Very good point "camaraderie"
and thanks for clearing up some facts. I had read some of the same things and was hoping someone would chime in and set things straight. Most bothering was some inuendo that the boat was some cheesy half baked boat. From all accounts it was ok and probably worthy of sailing around the world. Now some of Ken's "weather routing" decisions and maybe his "heavy weather sailing skills" could be called into question. I would not say the boat was not the big problem. I think Ken was woefully inadequate in his knowledge of that boat offshore in heavy conditions and as can be seen it didn't take long for him to wreck it. Going back to my "original" rant - it was not a Solo Circumnavigation and not that someone had to be rescued, (I love Bold Adventures but with competent people doing it) but rather he was not prepared as a off shore sailor and did not have the skills and experience to conquer the task "His Southern California feel good ego was leaps and bounds beyond his skills and experience. He never even tried one sail to Hawaii first He just went straight for "AROUND THE WORLD/NON STOP/SOLO"" ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Now compare everything we have read about Ken and how he approached this "qwest" to someone like Bernard Moitessier who spent half his life sailing the oceans in small incremental steps before attemping to "round the cape". Please read below the excerpts about Bernard Moitessier's experience with Rounding the cape -- Please Note how he used prior experiences and knowledge of his boat to "tame" his transit around the cape from one of the "worst gales, with its monstrous seas" to an "easy going passage around the Cape" despite the conditions -- My point is Ken had none of the experience and never paid the price of time and sea miles to "deserve" a roud the cape circumnavigation. He was gambling with low odd's and it came up snake eyes ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Exerpts about Bernard from here http://www.bluemoment.com/moitessier.html In the first of many gales, Bernard experi- mented with various types of drogues, warps for trailing astern, and sea anchors, analyzing the techniques of many who went before him, such as Dumas, Slocum, and Smeeton. It was during the worst one of these gales, with its monstrous seas, that Bernard conceived a bold technique. After a long weary stretch at the helm, while dragging warps to prevent broaching or pitchpoling, it came to Moitessier that Joshua was essentially a trade winds vessel, entirely out of place in these latitudes. He tried to recall what Dumas had said, but could not remember. He called down to Francoise to look it up in the book.(9) The secret was there somewhere. Francoise read aloud to him. Then they came to it. Dumas had followed the Roaring Forties all around the world, not by dragging warps (the Slocum school of thought), but by carrying sail and running with the seas (the Dumas school of thought). His technique was to take the seas at an angle of 15-20 [deg] instead of straight on the stern. That was it! Bernard immediately cut loose all his warps and let Joshua run. As a big comber came up roaring behind him, Bernard would put the helm down and present Joshua's stern at about a 15 [deg] angle. The vessel would heel over sharply but respond perfectly to the rudder, and the comber would break harmlessly alongside. He had discovered the secret of Dumas, and it had worked! From then on, the passage around the Cape was easy going
