Steve Colgate

I followed John’s Facebook messages as he traveled and it all sounded wonderful. Little did I know what challenges he had behind the scenes. First, he bought a very marginal catamaran named Taraipo. That is itself was scary. Cats can capsize and until he became used to storms, he would lower all sails and cower admittedly scared in the cabin. Second, he was sailing solo much of the time until he met the perfect sailing partner, a Swiss named Nicole. And third, he was sailing around the world on a virtual shoe-string … a shoe-string that was rotten and broke unexpectedly and constantly causing the shoe to fall off just at the wrong time. Oh well, just tie it up and keep on going. The first long distance passage from Portugal to Brazil was eventful. The mast was lost 400 miles from Brazil. Kristina was crewing. “We set about to construct a jury rig to enable us to continue downwind…Our pride would not allow us to expect or ask for assistance.” That was John’s mindset. Most of us would have said, “Forget it. This is not worth it.” He continued around the world with borrowed or copied charts – or none at all. And in a most uncomfortable boat with no amenities. They miss Madagascar and cruisers convince them it worth seeing. So what, we will just sail back 200 miles. How John and Nicole could find such satisfaction and comfort in such an uncomfortable boat with blown out sails and a marginal, unreliable engine is remarkable. You have heard of page-turner books and I rarely find one. Here it is. What incredible experience will they endure on the next page? Sitting at home looking out over the river past our home I constantly said, “Better you than me, John.” Review by Steve Colgate