I did not think this project would take on international help, well other than Japan. However like Tom Hanks said in The Castaway ” you never know what the tide will bring”
When I first started thinking about this trip and planning, I came across a Black woman, her husband and two kids that had traveled the world on their home-built kit Cat. Her husband is from France. I tried to make contact with her but was only mildly successful. She was very busy , so I could not make a real connection. I wanted to hear her perspective on sailing the world as a woman of color. I did not get much in the way of feedback feedback so I dropped the thought.
Some years later I came across an ad by the husband and gave him a call. I wanted now to talk about traveling on a CAT. We made arrangements to go see their presentation they were giving. LZ and I along with another friend who has a CAT went and talked with them a bit and watched their slide show it was interesting, they were nice. I told him I wanted to have a one on one chat later.
Several months later now I re-contacted Marc and made an appointment. This past Monday we met.
We had a good talk about priorities to deal with to set sail in several months.
Ground tackle was discussed . He felt I needed more chain and a anchor roller. Now I need to re-think my ground tackle, that is our safety line, between us and the rocks. It needs to be top notch. I will be adding more chain and changing my main anchor to a over-sized Fortress with a small Bruce and a medium size CRQ as a backup. Chain lengths of 2-25′ and a 70 ‘ length , plus a 10′ length. That should cover me even if I have to lay out two anchor with chain. However speaking with an experience sailor who has done a lot of anchoring he says, naw, you do not need more than the 40 ft you have. I do like a big heavy steel anchor not the aluminum ones. So many opinions. Capt Mary likes the Fortress, even Tom the owner of BP likes the Fortress. I like the Fortress. Mostly likely I will keep to the plan, large Fortress for Main #1 , with adjustable lengths of chain from 10 – 25 – 50′. Locate a 33 lb Bruce ( I have a 16 lb now) for Main Anchor #2 and the QRC 34′ is the backup. For the stern another Fortress. That should give me enough variety and holding power with the ability to deploy more than one easily.
He thought my netting in front was fine for a while. He told me where I could attach the line for the sea anchor or drogue. Those two things alone were a big help.
Another thing discussed was having a light air sail and the outboard motor. The light air sail was important to keep some forward motion when the winds got light otherwise one would need to run the motor or wait out the windless spots.
Another big thing he thought important was solar panels. He felt that for where we are heading panels were a better choice than a wind generator.
It was interesting and gave me some thought on the things he thought were ok , but Capt Mary did not. The things they agreed on are a must do.
Another surprise came when speaking with a Tai Chi student of mine about the trip, she said her and her husband had done some ocean sailing. Also her husband offered his help with celestial navigation study. He was the one more experienced with sailing and was interested in our adventure. He is also French… I wonder if it is the name thing.
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