16 Year Old Acting On A Dream

[MountainDon]

16 year old Zac Sunderland is off to sail solo around the world in a 36 ft craft. If successful he will be the 164th person to do so. There have been approximately 3 times as many people who have been into space. For those who don't know, this entails NOT using either the Panama or Suez canals; it has to be done the hard way.

FYI, the first person to sail solo around the globe was Joshua Slocum, an American, in 1895-1898. Some people have sailed solo around the world non-stop. The first was a Brit in 1968-1969; 313 days in a 32 foot boat. Hard to imagine isn't it?

Best of good fortune to Zac.

[MountainDon]

Oops. I forgot the links...

http://www.zacsunderland.com/index.html

http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-outdoors26-2008may26,0,7085891.story?page=2


http://www.robinknox-johnston.co.uk/da/20103

[sparks]

Mtn Don, this is excellent!! Great find.

Am going to pass this along to a couple of young ones!!

This is the stuff that dreams are made of (and sometimes come true)

I'll be following this blog for sure!!   Thanks Don!!

[John_C]

Should be interesting to follow.  If done for pleasure as opposed to seeing how fast you can go around it usually takes about three years.  Weather patterns keep the prudent sailor from sailing in some areas at certain times of the year.

As Don mentioned Joshua Slocum was the first.  He was an elderly, out of work sailing captain.  As a joke he was given a derelict fishing boat, "Spray", that was rotting in a field.  He rebuilt it and sailed it around the world.  His book Around the World in Spray is a classic read for long distance sailors.

Vito Dumas was an Argentinian who sailed around the world during the height of WWII.  He only made three landfalls and was the first to round all three great capes.  Virtually all of his voyage was above Lat. 40 south.

John Guzwell built a 20' light displacement yawl in the basement of a YMCA in Vancouver, Canada in the early 50's.  Trekka became the smallest boat to circumnavigate.  During his voyage he took some time out to help an elderly couple, Miles and Beryl Smeeton, to sail their 45' ketch around the horn.  A thousand or so miles from land they were pitchpoled (rolled over end for end) by a huge wave.  The vessel was dismasted, the cabin was washed off the hull leaving a huge gaping hole where it had been, the rudder was destroyed and Beryl was injured.  Guzwell fashioned a jury rigged rudder and spars by taking apart the cabinetry and they limped their way back to Valparasio.  On a second attempt the Smeetons were again rolled over and dismasted, and again made a heroic recovery.
They succeeded on their third attempt

Eric and Susan Hiscock circumnavigated twice in their 30' sloop Wanderer III.  Their book Cruising Under Sail is still a classic of proper seamanship.
 
Robin Lee Graham set put when he was about 16 on a 24' boat and became the youngest to circumnavigate.

Robin Knox Johnston became the first to circumnavigate solo non-stop.  There was a prize for the first to do so and he beat Sir Francis Chichester among others.

Dr. David Lewis was the first to circumnavigate above 50 deg S Lat.   I remember self portraits he took while pushing his boat, "Ice Bird", through the Antarctic ice flows.  His book Ice with Everything is interesting .... but I'll pass on those latitudes.

[peternap]

It is going to be interesting and a big plus for the young man for even starting it.

I built a couple of small sailboats and took the inland waterway to Florida a few times. Later in life, I started building sea kayaks and would take open water trips in the Chesapeake Bay......

BUT I WOULDN'T THINK OF THAT KIND OF ADVENTURE!

I wish him well and feel for his parents that will age a great deal worrying I expect.... They will also very proud.