More on Chasing Bubbles

[rgranger]

I did not want to hijack the earlier thread on this video clip so I started a new one...

I could not stop thinking about this video... it was haunting and inspiring at the same time... I really liked it but...it occurs to me that there are some strange inconsistencies. For instance the scene where he is finally leaving his boat. Supposedly, he was the very last person to leave the boat... that was the point of the scene... and he signs the coach roof with a sharpy pen as a final good by to his beloved Bubbles....so who was running the camera? And then he kisses his boat on the vinyl lettering as he is leaving the dock... and the paint job and vinyl lettering look brand new.... exceptionally brand new!!!!! Not a boat that has spent the last three years on the water sailing around the world. And then he seems to have a beard in one scene and no beard in the next only to have the beard again in the subsequent scene etc.

I'm not saying the video is fraudulent but I am suspecting that some scenes were recreations for dramatic effect. Also makes me wonder if some of the other claims about his novice status were over stated? Seriously, how could a guy and and a bunch of part -time newbi crew sail around the world knowing nothing about sailing and not get someone killed? or run aground? need a tow? have a catastrophic failure? etc. I suspect he was very smart and learned a lot more from his first BVI cruise than he credited.

 

[Jackdaw]

Like I said in the other thread, you need three things in some combination: Skilll, Prep, Luck.

He happpened to have lots of luck. It happens. I know a couple that left to cruise the Carib in a 39 foot boat that had just bought that spring. Both rookies, they left without a GPS/charts and had never anchored out before they left. Ever. They spent 2 years down there without a scratch, but had so many close calls it made MY hair turn white. Luck factors.

 

[jssailem]

I suspect Luck, a quick study, and there was a bit of editing. It is a smooth put together remembrance to a brother/friend they want to memorialize.
What about the YouTube couple Riley and Elena? They state they bought a boat in Greece sailed across the Mediterranean, Atlantic, around the Caribbean etc. No major issues. Luck and a gradual understanding of what works and what doesn't.

 

[rgranger]

I get that point @Jackdaw... what about your take on the authenticity of some of the filmed scenes. If you watch it again, fast forward to near the end and look at the boat as it is supposedly coming back in at the end of a three year round-the-world cruise. The top-side paint and vinyl lettering look brand new. And did they really carry all of those flags with them around the world just for the landfall finale? I really think some of those scenes were recreations.

 

[rgranger]

I suspect Luck, a quick study, and there was a bit of editing. It is a smooth put together remembrance to a brother/friend they want to memorialize.
What about the YouTube couple Riley and Elena? They state they bought a boat in Greece sailed across the Mediterranean, Atlantic, around the Caribbean etc. No major issues. Luck and a gradual understanding of what works and what doesn't.

Yep @jssailem I agree. That is what it feels like... but that also is creepy. So if some of the scenes were recreations for the purposes of creating a memorial film, they were still filmed before he died. Creepy!

Maybe the guy just knew he was not going to die of old age? I was kind of hoping they would just find his empty boat floating out at sea....

 

[jssailem]

just find his empty boat floating out at sea....

That would have been creepy. He was in India. Could have found him in the Ganges trying to find a cure. The disease that got him is active in the area he explored. He liked to get down with the locals which increased his exposure.

Luck, maybe just ran out.

 

[rgranger]

Don't get me wrong... I wasn't hoping he would die... but since they often referred to him in the past tense, it was obvious-ish how the story was going to end.

 

[jssailem]

You are an attentive listener. It is a great skill, sadly one that is rare among today's generation. His family and friends did a great job.

 

[rgranger]

Well I hope to make some of those journeys some day.... still have to put one more kid though college and then maybe ..... For now I cruise the shore line a few weeks each year and day sail when I can.

 

[Gene Neill]

Damn movie got into my head, too. It actually kept me awake last night thinking about it. I'm glad I didn't know the guy, it would have been hard to lose someone like that.

I'm reminded of the line from "Shawshank Redemption", when Red says "I have to remind myself that some birds aren't meant to be caged. Their feathers are just too bright. And when they fly away, the part of you that knows it was a sin to lock them up does rejoice. Still, the place you live in is that much more drab and empty that they're gone."

 

[rgranger]

@Gene Neill

My all time favorite movie...
I would not have tied that to this but im glad you did.

 

[LuzSD]

Ah ha!!! I found this little left turn on the original thread! Great, because I too still think about this video alot. CloudDiver should come by here because his first post in the other CB thread hit a cord with me. Actually he just added another post over there which makes me realize he is one of us! (taking CB deeper).

I thought about what rgranger points out..... during the video I thought more than once 'wow, that boat is clean for such an adventure!!' but he had $$ and maybe he did keep it up when he had the opportunity. But I think what really the answer was is those who put this together in the end did the best they could with the footage they had to tell his story. Its ok with me that its not a perfect timeline in pictures.

Gene, thanks for that quote from Shawshank.... that is a favorite movie and clearly we need to see it again. What a perfect visual that is.

 

[CloudDiver]

Someone mentioned the thing about beard then no beard... Notice that the story was told by him and crew members who were interviewed after homecoming. The non beard interviews of Rust took place next to his lake/pond on the Indiana farm.

My big lingering question... Anyone notice the crew member who only appeared twice in interviews wearing an orange jumper against white cinderblock walls? Who was that crew member and how did he end up in prison?

 

[rgranger]

Yeah i noticed the prison thing
Im also the one who pointed out the beard
It dissapears a few times on some boat scenes