding in Tahiti when she was alone aboard. She really seems to be without a care in the world. She also explained why:

“All my life I took care of other people. Now finally someone is taking care of me. I love it.”

Tilly just recently celebrated her 91st Birthday, this time on a passage between Beveridge Reef and Tonga.  She definitely does not look one year older, maybe 20 years younger!

Tilly at 90                                            Tilly at 91

We met her and Humberto in Neiafu, Vava’u. They impressed us as happy and charismatic people, the kind of people that make our sailing community so very special.

They are now sailing around Fiji where Tilly is spending her days drinking fresh coconuts in turquoise lagoons. What a great way to live in retirement!

She made me think of one of my favourite quotes:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming “Wow! What a Ride!”

Hunter S.Thompson

You can follow Tilly’s and Humberto’s journey on their Youtube channel or check out Humberto’s website.

Tilly enjoying life in Bora Bora

Do you suffer from MIAS? A simple self-test

Are you suffering from M.I.A.S (Musical Instrument Acquisition Syndrome)?

Already a serious illness that affects millions worldwide, MIAS sufferers who live in small spaces are doubly at risk as their increasing instrument and associated supplies (reeds, strings, manuscripts, bongs, etc) start to displace essential stores leading to malnourishment and vitamin deficiency.

So, how do you know if you are suffering from MIAS or simply have, ‘a lot of shit’.  Try this simple self-test.

Examine the formula below:

H= n+1

(where H= happiness measured in grins, and n= number of musical instruments currently owned)

If the above formula makes perfect sense to you then you are suffering from MIAS and should seek immediate medical attention or a larger boat.

Moorea – Hollywood’s Backdrop

Mo’orea

When I was told that Moorea was the filming location for both South Pacific and Jurassic Park, I was torn between the desire to see how a landscape could be so contradictory and the very real fear of being torn to shreds by a gay velociraptor.

Sailing into Cooks Bay

In fact the beauty of Moorea encompasses both the light-hearted musicality of the former and the dark mystery of the latter.  Wafting palms and gentle waves on the coast rise quickly into mysterious and dramatic peaks of untamed jungle. The people reflect the same contradiction as the landscape – gentle, calm and helpful. But leave your outboard on the beach (as we did) for more than 15 minutes and consider it a sacrifice to the Tiki gods whose images are still found sculpted into the rocks.

In the water with stingrays and sharks

In our usual quest to be the slowest cruisers in the world, we have been here for nearly four months. We have explored the anchorages of the north and west and got to know some great people. We have circumnavigated the whole island on a scooter and swum with sharks and stingrays whilst having a good sticky-beak at the underwater geography too. And over time, we have come to see beyond the movie backdrop and get a real flavour of this extraordinary place that is rapidly becoming our favourite spot in the Pacific.

Kayaking around the Opunohu Bay anchorage

 

Swimming with sharks

Underwater Tikis

It may not be for everyone – particularly the more ‘A’ type personality – but slowing down to something assimilating the pace of life in the places you visit is the only real chance of getting even a whiff of its authentic flavour. We are glad we did.

Budget Drone Photography or ‘Kitecam’

We have all admired those sweeping aerial shots that used to be the exclusive domain of professional photographers with much greater budgets than ours. With the introduction of the drone, that monopoly is admittedly being challenged at least to a certain extent. Whilst significantly cheaper than chartering a helicopter, drones are still fairly expensive and everyone we have met who owns one, has complained about reliability. This is fairly usual when a technology is in its infancy and I have no doubt that as the years roll on and the market deepens, drones will be super-reliable and virtually free with breakfast cereal.

Back in the real world of the everyday cruiser, where budgets are still a part of life, $4000 is a lot to spend on something that works only a few times.

 

However, there is a tried and tested technology that has been continuously developed for thousands of years, principally by the Chinese who invented it at about the time of the birth of Christ.  It is simple, cheap and enormous amounts of fun.

 

Welcome fellow sailors to the ‘kite-cam’

 

You will need:

1 stable kite (we add a drogue to ours, just to be safe)

A line of fishing reel

A light digital camera (waterproof!) that can be programmed to take pictures at regular intervals

A safety lanyard

A basic understanding of a photo-editing suite such as Adobe Photoshop

A helpful partner.

 

Firstly, set up your kite and test fly it without the camera to get a good feel (remember that if the kite is not flying strongly in the wind you have, it will not fly at all when you add the extra weight).

Then bring it in and lash the camera to the frame along the central axis. Set up the camera to take a photo every 10 seconds and off you go….

As you can see from the pictures, the only down side is the fishing line bisecting and spoiling the photograph.  This can be easily erased in most photo editing suites in about 2 minutes.

And there you have it – cheap aerial photography by kite-cam.  And possibly the only product from China you will ever own that was actually invented there!

Calypso on the Radio!

Hi tech radio comms on Calypso

Hi Everyone!



We are on the air again for the launch of Boat Radio – a new internet based radio station for us grotty yachties!


 


You can hear our interview about budget sailing today at 1200GMT and again at 1600GMT, 2000GMT, 0000GMT, 0400GMT and 0800GMT.I





You can listen at www.boatradio.net or simply download the podcast here: https://audioboom.com/channel/boat-radio


 


Cheers,.





R n J

Happy Easter Bunnies on Board!

Despite the problems with Apocalypso,  we are smiling because of this nice Easter Surprise…

Our book hits the topspot!

Our book “Get Real, Get Gone” had its best sales day on Easter Saturday and is now the No.1 best selling sailing book in the UK and No.2 in the US.

The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and we would like to say  thanks to everyone who bought it and contacted us with their thoughts and kind wishes.

We are particularly honoured to be included in the latest Tom Cunliffe masterpiece The Complete Ocean Skipper.  Here is what he wrote:

To be mentioned in the same dispatches as the great Annie Hill and the pioneering Pardeys is truly an honour and has made this the most fabulous Easter!

The feedback from Amazon has been overwhelmingly positive as well. Here are a couple of the latest reviews (and these are just the recent ones!)

We would like to say a big thank you to everyone who took the time to provide such fabulous reviews. We are extremely happy Easter Bunnies.

5.0 out of 5 stars  A Wonderfully Modern Take on Taking Off
ByVirginia Murphyon March 29, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

If you have read every book except this one about buying a boat and heading over the horizon, you haven’t read the best one yet. Extremely practical, and doesn’t practice the kind of willful ignorance that is so often displayed in other books of the genre regarding the seeming requirement to have a spouse who is an expert sailor and mechanic. The wonderful bonus is that it frequently really funny. You might not agree with 100% of the conclusions and recommendations, but it is clear that the authors are providing guidance based on experience and observation, not commandments.

Get thee hence and buy a copy!

5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
ByJamie Carneyon March 29, 2016
Format: Kindle Edition
Reading this book is like talking to a friend. It’s easy, commonsense, and very inspiring


———–

5.0 out of 5 stars Buy this book!! You will not regret it!!
ByAlyssa Hageron February 12, 2016
Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I cannot express enough how wonderful this book is! ‘Get Real and Get Gone’ should come standard with every sailboat purchased! Not only is it full of necessary, relevant and helpful information, but it is presented in a way that both newbies and veterans can learn from and understand. The pages are filled with wisdom, experience, ingenuity, passion and humor! This is the beginner (and even experienced) sailor’s bible.

Not only is the book fantastic, Rick and Jasna are wonderful too! Taking time out of there sea gypsy life to not only respond to my email but answer all my questions in detail absolutely sealed the deal for me! I hope to see many more books from these amazing people and maybe run into them on the high seas!